Earth 3

Previously

On the planet Krypton, Lara-EL has just given birth to Kal-El with the help of her husband Jor-El. Jor-El travels to Kandor on his pet H'Raka where he stands in front of the Kryptonian Law Council telling them the planet is to explode.

They dismiss his claims but General Zod takes note informs Jor-El he going to overthrow the council. A concerned Jor-El steals the Growth Codex and puts it in a ship along with the Command Key and his son where Lara Lor-Van sends him to Earth, while Jor-El battles Zod who kills him before he and his followers are arrested. The remaining Law Council members sentence Zod and his followers to the Phantom Zone for 300 years as Zod angrily tells them they are all fools and to Lara that he will find Kal-El and reclaim the Codex. They are then sent to the Phantom Zone as Krypton's core collapses and planet wipe eruptions cause the planet to explode.

Kal-El lands in the field of Jonathan and Martha Kent.


Kal-El, now known as Clark Kent has grew up to be an adult and is working on a crab boat when an Oil Rig in the distance is on fire. Jumping overboard and swimming over, he begins to help people get to safety as the Coast Guard arrive to get people to safety. When a piece of rigging threatens to fall on them, Clark holds it up long enough for them to get clear before an explosion sends Clark flying into the water. Whilst unconscious, Clark remembers back to being 9 when his Super Hearing, X-Ray Vision and Heat Vision first manifested at school and Martha helped him control those new abillities.

Returning ashore, Clark steals some clothes and skips town, seeing a school bus on the way reminding him of when he was 13 and was bullied by boys in his class. The school bus they were on crashed over a bridge and Clark saved it from drowning revealing his powers to Lana Lang and Pete Ross. Back home Jonathan revealed to Clark the reason for his powers showing him his ship in the barn and giving him the Command Key.

Clark is now working in a highway bar where he overhears some men talking about the military looking for an alien ship under the ice of Ellesmere Island. An argument breaks out soon after and Clark destroys the man responsible truck before skipping town in the direction of the alien ship.

Lois Lane arrives via chopper to cover the alien ship and has her bags carried by Clark who is now working there. The operation led by Colonel Hardy working with Emil Hamilton aren't pleased to see Lois there early. Clark away from the military burrows through the ice with his heat vision before inserting the Command Key. Lois sees and follows him getting attacked by the defences of the ship as well, prompting Clark to cauterize her wound with his heat vision, he then takes her outside before returning and activating the ship and flying it away. A projection of his real father, Jor-El appears who informs Clark of his name and purpose on Earth. Jor-El reveals the history of Krypton and gives Clark a Kryptonian suit which he puts on and goes outside learning to fly before zooming off into the sky.

General Zod and his minions are in space searching for Kryptonian survivors where they retrieve an ancient Terraforming Generator before they pick up the ships signal and track it to Earth.

Lois returns to Metropolis with her story for her editor Perry White who informs her that he can't run a story about alien ships and a super powered being because they aren't possible. To give her story traction, Lois leaks it to internet blogger Glen Woodburn who posts it online.

Lois then proceeds to track down her mystery man by gathering evidence through the various jobs he has had over the years tracking him down to Smallville where she gathers information from Pete Ross. Clark returns to Smallville and informs Lois of the reason he conceals his powers and the circumstances around his adopted fathers death. Lois returns to Metropolis and tells Perry she is dropping the story but he and the Daily Planet's investors aren't happy she leaked the story and she is given 2 weeks leave without pay.

Zod arrives in Earth's orbit and transmits a message across the world to every electronic device requesting Kal-El be handed over. Clark see's this and visits the priest at the church who advises him on what he must do. Clark decides that he can't put humanity at risk.

He flies to Peterson Air Force Base where he surrenders himself. Lois is arrested by the FBI for her knowledge of the alien and taken to the base before Kal tells them he is not their enemy. He soon meets on the desert with Zod's ship where he is greeted by Faora Hu-Ul who requests that Lois come too, whom Kal slips the Command Key. Lois is given a visor to help her breathe and the atmosphere aboard Black Zero interrupts Kal's powers. He is strapped down and meets General Zod who wants him to join him rebuild Krypton on Earth. Zod has Jax-Ur project images into their minds and probes their thoughts before he takes his forces in search of the Codex. The Jor-El AI which Lois activates helps her escape into a pod which jetisons to earth.

Kal escapes after Jor-El changes the atmosphere and has final words with his father before saving Lois. Zod and his forces confront Martha before Kal tackles Zod away damaging his visor allowing all his senses to come at once subduing Zod. Kal then battles Faora & Nam-Ek in Smallville whilst the military attack but are no match for the aliens. Kal defends the miltary forces and civilians before managing to subdue the two as they gather their leader and retreat back to Black Zero while Kal flies to check if his mother is ok.

Zod orders the release of the Terraforming Generator which lands in the pacific ocean as they pilot Black Zero above Metropolis before activating the gravity beam which begins destroying the city. Kal-El flies to the pacific and begins attacking the Generator which has defences and attacks back. After great effort he destroys the generator as Zod is in the arctic stealing the scout ship.

Kal-El then flies to Metropolis and lands in the ship before bringing it down crashing through skyscrapers into the ground of Metropolis. The military are deployed to take out Black Zero but the gravity beam effects their instruments and missiles. Lois and Hardy are aboard a C-17 with Kal-El's ship which he gave to them to use against Black Zero. Faora arrives on the plane and throws Lois out who is captured in mid air by Kal-El before Hardy flies the plane into Black Zero creating a temporary portal to the Phantom Zone which sucks everything inside it including Black Zero and the plane Hardy and Faora are on. After Kal-El puts Lois down next to Perry and Jenny as they kiss before he goes to confront an enraged Zod who vows to kill all the humans in revenge. The two then have a devastating battle across Metropolis destroying several buildings and cars in the process. Zod then rips off his armour and learns to fly as the two continue to battle an even fort contest. The two land inside Metropolis Central Station where Zod opens his heat vision on civilians. Kal-El grapples with Zod trying to avert his heat vision before having no choice but to snap Zod's neck killing. Horrified at what he had to do, Kal-El screams out in agony as Lois arrives to console a deeply hurt Kal-El.

As a clean up operation begins in Metropolis, the US Military begin to spy on Kal-El using drones. Kal-El is onto them and grabs one and crashes it into the ground in front of General Swanwick's car and tells him that he is on there side and he needs to convince Washington D.C. and his superiors of it before flying off.

Returning to Smallville to speak with his mother Martha, the two peaceful think back to 9 year old Clark playing in the garden running around with a red cape on his back.

In a devastated Metropolis, Clark is on a bike and arrives at the Daily Planet putting on glasses so nobody instantly recognises him as the alien hero who was dubbed 'Superman' and is greeted by Lois.

Now it's 2015...

Circling over the once great city Shiera looked down at it all. "See?" she said. "Do you see what you stopped me from being involved in?" In her mind a voice said "Yes, we saved ourselves. We told you the gods were battling. We told you we were not great enough."

Shiera shook her head. "No, Chey-ra, not gods, just very powerful aliens." Another voice spoke up then; Cinnamon, Kate Manser, "You was looking to take a knife to a very very big gun fight. Might as well have been gods, cause it woulda been just as dumb."

"Oh not you too. We might have been able to help. We could have helped get civilians out of harms way, but no, you all started yammering and pissing yourselves that there was nothing we could do and gave me the worst headache I have ever had."

"We kept you and us safe m'lady," said a third calmer voice. "You know Chey-ra is no coward, nor is Kate. Nor for that manner am I, and I agreed with them," Exoristos said.

These three voices were always the loudest. These three were always closest to the "top" of the pile of people the wings stuck in her. The only thing any of these "people" had in common was that they all shared one soul. Hers. Well, okay, she was just the youngest to have it.

"I get that, I really do. But that needs to be the last time you do that to me," Shiera said with a sigh. "I have chosen to help people with the powers and talents you all have given me. The next time you try to intervene I will do what I want anyways and see how you like having me with you in our next life ."

No answer. Good. She knew they would not let her die. They wanted an end to the eternal curse. She dove down and flew following the roadways as a guide through the taller buildings that were still mostly intact.

J'onn J'onzz of Ma'aleca'andra

"The thought patterns of the humans continue to intrigue me," J'onn J'onzz said to Dr. Saul Erdel. The Martian was sitting quietly at a table in Dr. Erdel's lab, munching contentedly on Oreo cookies. He was in his true Martian form, utterly alien and green and with those red eyes. Dr. Erdel sat across from him, his hands steepled on the table, listening intently. "It seems no matter what happens happens to them, they immediately concern themselves with trivial things such as whether or not their hair is out of place, what sports collective is currently leading a division, or whether or not Starbucks is open, yet."

Dr. Erdel nodded. "We are a unique species," he commented, "but we lack your power to see beyond things most of the time. It is human nature to focus attention on something not immediately important, to get our mind off of what is at hand. It actually helps us focus."

"A trait I do not share," J'onn noted. "I can mold my body to look like one of you, yet I will always be alien to you."

Dr. Erdel was quiet. J'onn saw the cloud of pain that passed across the man's face. Erdel still felt entirely responsible for the accident that pulled the Martian Manhunter across time and space to Earth.

"But, I have adapted," J'onn reminded him. Erdel smiled and nodded.

"How is your job going?" Dr. Erdel asked him in reference to his latest employment as an investigator with the Metropolis Police Department.

"Well," J'onn answered. "In its capacity I am able to fulfill my sworn duty as a Manhunter."

Erdel cupped his chin in thought. "Have you considered making contact with this...Superman?"

J'onn finished the last bite of a cookie. "I have," he responded. "His name is Kal-El, of the House of El of Krypton. I knew his father."

"You did?"

"Yes."

Erdel opened his hands on the table in a prompt for J'onn to continue.

"I told you before after Ma'aleca'andra was laid to waste by the Curse I traveled the known galaxies. One of my journeys brought me briefly to Krypton, where I met with their Great Council. I offered aid to them, assistance as a law enforcement officer. They refused, except one of them, a great scientist and foreword thinker, a great being who befriended me for the very short stay on their world. This was Kal-El's father, Jor-El."

"Another secret for me to keep," Erdel surmised. "I am very fortunate, J'onn, to have met you, even through the circumstances as it were. Maybe it was fate?"

"There is no fate but that which we make for ourselves, Dr. Erdel," J'onn told him.

Erdel nodded. "Still, though, I would think you and...what did you call him? Kal-El? I believe you have a lot in common."

"I believe you are correct," the Martian Manhunter agreed. "And I shall make myself known to him. But first," he explained as he opened the package of Oreos wider, "I shall consume a few more of these."

"Chase This Light With Me." Jessi/The Flash.

Centennial Park was green again.

The ash had fallen from the sky for weeks after the event, and it had been like a second winter, and all the seasons since had been a little out of order, a little out of whack. They were having, what, their second spring this year?

Jessi Allen had never been an especially big fan of "outside," but it seemed like she would have been doing this second spring a disservice by not being out in it. And thus she sat, on her favorite bench, spending a lunch break enjoying the slow slow return to normality.

The brown paper bag at her feet was already half-empty-- even at normal speed, she ate like a starving wolf, and O'Shaughnessy's had one of these two corned-beef-and-cabbage sandwiches for $3 specials going on. She'd ordered three.

Not three sandwiches. Three two-for-$3s. Six sandwiches.

The breadcrumbs left over she'd leave for the pigeons, but for now she sank hungry teeth into vaguely Irish fast food.

She had a Bluetooth headset on one ear, but it wasn't turned on-- it was just for show. She even had her reddish-brown locks tucked behind her ear so that everyone could see it. There was a reason for that.

A very good reason. Actually, two.

One reason was that she found people were less likely to strike her up in conversation if they thought she was on the phone with someone, and that was good for her because she wasn't especially good at conversations with humans.

But the main reason was that she was in a conversation with someone, and that no-one else would be able to hear that person, and this all would all look a whole lot less weird if people thought she was talking to someone on the phone.

'We could do Soho after work?' the voice wondered. 'Always interesting things going on in Soho.'

Jessi considered that, chewing slowly. "England Soho or New York SoHo?"

'Either,' the voice replied, her "backseat driver," the ever-loving golden-eyed Flash. 'Hell, both. Yes, totally both. And back again.'

"And then," Jessi mused, using a fingernail to get a bit of cabbage out of her front two teeth, "we come back here and help with clean-up some more."

'Yyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhh fine,' The Flash grumbled. 'I get a good jog out of my system, I'll help rivet a skyscraper. But no more brickwork, that mortar takes forever to set and that's just about as boring as--' Jessi got a flicker of a mental image of a gesture at the park lawn around them '--watching grass grow.'

"Point taken," Jessi admitted sheepishly, adjusting her glasses.

They hadn't spent much time in The Big Apricot with The Flash in the "driver's seat," with the power in her stride that carried her from place to place like a bolt, like an electron jumping shells. This was his town, and while he'd never tracked them down to say they couldn't play in his sandbox, it felt almost sacrilegious to so without his permission. (Not that they'd sought Superman out to ask that permission, but a being that godlike and handsome-- the thought of speaking to him put Jessi's social anxiety into such overdrive that even brash-as-brass Flash wouldn't put her through that by running Supes down.)

They would, all the same, be remiss if they didn't help with the effort a little. Put a little shine back on the onetime City of Tomorrow. Power and responsibility, and all that jazz.

Right about then, her watch beeped and she frowned and pressed the buttons on it to shut it up. Lunch break was over, she had about a minute to get back to STAR-Labs on St. Marten's Island from here in the heart of New Troy.

'Oh,' The Flash wondered with blithe sarcasm, 'is it that time already?'

Jessi ignored her as she rose to her feet, auburn-haired beauty in drab nerdgirl attire wearing a pair of the sweetest running shoes money could spring for. She gazed for a long moment at The Memorial.

The Memorial to the fallen in the events of two years ago.

It had taken a long time to put together, given all the more pragmatic reconstruction going on around it, but there it was, carved elegantly in New Hampshire granite with the names of the missing and dead. If you had been particularly significant in the event, you got a plaque, like Nathan "Guardian" Hardy, but most of the names were carved.

IN MEMORY OF EMIL HAMILTON, one plaque read, followed by a list of his doctorates and the years of his life.

He always knew which way to turn.

(She had worked with the DARPA scientist during her time at Keystone-Central, he'd mentored her in advanced particle physics, and had been the one that had put her into the fast-track internship at STAR-Labs, an internship which had since turned into a paid position.)

They hadn't had a body to put in a grave, not with his having vanished into The Singularity Event, but. This was as close as she could get to a tribute. Visiting his plaque every day at her lunch break.

But he wasn't the only one she was visiting.

A little further down the memorial, amongst the carved names.

BARTHOLOMEW HENRY ALLEN. Her brother. Gone in a flash. He'd been miles from the collision of The Phantom Drives, they both had been, but because of the work she'd been doing-- She traced her fingers over the carving of the letters.

She wondered, just as she'd wondered before, whether the vortex that had claimed Emil had opened up somewhere else in spacetime-- whether her brother had gone to the same place; were they together?

Sitting on this bench and touching this memorial was like visiting with both of them, as best as she could, with no graves to bury them in. Same time tomorrow, boys.

But time was up, now, and she scattered the breadcrumbs before hurrying towards one of the footbridges that dotted the park, ducked under its shadow.

"You ready?" she asked.

'I was born ready,' The Flash replied, and that was as true as it could be.

The shadow of the under-bridge found itself lit for a moment with a crackle of golden-white light.

A gust of wind blew through the freshly-growing grasses of Centennial Park.

And she, too, she-who-was-two, was gone.

Oliver Queen

It was always fun to discuss business, it kept the mind sharp and it led to so much more avenues and avenues that it was almost something Ollie did just to keep himself from becoming bored...there was only two problems with his company dealing in Metropolis, the fact that it was the government men who dictated the weapons and electronic sales, that meant red tape and bureaucracy and then there was LuthorCorp. Not that there was anything wrong with the company, the problem was more the amount of money the company had to pay out to lawsuits after damages caused by tankers thrown about during the fight between the aliens. At the moment the expenses was draining the company's funds dry and Ollie had to decide if he would want to stay on or leave...he was leaning very hard into selling his controlling stocks and cutting ties with the Luthors...it may lead to investigations and right now Queen Industries was spotless...but Ollie's nightly escapades wasn't.

He was standing at the window of the penthouse suite, fingers stroking his jaw as he thought, his gaze was sweeping over the rebuilding effort, these were tough times, the devastation left in the wake of the battle was enormous, most probably as it was in a a city and the powers showed was immense...he smiled grimly, at least they had a lot of good men, men who gave their lives to preserve the Earth...and not to forget that there was a few good women involved as well. He sighed and turned away from the window, it was time for him to return to the boardroom, lunch was almost over.

She was looking out over the city. It has amazed her how much humanity had advanced since she slept last. But now was the time they had prepared for, now was the time of the gathering. The ones that the legends had spoken of had finally begun to come. And as the legend stated it started with the appearance of the Kryptonian. It was a shame, however in order for her people to survive they had made a deal with the devil and it was now time to fulfill their end of the bargain. In order to do that, the heroes of legend could not be allowed to unite.

“Mistress the chosen are ready to begin.”

She turned to see the face of her oldest advisor.

“They are aware that the recovery of the treasure comes first? Engaging one of the legends is secondary. We need to keep the treasures from being found by them or else they will become unbeatable.”

The man nodded “Yes my Queen they are well aware.”

The beautiful blonde woman finally turned to face him. “Very well where is the location of the first treasure?”

“It is here in Metropolis… the museum in fact. They believe it to just be a prop for a display. They have no idea of it’s true nature.”

“Then let us begin. The sooner we can find and collect all of the Seven Imperishable treasures the sooner we can destroy the legends before they can become the Justice League, and the sooner the Sheeda will be able to conquer our own world.”

With the order from his queen given the advisor turned and left the building they were using as their headquarters in one of Metropolis’ tallest buildings.
She stayed, however, and just continued to look out of the window and wondered if the Kryptonian would try to interfere or if any of the other heroes of legend would. Which one of them would fall so they could alter Earth’s destiny.

June 12, 2015 20:00 hrs.

The Jeffersonian Institute, the second largest museum in the United States had nearly been destroyed two years ago during what many call the Battle of Metropolis. But now two days before the 2nd anniversary of that event the Jeffersonian Institute was back and actually better than ever thanks to some high and mighty investors one of which was Metropolis’ own Lex Luthor.

Clark looked around as all of Metropolis’ movers and shakers, as well as members of the media were there for this. The reopening of the Jeffersonian Institute was a big thing, but what made this event even bigger was the fact that Lex Luthor himself was making an appearance. The man hadn’t made a public appearance in almost three years so everyone wanted to be there for this one. Lois was dressed to the nines in a blue outfit that just left Clark speechless. As for himself he was trying to feel comfortable. But being among all these people just made him feel nervous. As such Clark found himself near the food and feeding himself.

“You know Smallville, if you keep eating all those sweets you’ll soon find yourself being 700 lbs. and unable to get out of bed.”

Clark looked over to her. “Na with my metabolism it would take a lot more than this to do that.” He said with a smile.

Lois was about to give one of her classic come backs that would allow her to win this latest confrontation with Clark when there was a commotion. As they turned to look there was Lex Luthor approaching the microphone on the make shift stage.

Martian Manhunter

J'onn had succeeded in finishing off the last of the package of Oreos. He stood and shifted to the human form of John Jones, investigator with the Metropolis Police.

"J'onn," Dr. Erdel asked, "what happens to your clothes when you shift? Where do they go?"

"They are converted to energy," J'onn answered matter-of-factly, "and stored within my cells." J'onn removed his suit coat. "Which is why I can take them off and leave them," he added as he draped the coat on the back of the chair he had sat in. He then picked it back up and put it on.

"I've always wondered that," Erdel mused.

"And now, you know," J'onn said. He then stepped towards the door. "Good day, Dr. Erdel."

The Martian Manhunter left Erdel's laboratory and made his way to the parking garage where his MPD issued Ford Police Interceptor sat waiting. It was an unmarked, plain silver car, as was standard issue to investigators and plain clothes officers. As he pulled the car onto the street, he heard a radio call go out.

"All units in the area, 10-17 just occurred at Pi's Liquors, 1447 Blythe Dr. Suspects fleeing in a white, small four-door, possibly a Honda or Toyota. Suspect One is possibly a white male, early twenties, blue overcoat and black or dark blue ski mask. Suspect Two is unknown, possibly a black male, driving the vehicle. Suspect One is armed with a handgun. Suspect vehicle last seen heading north on Blythe."

A robbery at a liquor store. A liquor store that was just a few blocks from him. J'onn gassed the car down the street and made two quick turns onto intersecting roads. He came out onto Blythe Dr. right behind a white, four-door Honda Accord. He used his powerful vision to see through the window tint and viewed a passenger and driver that matched the description given out by Central Dispatch.

John Jones keyed his radio mic. "Two-One-Delta, Central, I have the suspect vehicle, occupied two times, north on Blythe, crossing Simms Ave. at this time."

Central Dispatch told him they were routing units to his location, and several police officers responded on the radio. J'onn activated his blue lights and siren.

The chase was on.

Hearing his coin clink and clank into the machine Jack Knight smiled as the coin made a “k-chink.” He was staring at a jukebox. The machine nabbed his selection then a song came through the speakers, “How’s the twenty-seven ten treating you?” Jack called back.

He was standing in a diner made to look like one from the fifties with the round shapes. The walls were seafoam green, the floors were black and white tiled, the booths and tables around the counter had a chrome finish with red leather. Bibbo’s Diner was a greasy spoon and a throwback to simpler times. Places like Bibbo’s were common back fifty to sixty years ago. French fries were called frog legs, burgers were all beef and not mad with filler, and diet soda was nonexistent if not brand new.

Somethings had to change so Bibbo’s could thrive in the modern world, but it tried to hold onto the past as much as it could. That’s why Jack Knight worked here years ago after” busting out” of high school with a degree. Part of Jack felt like he had the misfortune of being born in the wrong century. What wouldn’t have done to live in the days where something like a Bibbo’s could have been found in every town.

Peggy Lee began to blare on the jukebox. “There was never a man like my Johnny,” she sang. Bibbo burst through carrying out plates. Normally he just worked the grill but his staff was running late. After handing out the plates Bibbo grunted, “Yous always had a thing fer her.”

“Peggy? Yeah,” Jack grinned widely, “Pipes that could go on until tomorrow and the looks of an angel. What’s not to like?” he sat back down at his spot and looked at Bibbo, “If mine’s gonna take a minute it’s fine.” Jack rapped his fingers on the counter top. His black and skyblue bowling shirt hung on his frame and his black cargo pants were held in place thanks to a belt. If the walls were skyblue instead of green Jack could have been confused for an employee given the fifties design to the shirt.

When Bibbo popped back out with more orders he grunted at Jack, “Don’t mind ‘er,” Bibbo inclined his head to the juke box that stood proudly by the door, “She’s been good to me.”

“But the Wurlitzer twenty-seven hundred could have given you twice as many choices,” Jack said still kicking himself for not finding something better to give to Bibbo.

“She plays the Beatles jes fine,” Bibbo said going back into the kitchen.

Eventually Jack’s double cheeseburger and fries came out. The man smiled, “Thanks man. Appreciate the extra frogs’ legs,” he said before nipping at a French fry, or Frog’s leg depending on whose lingo you were hip on.

Taking a big bite of his burger Jack savored the taste of the meat, cheese, onions, tomato, mustard, mayo, ketchup, small hint of thousand island dressing and tried not to moan. What was in his hand was classic Americana. Munching on his burger he spoke with a mouthful, “Cn’t blieve ts bn too yrs.”


“What are ya five? Swallow that.” Bibbo said peaking back from the kitchen. While Bibbo was a hulking man that looked like he should have been a dockworker instead of a chef and restaurant owner, the guy did believe in swallowing in your food before talking.

Letting the food slip down his throat Jack waited a moment before speaking, “Sorry,” he blushed. “Just can’t believe it’s been two years since everything. ‘You are not alone,’ Aliens wanting to take over earth, the ash filled streets and the ash that fell like there was a wildfire nearby. It’s surreal.”

Bibbo nodded although there was a good ten to twenty feet that separated him and Jack.

The lunch time rush was in full swing but most didn’t mind Jack. They were mostly regulars and Jack was King regular, so most didn’t mind the small talk with Bibbo. Most presumed they were related and nearly everyone talked with Bibbo at some point about something personal so most saw this time as Jack’s turn to just shoot the breeze.

"Yeah. Crazy times. But what can ya do? I’m jes happy no one’s tryin’ to take over like that Mars movie. Y’know the one where the aliens just grunt and cry out. Had Jack in it,” Bibbo looked over a burger as he talked and even made the high pitch noise Mars Attack alien noise, “Like that.”

“I’ve got a set of those cards if you’re interested. The real ones and not the reprints.”

Bibbo shook his head. Jack decided to just keep on eating. Besides it was a crime to let a burger this good get cold.

Martian Manhunter - Hot Pursuit

J'onn pushed his car faster and almost touched bumpers with the fleeing suspect vehicle when the white Honda took a sharp left. J'onn turned his wheel and applied the brakes, the anti-lock systems screaming in protest, and brought his own vehicle around. They zoomed down the street now, both vehicles accelerating to definite unsafe speeds in city traffic.

The Honda turned again, this time to the right. J'onn made the turn as well and stuck to his prey like glue. He kept a safe interval, though, this time, wary of the suspect's possible intention to quickly brake and force a front-end collision that would activate his air bags and render his vehicle inoperable.

Unfortunately, though, the street they were now on was not only filled with other traffic but pedestrians as well. The street side shops were open with people moving to and fro. It was at one point several patrons stood from an outdoor restaurant sitting area and attempted to enter the street. They did so precisely after the Honda had passed them. They were caught up in their own world of smart phone communications and daily blah. J'onn nearly took them out.

He applied the brakes with one foot and struck the emergency brake with the other. His car wheels locked for a second, and he opened the e-brake up again, freeing the tires to spin. He steered into the skid he had caused, then steered out of it, turning his car sideways in the road. He missed the pedestrians. The Police Interceptor had now spun and crashed into the corner of a building. It had been entirely unavoidable.

J'onn exited the car and darted for an open alleyway near. Once around the corner, he shifted to his uniformed Manhunter guise and took to the air.

He flew and darted among buildings and streets, at times becoming intangible as he moved through brick and mortar and steel until he located the fleeing car once again.

When he located the Honda there were two MPD patrol vehicles in pursuit, their top lights flashing and their sirens wailing. He passed above them and came down on top of the Honda.

"The fuck was that?" the driver asked the passenger.

The other man shrugged. "Must have hit something?"

There was sound of rending metal as Martian Manhunter peeled the sheet steel top of the car back from the windshield frame like it was paper. J'onn's face peered in through the hole he had created.

"Stop the car," J'onn calmly ordered.

"Holy shit!" the driver exclaimed. The passenger, equally startled, raised his Beretta handgun towards the car's ceiling and fired at the screen skinned invader. The bullets passed harmlessly through a spectral appearance of the Manhunter. J'onn then reverted back to solid form, reached in and took the pistol out of the thug's hand. He smacked the man sharply across the face with it and then before the bad guy's widened eyes crushed the pistol into scrap. He dropped the crumpled 9mm pistol into the man's lap.

J'onn released his hold on the car and dropped back, varying his personal gravity field so he slipped behind and beneath the car. With his outstretched hands he gripped the Honda's rear bumper and heaved upwards. As he did so, the car's rear end was lifted and J'onn touched the pavement, taking three quick steps as he raised the rear of the car above his head. The front-wheel drive vehicle still pulled against him, so he twisted his arms and turned the vehicle on its right side. The car slid to a stop in the middle of the street.

Martian Manhunter floated to the upside of the car and touched down. With a single hand he ripped the driver's door from its post. He bent down and with one hand, then the other, the grabbed the thugs by the scruff of their jackets and pulled them from the car. He stood tall, then, and he held them up by their necks facing each other.

"I said, 'stop the car'," he reminded them. He then brought his hands together and the two bad guys banged heads and were rendered unconscious. J'onn floated to the ground as the pursuit officers were exiting their patrol cars. He dropped the bank robbers to the street. As the officers approached, he gave them a nod, and disappeared from the visible spectrum.

It was a good arrest, but what was even more spectacular for the internet connected world was when, about a half-hour later, one of the officers, who's name never made record, pulled his in-car camera footage of the huge, blue caped, green-skinned man taking out the bank robber's car. The officer burned a copy that was uploaded to YouTube. It went viral in minutes.

Not long after, and a few minutes past once J'onn had gotten his MPD issue car towed away and filed his report, he found himself on the roof of a five story apartment building overlooking the street where he had captured them.

J'onn thought he was alone, and he had been, but within a few moments he heard the sound of footsteps and a shouted word.

"Hey! You're that man from YouTube!"

"It is him! Timmy! It really is!"

"Wow!"

J'onn turned and looked down and saw two small children, a boy and a girl. They were wide-eyed and full of the expressions that children make when seeing something so cool.

"I'm Timmy," the boy said, "and this is my sister, Sally."

"I am J'onn," he replied as he nodded to the small, human child.

"Are you like Superman?" Timmy asked. "Are you an alien, too?"

"I am," he answered in a voice like red sand blown across a dune.

"What planet are you from?" Sally inquired.

"I am from Mars."

"Whoa! That's awesome!" Timmy announced. "So, do you chase down bad guys, too? We saw you helping the police on the internet!"

J'onn nodded his green head. "I enforce the law," J'onn told them, softening his voice as an adult would when speaking to a child. He found the children very endearing, and their innocent curiosity succeeded in softening his usual stoic manner.

"So you're a policeman?" Sally asked.

"I am a Manhunter," J'onn stated simply as if no other explanation should be required.

"Cool! What's a 'Manhunter'?"

But, before J'onn could explain, there came a voice calling both their names, a mother's voice, and Sally chided her brother that they had to go in. Prior to their departure, however, J'onn J'onzz removed from a pouch in his uniform a small pack of Oreos and gave a cookie to each.

Later that day, on the comments section listed below the YouTube video of dash cam footage showing the capture of the robbers, user timmy237 posted:

HIS NAME IS MARTIAN MANHUNTER!!!!!

Oliver Queen

Ollie sat in the backseat of the car, they had just pulled to a stop and his hand was resting on the latch of the door when a police car with wailing sirens came around the corner, in hot pursuit of a white Honda. Ollie saw a woman walking into the road, attention on her phone and not the road, how she did not hear the siren was beyond him. With an expert driving skill. The police vehicle avoided the pedestrian, but the skid took the vehicle towards a building and for a few moments Ollie lost sight of it. He opened the door and stepped out onto the curb, he found the crashed vehicle...but could not see the driver. He frowned slightly, but a beep from his phone reminded him of the meeting.

Taking his briefcase out of the car, he turned and entered the building, it still troubled him that the driver was not in the vehicle...but that would have some sort of explanation. Once more the meeting started and discussions opened again, a whole thrust and parry party, Ollie was growing increasingly frustrated, it looked like there was a power behind these negotations, bent on preventing Queen Industries to continue their business in Metropolis. Of course he allowed his frustrations to remain hidden, he knew that if he lost his cool here, it didn't just reflect badly on his company, but also affected any dealings in the future. So he gritted his teeth and subjected himself to the whims of the American Army's negotiations.

June 12, 2015 20:15 hrs.

People were still arriving at the museum, as such security was still dealing with incoming people as well as those that had already arrived. Only those that were on the preapproved list were being allowed to enter. “What’s your name sir?” the guard asked, but never really took his eyes off of his tablet.
“Ben Dover.”

The guard looked at his list and then finally looked up “I don’t see a Ben Dover.”

When he did he was greeted with the barrel of a very large gun in his face.
“That’s because it’s not a name. Now bend over.” The man told him.

When the guard did as he was instructed another man kicked him until the guard was now flat on his face. That was when the other men pulled out their weapons and jumped the other guards that up until then had been preoccupied. As had been expected the people that were behind them began to scream and panic. The armed men moved into the building with some of them guarding the doors and locking them. The others then split up as they infiltrated the museum. The larger of the groups went to the main hall and announced themselves with gun fire. Immediately this caused a panic and people started to scream and tried to run around.

Clark looked around and there was just to many people around, but he needed to find a way to get a way so that he could change.
There was another gunshot then a man spoke “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight’s entertainment. I only have one question… Where is Lex Luthor?”

As he said this the other men were had now corralled the people and were simultaneously looking for Luthor.

“If you don’t tell me I’ll have to start making guesses until someone tells me what I want to know.”

A man rose up and said "I am Lex Luthor. What do you want with me?"

The leader looked and fired his gun shooting the man right in the head. "I said I want Lex Luthor not his body guard."

That's when the real Lex stood up.

“Leave me by the churchyard, leave me on my own. The sun will come and take me back to my old home. Put me by the window, let me see outside. Look at all the places, all my family died. All my family died. All my family died,” blared from Truck speakers. Jack Knight mouthed all the words while unable to fight a tear that slid down his face. He was lying across the hood of his truck, a red 2000 Chevy Silverado C1500 pickup, as it stood in one of the parks. Centennial was too crowded. This place was right near the bay, which created a cool breeze that caressed his cheek.

Jack wasn’t really a truck guy and it showed. The truck had various dents and dings Jack didn’t care to fix. His truck was used mostly for hauling heavy collectibles like Juke Boxes and old carnival rides. To him the Truck was a tool, an expensive tool with shitty gas mileage.

He breathed out into the night air as the song changed. Inside the truck an L-Pod started up the next track. “I’m a person just like you. I got better things to do, Than sit around and fuck my head, Hang out with the living dead, Snort white shit up my nose and pass out at shows.I don’t even think about speed. That’s something I don’t neeeeeddd,” the song made Jack smile. Him and the straight edge movement weren’t going to see eye to eye. Sometimes the occasional drink after a good hard day of work was an indulgence of Jack’s. Straight Edge was anti-drugs, smoking and alcohol. Some sects of the movement were anti-sex before marriage.

Jack just liked the “F-You,” nature of the movement. How it was a counter-culture to the drug movements to the 80s. A thorn in the side of the embraced indulgence, he had to respect that. As the short song neared an end something played underneath the song, “Signal 41. Repeat Signal 41.”

Rolling off the hood with the utmost quickness Jack paused the L-Pod. He stared at a police radio that also rested inside the truck. Ever since becoming Starman he had a growing collection of police radios. One was in his home and the truck. He had yet to put one in his show car, but he knew it was just a better of time. As much as he didn’t want to become a hero Jack found it hard to stay away from the costumed-ego.

“Signal 41, Metropolis Museum,” and the rest was rattled off by the dispatcher. A fair amount of time was spent learning police codes in Jack’s off time. He wanted to know if a 10-81 meant a break in or a cat stuck in a tree. You couldn’t exactly be a hero if all of your time was dedicated to reprimanding jaywalkers and letting shooters run free because you didn’t take the time to learn the code. So Jack studied the lingo. So much time was spent in front a police radio in Opal City he knew which O’Dare was responding to a scene by unit number and voice.

Police codes were hard to properly memorize because each place was different. Opal City codes differed from Metropolis and they differed from Gotham’s. Metropolis was a place Jack liked to poke his head so he learned the big ones. A Signal 41 meant Starman had work to do because shots were fired.

Pulling off the bowling shirt Jack slipped on a the Kevlar vest then pulled on a black button up shirt, that he had altered into a t-shirt, that had various red stitching in spot. The back featured a white print of what looked like two eastern dragons, but they would go unseen once the leather coat was on. Nabbing the goggles Jack put them out and grabbed the Star-Rod. Locking everything up in the truck he smirked, “No rest of the wicked.” Yellow energy cascaded and glowed as he took to the skies.

Jessi/The Flash: "Across the Skin of The World."

Jessi had a Powerbar clenched between her teeth and a highly-stacked clipboard hugged to her chest as she strode through the gleaming corridors of STAR.

'I don't think you appreciate me enough,' The Flash decided.

This surprised Jessi, and she bit into the Powerbar so she could reach up with one hand and pluck it from her mouth, answering while she chewed-- after a quick check to make sure her colleagues wouldn't catch her mumbling to herself. "Mmnmmn-- ffwhat're y'talkin'bout?"

'You should go on more dates,' The Flash continued determinedly. 'Me getting laid would be a joke. There's no way a regular dude or chica could get me off, the way my senses are accelerated. This Superman seems nice, he'd probably be fast enough, but he sets off my marriedar like beaucoup. Like, either he's married or he wants to be. And, don't get me wrong, an evening at home with the lube and riding my vibrating fingers off into the sunset when we're both in the mood, that's nice and all, but I could seriously enjoy an actual cooperative orgasm for a change.'

Jessi almost choked, but managed to thud a fist into her sternum and swallow with watery bespectacled eyes. Hissing to herotherself, she tried to hide her now-flushed cheeks behind her clipboard. "(Warn a girl when you're gonna go NSFW, okay?) Besides, speaking of work, I appreciate you fine-- my 'boring-ass' job keeps us both fed, right?"

'Barely,' The Flash replied, but it had a shred of gratitude to it. 'I'm just sayin', The Flash cannot live on food alone. I need me another kind of midnight snack, right?'

"I'll," Jessi breathed, clearing her throat and wrapping up the Powerbar before shoving it into a labcoat pocket, suddenly even her appetite was gone for the moment, "try to be more social. I promise. I can't promise it'll always be guys-- or, uh, girls-- that you like, though."

'That's okay,' The Flash dismissed, and her mental voice really did sound totally chillax about it. 'I like everybody.'

Jessi harrumphed softly, and smirked as she murmured into the clipboard. "Yeah. With your hormones being in overdrive when you're in the 'driver's seat,' and your accelerated thought patterns even when you're 'out back,' you take the average sexual-thought frequency for a woman our age-- like maybe 8-19 times a day? --and skyrocket it."

'It's a curse,' The Flash sighed in a half-joking lament. 'But at least I get to enjoy a lot of scenery back here.'

They slowed to a stop outside the lab in which Dr. Mika Sovette did her work with the Markov girl.

...being, as she was, not so good at being social, Jessi hadn't had many conversations with Mika over the years she'd worked here. But she'd read interdepartmental memos about the quest to help Tara Markov... normalize.

Jessi was not herself a doctor-- she'd been hired into paid work straight from her internship --but STAR had a system in which the work she did dovetailed into a special doctorate program. She worked here long enough, doing things many PhDs would scratch their heads over, she'd have an official doctorate without ever distracting from the work by setting foot in a classroom.

(Emil had explained it to her, once, while she was working with him in Keystone. Part of STAR's way of recognizing different learning methodologies and not waiting to recognize the contributions of truly advanced minds until after they'd received a piece of paper. Also they feared the bursting of the educational system's bubble-- it would throw a normal laboratory's recruiting process into chaos.)

Speaking of Chaos...

The glyphs on Tara's bodysuit lit up, and took Mika's breath away. Jessi's, too.

'Take her, f'rinstance,' The Flash murmured softly, a little bit awestruck.

Jessi turned the color of her dark-red hair, but couldn't sputter a reply because other people had stopped by the viewing pane, similarly awed by the sight of Tara taking her first steps in a far-less confining prison.

'Oh, shoooosh,' The Flash chided her. 'Jesus, Jess, not all my thoughts are dirty, and, cardinal rule: we don't hit on the experimental subjects, you drilled that into me like-- sixteen-and-a-half times already. I'm just saying: that's-a some good scenery.'

"Yeah," Jessi murmured back after a moment, and one of her colleagues shot her an odd look beside her, but Jessi ignored him.

It was quite a story, this Tara woman.

Having been cordoned off for the world for so long-- Jessi could empathize, so could The Flash-- each of them spent part of their time having to watch the world through another person's sensorium, powerless to control their environment without the other person's express permission to switch back.

Jessi suddenly longed to talk to her, to Tara, to talk to Mika about Tara, and almost before she realized she was doing it, she touched the intercom key.

"Hey, uh, Dr. Sovette?" she asked. "I don't-- want to interrupt. It's, uh, Allen, from Relativistic Quantum Mechanics? I was wondering if I could have a look at your levels for the portable Gravo-Magnetic Chaotic Realignment? There's a certain amount of dovetail with my work." (Apparently some people did prefer the long version.) "Maybe be present as you interview Miss Markov about her experience therewith? I know it's not protocol, I should submit paperwork, but-- yeah. If it's all right with you. And Miss Markov, of course."

'Attafuckin'girl,' The Flash trumpeted proudly.

The other colleagues managed to be polite about their surprise. It wasn't usual that Allen was this... proactively interactive. She tended to keep herself to herself.

Probably their surprise was why no-one else complained about the breach in protocol-- either that, or they figured Sovette would do it.

UFP - Unidentified Flying Person

He drifted through the clouds of Jupiter, fingertips making ghost trails through the gases. Rolling over he slid down through the gaseous form of the Planet, laughing in delight at the things he could do.

Exploding outwards and upwards his form shimmered and glowed as he speeded up. Within moments he was cruising along the surface of Mars. He saw a flash as he passed over something made of metal. Looking back he watched as a small six-wheeled vehicle flipped over and over in the turbulence of his passing.

A slow gradual curve returned him to the small vehicle, it’s wheels spinning in the red air as it tried to right itself. Dust puffed around his boots as he guided it back upright, a soft green glow surrounding it. “Sorry little buddy.” He said with a wry chuckle.

Turning in place as operators on Earth tried to determine just what had happened, and what had up righted the craft. The only thing it saw was a cloud of red dust, a cloud that indicated a ninety-degree lift-off.

*****

Flashing down through the atmosphere of the planet designation 2814.38.C – Earth to it’s inhabitants.

Home.

It had been a while since he’d seen it’s blue sky and green lawns. The vibrant greens and blues of the oceans. Plunging into the Atlantic he dove downwards until he was singing with whales, and swimming with Dolphins.

Breaching the surface of Miami beach he didn’t even slow, his flight taking him meters about the sand and surf. His gaze flicking across bikinied babes and muscled hunks.

Pushing his speed upwards he hit the interstate and flew like the devil himself was chasing him. Or he was delirious with joy at being home. Earth.

Taping into the news outlets he drifted across frequencies trying to find out what had happened while he was gone. But most of it was boring crap.. and crop reports. Who the Hell listened to Wheat and Corn crop weather reports anyways?

He did manage to find a rock channel that was spewing forth “ole’ Rock Classics.” And then they got interrupted by breaking news. “Sweet maybe it’s the pork rinds update!!” the flying man whistled- sarcastically.

Flicking the frequencies as he discovered the price of Hogs was down, but Beef cattle was climbing, he found a police channel. Minutes later he had changed course and was heading west.

Oliver Queen

Bored meeting...hmmm perhaps board meeting meant the same thing? Ollie enjoyed discussions where he could actually haggle, wiggle and worm his way into a better position, but right now it was like talking with a concrete brick, one you had to handle with silk gloves. At the end of the day Ollie returned to his suite very frustrated, only to be reminded that he was invited to an opening of something...well it was the Opening of a Museum, he just wasn't very interested at that moment to go. With a lot of grumbling and empty threats, mostly directed at himself as he was alone, he got ready and dressed. The same black car delivered him to the museum, where he fixed a polite smile to his face and started to mingle with the crowd, his eyes searching for the man who have been evading his attentions since he came to Metropolis: Lex Luthor

The attack came suddenly, it was purposeful, practical, tactically sound and perfectly executed. There was much he could do, but the time wasn't right, he ended up two feet from Lex Luthor, the man who was costing him a lot of money. He met the eyes of the man demanding for Lex to stand, he didn't flinch and look away at the murder of the bodyguard, in hindsight it would have been better, perhaps a more attentive attacker would see this and it would prevent Ollie from any future actions. But the loud demand and Lex's reaction to the demand prevented him from being found out. He wondered what this was all about, but decided to stay down and shut up, for now it was the best course of action, but he knew that given just the slightest of gaps, he would take the chance of saving these people...perhaps not Lex...nah he would most probably end up trying to save the man as well.

Even after the battle of Metropolis, people just didn't tend to look up. Shiera was kind of glad right this moment however. She had so wished she could have gotten to attend this the normal way, but it was so not within her personal budget and the museum in Midway was so not going to send a measly restorationist to something like this.

People were still arriving at the museum, as such security was still dealing with incoming people as well as those that had already arrived. Only those that were on the preapproved list were being allowed to enter. “What’s your name sir?” the guard asked, but never really took his eyes off of his tablet.
“Ben Dover.”

The guard looked at his list and then finally looked up “I don’t see a Ben Dover.”

When he did he was greeted with the barrel of a very large gun in his face.
“That’s because it’s not a name. Now bend over.” The man told him.

When the guard did as he was instructed another man kicked him until the guard was now flat on his face. That was when the other men pulled out their weapons and jumped the other guards that up until then had been preoccupied. As had been expected the people that were behind them began to scream and panic. The armed men moved into the building with some of them guarding the doors and locking them. The others then split up as they infiltrated the museum. The larger of the groups went to the main hall and announced themselves with gun fire. Immediately this caused a panic and people started to scream and tried to run around.

Oh hell no! No no no you freaking Visigoths! Gunfire in a museum? Now it's going to be your asses!

Clark looked around and there was just to many people around, but he needed to find a way to get a way so that he could change.
There was another gunshot then a man spoke “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight’s entertainment. I only have one question… Where is Lex Luthor?”

All this for one rich dude? Seriously? She pulled the lanyard and the mace was in her hand.

As he said this the other men were had now corralled the people and were simultaneously looking for Luthor.

“If you don’t tell me I’ll have to start making guesses until someone tells me what I want to know.”

A man rose up and said "I am Lex Luthor. What do you want with me?"

The leader looked and fired his gun shooting the man right in the head. "I said I want Lex Luthor not his body guard."

That's when the real Lex stood up. That was also when Shiera's mace hit the sky light. She was so glad that there were no citizens under the window. As she dropped through the sky light she took a doubled handed grip on the mace and said through gritted teeth "Didn't any of your mothers teach you to play nice in a museum?"

Jessi/The Flash: "Terrestrial Light and Magic."

The door wssshed open, complete with old-school Glen Glenn Sound effect, and a pleasantly surprised Jessi Allen eased her way in.

Even as she arrived, though, before she'd even had a chance to glance all the way around the room, Dr. Sovette handed her the very device whose readouts provided the levels Jessi'd just mentioned.

She bit her lip for a moment as she gazed at the shiny new toy.

'Hey, Jessi?' The Flash wondered.

Jessi made an inquisitive noise.

'You told me once the human eye refocuses twenty times every second, so as fascinating as this is to look at for you I'd appreciate it if you panned or zoomed or something? Waiting for the video to buffer gets a little old if the frame never advances.'

Jessi grunted.

'I guess what I mean to say is, "Look back at The Pretty before I start singing The Song That Doesn't End on infinite fucking repeat."'

Jessi glanced up, wide-eyed, with a start--

--Mika Sovette was asking her something.

'Your name, doofus. Gosh, and I'm the one with attention-span issues? Also: the labcoatrix's not what I meant by "The Pretty," though I guess she's cute in the doctor-lady-from-Lost Girl sort of way.'

Sheepishly, Jessi grinned: "Uh, Allen. Jessi Allen. I'm in the practicum-to-doctorate program? We've kind of met in passing-- by which I mean, I passed you a straw in the canteen one time."

And then she flicked her attention to Tara.

The Flash exulted: '...the moment we've all been waiting for!' ...and then she made breathy crowd noises.

"Miss Markov," Jessi's smile became slightly less sheepish. "I've read about you. It's, um, good to finally meet you. I've heard there's to be stretching of legs tonight? I know kind of a little about leg-stretching. From a friend."

That's when the real Lex stood up. That was also when Shiera's mace hit the sky light. She was so glad that there were no citizens under the window. As she dropped through the sky light she took a doubled handed grip on the mace and said through gritted teeth "Didn't any of your mothers teach you to play nice in a museum?"

The leader shrugged “I never really listened to my mother.” He said giving a simple nod.

The nod was a signal to his closest men who sprung into action and attacked her.

Lois and Clark both took advantage of the distraction, Lois challenging and taking out some of the guards. Clark seeming to disappear.

Lex however didn’t move and actually stayed standing looking almost defiantly at the leader of the attackers. The man growled as he began to move towards Lex. “Do you know why you’re going to die tonight Luthor? Do you remember LuthorCorp Plant #3? How many lives you have hurt?” The man asked as he continued to move closer to the standing still Lex.

Oliver Queen

As the skylight imploded and a winged woman appeared, Ollie still did not move, he had learned a lot about patience. Some of the goons attacked the mace-wielding woman, some woman who was supposed to be a reporter actively attacked some of the guards...Ollie stood up,

"Get down!"

He glanced over at the weapon trained on him and nonchalantly brushed imaginary lint from his sleeves,

"I'm getting my suit all wrinkled, it's expensive you know."

He kept brushing at his suit, smoothing it over, seemingly unfazed by the weapon trained on him, this infuriated the guard and he rushed in, weapon pulled back to hit Ollie. The chop to the throat, weapon ripped from hand and cross hook to the jaw was much quicker than anybody would have expected, Ollie pulled a pin, seperating the pistol into two pieces. With deadly accuracy he threw them, hitting two more guards, not killing them, but making them know that they were mere mortal men. Ollie wished for a bow, but since there was none, he started to move to take down the leader of the gang who was almost on top of Luthor.

The leader shrugged “I never really listened to my mother.” He said giving a simple nod.

"Attack!" Chey-ra cried within the shared mind! The others slipped back as Shiera relaxed and let the muscle memories of ages past take her.

The nod was a signal to his closest men who sprung into action and attacked her. They opened fire, and Shiera spun into the incoming hail. As she spun, the Nth metal flowed almost like silk yet harder than steel. The wings wrapped around her like a cloak, absorbing all of the kinetic energy of the bullets, and allowing them to fall harmlessly to the floor.

"Swords" Shiera thought as she felt the serenity of Exoristos, and a feather shaped sword slid out of the wings into her waiting hands. Right in front of two of the men Shiera came to a halt, her wings snapping open and ridged once more. The tips slapped a gun man per tip right in the face, sending them sprawling. The two gun men, behind the first pair, howled in shock as the swords made contact with gun barrels and the barrels flipped away clattering to the ground.

She lunged after another but he managed to twist away. In her inexperience she allowed herself to make a mistake. She relied on her own fighting skills, focusing in after the one that dodged her. She lunged again, but another of the assailants saw it and as she leaned in on the attack his rifle stock caught her in the back of the head, putting her on the ground stunned.

All hell broke loose in her mind.

The Outskirts of Metropolis

Dr. Saul Erdel's laboratory was actually nestled quite nicely within an industrial park on the outskirts of metropolis. This was one of those "new and improved" parks full of green energy companies, aerospace engineering plants, and a few parking garages scattered here and there.

J'onn J'onzz sat once again at a table in his true, indeed-alien looking Martian form and munched on an Oreo.

"It appears you are now known to the world," Dr. Erdel surmised after viewing the YouTube video. The video had gone viral within a few hours and was well over one million views.

J'onn nodded. "The wonders of modern technology," he said, quoting a human he had heard somewhere before.

"And," Dr. Erdel stated as he scrolled his mouse, "you have a name."

"I do," Martian Manhunter replied, "and it is J'onn J'onzz. Or, if you prefer, John Jones."

"Oh, no," Dr. Erdel turned his laptop so J'onn could see. Erdel hovered his mouse over the video comment made by timmy237. He then right-clicked and highlighted it.

J'onn sat back. He took another cookie from the package. "Fitting," he agreed.

"This 'timmy237' must have some insight," Dr. Erdel postulated.

"'Out of the mouths of babes'," J'onn offered, once again drawing on his knowledge of human history and literature for a quote.

A flat screen television hung on a wall directly across from where J'onn was seated. The Manhunter had not been paying attention to the TV, and it's volume was set to MUTE. But, when the screen colors changed and the words BREAKING NEWS came across, J'onn concentrated sharply and the television's volume increased to an audible level.

Dr. Erdel, startled by the sudden volume change, turned sharply to see the screen.

"Did you? Did you just?" Erdel asked increduously.

"I have limited telekinetic powers," he explained, "that mostly control small and simple objects."

Erdel shook his head, awed at the seeming continuous evolving powers of this Man from Mars. "You know, J'onn," Dr. Erdel told him, "I've been wondering about your full spectrum of powers here on Earth. Do you possess them because of your presence here, or are they--"

Martian Manhunter held up a four-fingered hand for Dr. Erdel to be silent.

The television news' breaking news reported shots fired at the Jeffersonian Institute and a possible hostage situation.

"I must go," J'onn announced. And before Dr. Erdel could reply, the Martian Manhunter disappeared from his sight.

The cosmic energy trail cut through the trail with its yellow glow. Starman, aka Jack Knight, is getting ready for his debut in Metropolis. Parts of Opal City call him their hero. Other guys just some jackass in a pair of goggles with a fancy staff that thinks he’s a hero. It depends on who you ask.

His leather jacket starts to sway in the air as he flies around the museum. No cars look out of the ordinary nor do the people. Nothing screams “Getaway vehicle” or “Wheelman.” By the time Starman makes it to the skyline he sees a winged woman battling. His eyes widen as they drink in the sight. She’s kind of hot in a Xena Warrior Princess meets Anime meets those Hawkmen from Flash Gordon kind of way.

“You’re on,” he thinks to himself and points the road downward. He floats in the air and energy goes downward. Aiming for the guns Starman waits to see what happens. “Oh shit,” he cries out. What he wants to happen is to see gunmen suddenly lose their weapons, the leader to be precise, if not a few henchmen.

What –actually- happens is the actual gunmen start to float upward. The panic setting on Starman’s face makes him unsure if he gotten the head guy or just a hired goon. “Okay, new plan,” he frantically thinks to himself as one, if not more, people start to float up to him. At least one thing is going his way…if they shoot him they die too. Hopefully someone good would grab the staff.

When the first one makes it up to Starman he smiles, "So, here's the rub. You drop your gun and I don't drop you. You don't drop your gun in five seconds I could slip," and just to prove his point he "slips." If there's more than one, the entire group falls, but all of them are snagged by the Rod's lift seconds later. Again he doesn't plan for all of this, but Starman rolls with it. There's sill some bugs to be worked out with this whole hero thing.

Hopefully, a gun is dropped but just in case Starman smiles, "I'm not just talking out of my ass here. I will drop you." His face is cool, straight and unmoved. Thanks to years of haggling Starman has quite a pokerface. "Choice is yours."

Inside only one thought runs through Starman's mind, "Need to work on the rod's precision. Would have been so much cooler just to grab the guns." He shrugs while he waits as his mind is still going, "Worse case scenario I can just feed the bad guys to the Winged Xena down there. She'd probably be okay with hitting a goon shaped pinata."

He kept brushing at his suit, smoothing it over, seemingly unfazed by the weapon trained on him, this infuriated the guard and he rushed in, weapon pulled back to hit Ollie. The chop to the throat, weapon ripped from hand and cross hook to the jaw was much quicker than anybody would have expected, Ollie pulled a pin, separating the pistol into two pieces. With deadly accuracy he threw them, hitting two more guards, not killing them, but making them know that they were mere mortal men. Ollie wished for a bow, but since there was none, he started to move to take down the leader of the gang who was almost on top of Luthor.

She lunged after another but he managed to twist away. In her inexperience she allowed herself to make a mistake. She relied on her own fighting skills, focusing in after the one that dodged her. She lunged again, but another of the assailants saw it and as she leaned in on the attack his rifle stock caught her in the back of the head, putting her on the ground stunned.

All hell broke loose in her mind.

When the first one makes it up to Starman he smiles, "So, here's the rub. You drop your gun and I don't drop you. You don't drop your gun in five seconds I could slip," and just to prove his point he "slips." If there's more than one, the entire group falls, but all of them are snagged by the Rod's lift seconds later. Again he doesn't plan for all of this, but Starman rolls with it. There's still some bugs to be worked out with this whole hero thing.

Hopefully, a gun is dropped but just in case Starman smiles, "I'm not just talking out of my ass here. I will drop you." His face is cool, straight and unmoved. Thanks to years of haggling Starman has quite a pokerface. "Choice is yours."

Inside only one thought runs through Starman's mind, "Need to work on the rod's precision. Would have been so much cooler just to grab the guns." He shrugs while he waits as his mind is still going, "Worst case scenario I can just feed the bad guys to the Winged Xena down there. She'd probably be okay with hitting a goon shaped piñata."

The leader who was now floating in one of Starman’s force fields smiled. He didn’t know if this guy was bluffing or not. But what he did know was that he had more than one ace up his sleeve. He smiled and then opened up his vest to reveal a rather complex bomb. “Oh yes you can drop those of my men that you managed to capture. But then you risk this… and the ones my men are wearing going off. I somehow don’t think your force fields is strong enough to contain all of the blasts… Hero.” The man used the word with disdain on purpose wanting to judge the other’s reaction. At best he now had the advantage, at worst it was a standoff.

As he spoke to the young Starman the others had begun to move closer to the hostages that hadn’t managed to get away during Hawk Woman’s entrance. Even the men that Ollie had temporarily disabled were once again on their feet. And the way they were scowling at him they were planning on taking out a measure of pain on the billionaire for their aches.

Jessi/The Flash: "Klaxon, Klax Off."

"That is, arguably, the strangest thing I've heard anyone say in a very long time, Miss Allen. But please, lead on."

Jessi blushed, not for the first time, as red as The Flash's uniform, rolling her eyes at herself. "Yes. Well. Little-known fact. My eventual doctorate will not be in quantum physics but in saying awkward things."

The Flash simply repeated, wryly, affectionately: 'Doofus.'

Tara slipped her arm into Jessi's, and let herself be lead.


The crisp night air rushed over her, almost drowning her, as they stepped outside.

She breathed in deeply.
She heard the grass growing.
Heard the vibrations in the ground from the subway miles distance.
Heard the underground rivers and the settling of ancient stones.

"I'd almost forgotten what the open world felt like."

Jessi stood there for a moment, gazing at Tara. At the... luxuriance that descended upon the poor reluctant Girl in The Quantum Bubble.

And apparently The Flash was enjoying the aforediscussed scenery, because she did not complain one bit. (God, that was rare, Jessi took a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet the way that Tara was enjoying listening to The Wind Beneath The World.)

And then a humming buzzing insistence went off in Jessi's pocket as her cellphone reacquainted itself with celltowers after having been locked away in STAR's underground oubliette.

Glancing quickly at the readouts on the remote device for Tara's protective field, Jessi then fished her phone out of her pocket, thumbed the passcode to unlock the screen-- 3X2(9YZ)4A --and realized, to her horror, that this was the police scanner app that she'd written letting her know about--

'Oh, shit,' The Flash breathed, and Jessi couldn't help but agree.

Worried brown eyes found Tara. "Hey. Um. Miss Markov."

"I think we might have to cut this short. Something's come up, and I--"

"I really need to run."