Lex Corp
Darkness had fallen over the city, the sky was filled with heavy clouds and the occasional flash of lightning, predicting a strong downpours, and the streets were buzzing with bustle as everyone rushed to get home before it began to rain. In the heart of the city, every office in the highest skyscraper to adorn its skyline remained lit as every employee worked tirelessly to complete whatever task their boss assigned to them.
As of recently, their major mission was to search down the god of war, Ares, who had abruptly abandoned their boss, prompting him to offer a large payment to anyone who made a breakthrough on the case. Lex was currently at his office, reviewing various Lex Corp reports that he had put off in favor of finding Ares and collecting the DNA samples he need. His reflections and thought process were interrupted by his assistant, who entered his office with a folder in hand.
His security guards outside his door let her pass because it wasn't the first time she had done so, and they knew Lex valued her and her services.
"Have you confirmed anything from this report yet?" he couldn't believe all these events happened and he did not get any report about them from his usual sources. Given that he was busy pursuing other things, he should have at least heard of them.
"The warehouse has been scrubbed clean and no record can be found indicating previous ownership." His secretary, Rachel, informed him.
"No one can be that clean. Dig deeper, there must have been something you missed."
"I did, sir." He looked at her.
"Okay. Then how did you find out about all these?" as the information he was looking at were all very detailed and very sensitive.
"I actually copied them last night. I could not earlier because the target would have been suspicious." That statement paused all his reading and he focused on her, putting the file aside.
"Who?"
"I would not want to bother you with such trivial matters. Please allow me to do this for you. Any information I can get off of him will be yours, sir." She gave a small bow in respect. He had done so much for her that she wanted to do something in return to make him pleased and when the perfect situation arose, she jumped on it.
"I am the one to give matters their trivial statue and not you or anyone else. Is that understood!" he banged his desk enraged. Why do all the good secretaries suck after sometime?Is it that the money overwhelms them or what...? He never understood. Now this one thinks she knows what's best and has probably made a wrong move already. He leaned back in his chair and looked at her form. I have to fuck her before I kill her, it'd be a waste for all that to go to waste. He thought as the document she brought him contained extremely sensitive information only a sleeper agent or deep mole could retrieve. She isn't a model but she is still up there.
She watched as he looked at her over and over again, possibly having a discussion inside that magnificent brain of his. From all the things she's seen so far, she shuddered thinking negatively on it.
"My niece is fucking Amanda Waller's son. I had her retrieve the information from their home network." She revealed waiting for her boss's praise for stepping up.
As soon as those words came out Lex Luthor lost it, shot up from his seat, circled the table, grabbed her by the neck and pointed a gun at her head. "I should just kill you right now even though I've not fucked you yet, stupid bitch!"
She was too startled to do anything as she was watched his face contort in anger, which she found confusing since he should be happy she had infiltrated Amanda Waller's network for him, which could turn into be a mine of information. She started chocking and tears welled up in her eyes as he was much taller and stronger than her.
"Do you know what you have done!?" A gun shot sounded in the confines of the sound proof office. Everyone else in the building, including the guards that stood by his door none the wiser.
"He was probably the bait that you two couldn't resist. She may already have tracked you here." That realisation made him move away from the enormous windows.
"It's not." She gasped in pain looking up at him while trying to stop the bleeding in her thigh. Tears were flowing continuously from her eyes. "He's her son for real and he loves my niece." She explained thinking as to how many times she caught them at her apartment before she decided to safeguard her niece by doing a back ground check whose results were not convincing enough before trying the resources she now had access to.
"How do you know he is her son because I know you did not meet them during Sunday dinner or brunch."
"I hired a private investigator." She spoke up sobbing resorting to leaving the wound open.
He shook his bald head. "They would not know where to start looking if they don't find anything on Google. Try again."
She remained quiet and looked at up at his imposing figure. That was when her strategic mind caught on to what her people pleasing mind failed to comprehend at the time.
Another gun shot was fired in the room and Rachel cried out again in anguish as her other thigh was shot.
"Fucking idiot!!! You used Lex Corp resources to look into Waller's son a few weeks after her warehouse was infiltrated because it housed a kidnapped Knightwing!" he shot all the rounds up into the ceiling to empty the gun because at the rate by which his anger was skyrocketing he was going to kill her.
"I was. I was...trying..." She sobbed regretting everything she ever did after finding out the boys true heritage. Her desire to please Lex was higher than her strategic thinking.
"To what! Huh?" "To what!" Lex shouted down at her sat figure on the floor.
"Cause I'll tell you what you just did! You have made me a target to what I did not orchestrate thus have no contingency plans in place." Just what he needed. While spending his resources searching for the god of war, his secretary had become a not so secret agent. I will have to start not relying on personal assistants.
"That is not the worst part of it" his voice turned low when he thought of that. Rachel looked up at him teary eyed with her make up smothering itself all over.
"This is personal. Not business as usual. Using her son. Personal!! Fucking bitch." He moved away from her before he strangled her and picked up the file that had fallen on the floor and started reading it again. He knew that if she knew, all her resources would be focused on him because that was what he would have done had someone gone after his family. And of course she knew. Why wouldn't she. He looked at Rachel quietly sobbing sitting on a pool of her blood on the floor.
He pressed a button underneath her desk and a security guard entered immediately and drew his weapon at the sight of blood. He scanned the room and saw his boss sitting comfortably on his desk reading a file.
"Get her out of here and have someone patch her up."
"Yes sir!" he went ahead and carried Rachel out of the room before instructing his partner to contact the cleaner. Their boss's office needed to be spotless at all times.
Lex picked up the file. He might as well read the report now that there was nothing he could do, meaning his search for Ares was to be put on a hiatus.
He was intrigued by the move Black mask made, no doubt to him having a silent partner because the black mask he knew and mentored couldn't orchestrate such, let alone have the finances to back it up. Case in point when he was retrieved by Waller's people. Death stroke, the only other name as feared as much as Batman's on the streets. He always wondered why he preferred working for Amanda Waller even though he once offered him so much money than her.
Black mask on the other hand was among the top crime lords according to most people but to him he would always be a thug, an errand boy who never gets enough and eventually bites the hand that feeds him. That was dumb of him. He thought. How could he have thought that going against the Amanda Waller would end differently than being in a jail cell and in his case, a black site.
That brought his thoughts back to him. He knew Waller was coming for him as his secretary just went after her teenage son. Her child. And there would be hell to pay for that. Probably in the billions of dollars, his billions of dollars to that of the government's that was Waller's personal war chest.
If it were the child of any other high profile target, it wouldn't have mattered but this was the child to a person controlling majority of the government's backdoor shady deals. He thought of Rachel.
"Yap, I'll have to think about another thing to offer her to wipe Lex Corps fingerprints all over this incident."
He intended to serve Rachel on a silver platter but thought against as she showed initiative that she was cut out to do his kind of shady deals. He will have to fix this situation.
She would have to accept whatever he came up with otherwise it will be a long drawn out war between them and given the contacts he has already made in the government, the war won't hurt him too much. He may even play his trump card of taking over Waller's job from right under her.
Who knows?
Watchtower
Ben and Thor teleported into the watchtower each striding their fastest to reach their secret control room that J'onn was now manning. They passed the other junior members along the way, engrossed in various discussions, Knight wing and team arrows' situation among them.
"Is there any news?" Thor asked as soon as he set foot inside the control room where Hal and Bruce were having a serious discussion with J'onn. They all turned.
"There you are!" Hal moved to meet Ben while Batman continued to talk to J'onn. Thor joined them.
"I'm sorry I disappeared but it wasn't my fault."
"I thought you might have gone back to your world or something. You know we have phones right?" Hal chastised. He had scanned that area for over an hour for any clues as he was sure he did not see the usual bright green flash when he changed.
"What if something had happened to you and you were on my watch? He would've thought I kidnaped you." He pointed to Batman who was no doubt listening in.
"I said I'm sorry. I could have called it in but I was busy helping Thor stop a rampaging battle suit." He put his best apologetic smile forward and turned but stopped when he saw Batman stare directly at him.
"What?" he moved to stand beside them.
"You have an AI, you don't need to call it in."
Hal quickly joined them, "That's right. You want to ditch me? Fine. Just make sure I don't spend the next few hours looking for you when I could be out here doing something much better." "Or fun."
"My friend does not jest. We have battled against an indestructible machine that the might of Miljonir merely added to it strength." Thor somehow pleased with whatever J'onn informed him backed up Ben.
"Really? Where...? In the middle of the ocean? Indestructible machine...yeah right" Hal was not having it and apparently Batman too as they had not received a report of any battle involving either of them. The emergency lines did not blow up with the usual frantic calls.
"Where is it?" Batman asked knowing they had defeated it otherwise they would have been involved too.
"I am afraid we left it back at Themyscira for the amazons to store it in their vault." Thor dismissed their worries. "It was a great battle Hal Jordan of OA." He bellowed slapping him on his back causing him to step forward. "You should have been there!"
"Did you just say you were in Themyscira?" J'onn asked suddenly interested in the conversation.
"Yes my friend. I was battling against that monstrosity then Ben here appeared out of nowhere and joined the fight." He pointed Miljonir at him.
"You left me in the middle of the ocean to go on a solo quest to an island full of beautiful half naked women!?" Hal was livid. "I know you don't like me because of our competitions and all but that was just low. Even for you, dude."
Batman looked at both of them and thought of the last report he had from them. "I know you were with the queen at the embassy and that's how you ended up there. You are a god. It's understandable." He turned to Ben. "How did you get there? You were with Hal over the ocean." They all turned to him, including Thor who had not yet received an explanation too.
"Okay, but do not blame me if you don't not believe me." He explained to them what happened and how everything went after that.
"Your Asgardian form allowed you access to their land by negating the magic protecting their barrier with us. Makes sense." The dark night summarised and turned to the computer to type somethings.
"You're like a high school football captain getting all the hot chics in school." Hal complained not believing what he was hearing. So Ben, Superman and that weird air force guy were the only mortals to ever set foot on Themyscira. "It's not fair you get to do all the cool shit and you're not even from here."
"Do not worry my friend. When the queen deems you worthy, you shall be invited too." Thor as usual had no idea his method of convincing wasn't quite convincing. Hal remained deep in thought.
"You have to do what you have to do." Ben smiled replaying all the videos he had of Themyscira in his HUD. He kept them private as he was sure the queen would not like it when he showed other mortals. Trixx had also informed him of the message Kelex had sent of confirming Kara and Cate were safe with Diana. Though there was no mention of Superman or the hulk.
"What happened to the others?" he asked coming to stand beside J'onn who was monitoring various live video feeds but the one showcasing team Arrow and Knight wing had a larger tab.
"Superman and Hulk are battling Mongul but the others are already safe in space waiting for them." J'onn explained.
"They will be back as soon as they can, in the meantime we have to upgrade our security systems." The dark night was always scheming as he typed into the computer. No one was worried about superman or the hulk still held up in a fight with the war lord.
"You're right about that. How can our scanners miss those three setting foot on earth." Hal wondered. "In Maxima's case, I get that it was the guardians, but Mongul and Lobo should have been detected. More so their space ship and hog."
"The guardians should not be able to do something like that without our knowledge." Everyone looked at the dark Knight. "It's too dangerous." He added still typing.
"I will ask Cyborg if he can do something about that. He handles all our upgrades." All of them nodded in agreement.
"I will help him." Batman looked up at him. "It's not like I have anything urgent I have to be doing." Ben supplied.
"I can't believe you would say that when you are just from Themyscira. Lots of things to do." Hal was still frowning about being left behind. I am a green lantern damn it! The name alone should command respect.
"I will make sure to speak to the queen about your request." Thor tried again sensing his uneasiness. Hal was like the avengers who have always wanted to visit Asgard but his father would never allow a mortal in their realm. He didn't see them as a worthy race because of how weak they were showcased by their short lifespan.
Hal lit up, "She will definitely hear what a god advices her. Alright." They shook on it.
"That is black mask's associate." Ben pointed to the opened video tab showing Hawkeye and Iron man interrogating a lady.
"Yes she is. How did you know?" J'onn asked as it was only live video feeds streaming on the monitor. Batman perked up from the side computer he was using to decrypt the flash drive he recovered from Black mask.
"Facial recognition." He revealed. "I see he's been caught too."
At that information, they all turned as Ben and Thor were not present when they were discussing the chances of Waller having him kidnapped.
Batman walked to him. "How do you know that?"
"It's in the report."
"What report?" he looked at J'onn who shook his head indicating he had no idea what he was talking about.
"This report." He pointed to the screen and Trixx displayed it. Batman turned and perused through the pages detailing exactly what they knew happened.
"Oh, I see now. They are from Lex corps servers." He informed them after noticing its origin.
"You've hacked them." It was a statement from the dark Knight.
"It's not hacking if you have a back door into their system...legal loopholes." He added when J'onn looked at him.
"Just like you hacked the guardians." Hal mumbled beside Thor both watching how Iron man's interrogation was proceeding and the other live video feeds. Kelex had not gotten back to them yet on Superman and Hulks status.
"You hacked OA's system." Batman looked at him in surprise then at the watch. I have to get used to it. "We'll talk about that later. Right now I need your help with this." He gestured to the computer he was using. He might as well give him a go at it.
"What is it?" He saw some sort of decryption algorithm running.
"Something Black mask gave me regarding who he works for." I can't locate Cyborg to help me decrypt it.
Trixx scanned and connected to the computer.
"Can she decrypt it?"
"Let's find out." Ben spoke as the decryption program batman was running stopped and deleted itself then Trixx's green lines of code appeared.
"Where did he get it from?" Ben asked as Trixx was conveying very troubling news to him.
Everyone in the room was now focused on the monitor still disbelieving how Ben or Trixx was doing all that while he just stood there and watched the computer. The watch on his hand did not stir.
"I didn't get a chance to ask him. That's why we took her." He pointed at the interrogation.
"I hate to say this to you but...you're losing your mojo." Hal unknowingly commented loudly, thinking it was in his thoughts.
"What did you say?" he turned to Batman realising his mistake...
"I mean...you couldn't get any information out of her. What makes you think they will?" he pointed to Iron man and Hawkeye who were taking turns surrounding the lady.
Before he could answer, Ben did "We have to ask her because this code is similar to that of the mother box."
"What!" Hal moved forward to look at the screen and put his arm up to scan it.
"Don't do that." Batman pushed his hand away and Hal looked ready to disagree but backed down at the intense stare he got. "We need to know what is going on before you tell your people who will start dictating orders."
"Another time then." Hal conceded knowing they would have most likely wanted him to confiscate that computer, and the witness and probably track down Black mask. Anything to do with Apokolips was a threat to everyone.
"Wait, the mother box is a boom tube not a computer." Hal spoke up after having thought about it.
"He's right. They only use it to get in and out of Apokolips realm." J'onn supported him as his many years of existence in the universe he had never heard of Apokolips having any AI.
Batman was silent. Thor had since walked out bored of whatever they were discussing and went in search of food.
"It is an AI. A very sophisticated one much like the one the guardians use."
"How did you know?" "Forget I asked" he added recalling how he hijacked three whole harvest ships by himself.
"That makes sense. Apokolips would need something to regulate all the boom tubes and technological advancements." The dark night frowned at how he had not deduced that earlier. "Stop decrypting it. It's a trap." He gestured to the flash drive.
"I know." Ben responded unwaveringly. "Let's see what they wanted it to do." Trixx was decrypting it and running an adaptation algorithm to its coding at the same time.
"Are you sure?" Hal was sceptical. "It's apokolips we are talking about here."
"Yes."
"Good. Let me get answers from her." The dark night moved with determination towards the door.
"I doubt the second time is the charm." Hal called out. "I would propose J'onn here but any form of telepathy would make any apokolipian soldier kill himself violently." He was a witness to one such case.
"I'm batman." He walked out.
On the screen they saw him go inside the room and dismissed the others. The lady still wasn't cooperating. She sat still, looking at the dark Knight no doubt assuming everything he was saying.
"What did I tell him? They fear apokolips more than Gotham's Dark Night." Hal chuckled watching batman try the stare down technique again.
"Do you think they subjected her to intense reprogramming?" Ben asked as he that in one of the reports Trixx put together for him.
"No way. Otherwise she wouldn't have been able to think for herself. She'd be a zombie by now."
"Cool let me try something." He scrolled through his watch feeling excited.
"What about this?" Hal motioned to the computer. "No alien you have will scare her straight out from apokolips thumb."
"It will be fine." He dismissed the decryption which was still going on. That was what worried him. For such a small hard drive it contained a very complex encryption. "Who said I want to scare her straight." He scrolled through the various holograms.
"Don't tell me you have an alien that will talk it out of her because you can't fight that." The fight would wouldn't last a second.
Ben found who he was looking for and pressed. He disappeared in a bright flash of green light, both Hal and J'onn covering their eyes for some seconds.
Opening them again, Hal had no idea who he was staring at. Well...he knew because he had some of Ben's facial features but that didn't explain anything concerning the tall, exceptionally well-built figure, and he didn't know if he could say handsome without being referred to as gay. There was something about him that he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He couldn't accurately describe him. He was like the father of all models, the inspiration to all models.
"Almeraci." J'onn's comment filled in the blanks as Hal scanned his form for the second time.
"An almeraci indeed." Was his comment as he noted that his physique was more defined than Superman and Thor. His versions, Supreme and Blaze were also outmatched by this sample in terms of everything. His clothes? The omnitrix did what it does best, made a hybrid of what Blaze and Supreme wore while preserving his signature look. "I wonder what Maxima would say when she saw a male version of herself." That was a fun thought. "Would he be worthy?"
"Are you also a flirt?" Hal couldn't help but ask. "Coz in no universe will I ever go anywhere not work related with you in this form." He shook his head. That was a stern NO.
"I thought you had mastered the art of seduction. Afraid of a little competition?" He gave him a signature smile that showed of his perfect white well aligned teeth and a hint of dimple on one cheek.
Hal stared at him. "I welcome a fair competition. Not one with someone literally made for seduction and whatever else you got going on." He gave him a once over again, this time not even trying to scan him with his ring.
"The watchtower is about to get disoriented." J'onn couldn't help but chuckle as he saw how Hal reacted to Ben's form even though he was a human male. He was lucky to be straight otherwise...
He could smell all the potent pheromones he naturally emitted, which, when in close proximity to him would be capable of 'turning on' any entity he desired. It was exactly everything he saw and smelled on queen Maxima during her short visit to earth. Their physical appearance having an appealing vibe to whoever looked at them. Races with superior physiology like Kryptonians, Martians and most recently Asgardians could not be easily influenced by what superior Almeracians, notably Maxima and whoever Ben turned into, produced.
The omnitrix was a very unique weapon according to him as his ability merely allowed him to shape-shift into other forms but the omnitrix turned Ben into the actual forms, with emotions and everything.
"I think I'm going to call this one Klaus." He flexed his muscles as he towered over Hal. "I love how he is intimidating."
"Well, you got the name right, seeing as how you have a British accent." Hal couldn't help but stare. That damned watch!!! With this I could have anyone I wanted. All the possibilities...
"I don't have an accent." "He does not have an accent." Klaus and J'onn spoke over each other.
"Come on, I know an accent when I hear one."
"That's just it. The pleasure part of your brain..." J'onn began.
"Stop!" he put his arm up. "I don't want to hear it. Let's go." He stormed out not looking back. Klaus followed. J'onn turned to the monitor and pulled up a video feed showing the path they would take.
Noticing all the stares directed in his direction, he turned and sure enough Klaus was behind him striding along. The entire path to the interrogation room was enveloped in silence till they arrived and signalled for Batman to open. He came out.
"What do you..." he paused and scanned Klaus. He saw the omnitrix on his hand and scanned him again from head to toe. He looked at Hal who shrugged and pointed, "He has a solution to your problem."
"He who?" Batman was still scanning Klaus. He hadn't seen this form before, so doing a little math and the way his appearance garnered attention. "Almeraci."
"Yeah, how do you know?" Klaus smiled excited. He could feel the power flowing through him and all the telepathic powers he currently had. Though they weren't as powerful as a Martians.
"I know." Was his simple answer as he looked up at Klaus who towered over him. "How are you going to help us with this?"
"Get this, he'll seduce the answers out of her." Hal chuckled waiting for Batman to join in. "It's hilarious, right? If the dark night failed, then..."
"That may work. Get in." He stepped aside for him to pass and looked at Iron man and Hawkeye who had been staring silently from the other side.
"You can't be serious." Hal couldn't believe it. "This, I have to watch." He moved to the glass panel but Klaus was already coming out of the room.
"She says he had been dealing with an old lady."
"Granny Goodness." Batman guessed as he knew of her.
"We should find cyborg too." Batman looked at him. "That flash drive is supposed to activate something immediately it accessed your systems according to the code inside it. We need to go over the watchtowers security with him."
Batman nodded and walked off but kept looking back. Fucking watch!!
"There's something about you." Iron man scanned Klaus as they walked out of the interrogation area. Jarvis results came back 'unknown' as usual.
"What?"
"He's right. There's something about you...." Hawkeye was also at a loss for words..
"How did you get her to talk?" Hal was curious. Was it the same technique queen Maxima used on her captives.
"I told her she would really be helping me if she talked, then she talked."
"So some kind of telepathy."
"Not really. I asked and she told. Simple." Klaus answered as they strode into the cafeteria.
"There he is!" "Where?" "Who is that?" Were among the whispers and murmurs circulating in the cafeteria among the other league members.
"Hi there." They turned to see Zatana in her magic attire beaming up at them with a wide smile and blushed when Klaus smiled back at her.
They greeted her back but she continued to stand there looking at them.
"What's up with her?" Iron man asked Hal as he was the one who knew her.
"I have no idea." He dismissed ushering them to a nearby empty table before ordering their food.
"Is it me or is everyone staring us? Hawkeye had scanned the room and noticed it.
"Not us. Him" he pointed to Klaus who in turn was staring blankly into space. Probably talking to that AI of his. I wish my ring had an AI like that.
"I don't get it." Iron man's face plate opened to get a good look at whatever Ben had transformed into now.
"The next time you see queen Maxima face to face, you'll get it."
"You mean the lady Natasha told us about? The one who's looking for a mate?" Hawkeye had been curious about that. How can a queen not find a suitable mate for her in a whole planet? He figured it was the queens fault somehow, either her manners or something else.
"That's the one."
"If she's looking for a viable mate then why didn't you guys point her in my direction? Last I checked I am still single." Tony patted his armoured chest proudly. "and ready to mingle."
Hal burst out laughing. They looked at him. "What? Make sure you have your sperms stored before looking for her coz she'll break you like a twig. Including that suit of yours."
Hawkeye chuckled as that statement gave rise to a whole debate within the three of them considering Hal boasted of sleeping with her but he also had some sort of suit.
Klaus on the other hand was monitoring whatever was being broadcast about War world exploding and killing everyone in the process, even their leader. When he heard the news his first instinct was to head over there but Kelex had re-established contact and informed them they were on their way. He tuned back to the conversation.
Across the room Zatana had gone back to her table where she sat with the Huntress, vixen and Black canary.
"So who was he?" the huntress asked unable to take her eyes off him.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? I thought you weren't intimidated by anyone." She shot back.
"I'm not. I kind of lost track of everything after greeting them. What I know is that he is so my type." She admired him.
"Mine too." "Mine too." Mine too." They all repeated still looking at Klaus.
"I didn't know eating could be so sensual." Vixen sighed. She had been the one to walk past them earlier going to the interrogation room and ran to her friends to tell them about the newest mysterious member.
"Everything he does makes me want to go there and start making out with him." Zatana sighed dreamily, looking at their table. "I don't know what has gotten me this hot and bothered." She was literally fanning herself.
"Let me call him over for you if you're too scared." That voice was like pouring a bucket of ice cold water on them. They shot up startled and saw Batman looking at them and then at the whole cafeteria. Everyone was in a daze looking at the group. He had to put an end to this before they found themselves in a riot.
"You need to tie a bell in that suit of yours." Zatana huffed, the only one not afraid of the dark knight, and started eating again. "And I chase my own prey, thank you very much." Her mood changed. One effect of interacting with the dark Knight.
"Don't you have better things to do than ogling a fellow colleague?" It was more of a statement and this was directed to the three of them.
"Whoa whoa whoa...hold it right there. We are eating, with a view." Black canary motioned to Klaus. "Nothing gets better than this."
If batman could roll his eyes he would have.
"You are smearing our field of view, go away and ogle wonder woman or something. Leave us alone." Zatana shooed him away hinting at the rumour going about in the watchtower.
"When they drool over Diana in her swim suit it's okay, but us appreciating beauty is where they draw the line." She added when he walked away.
"Serves him right." The huntress chuckled. "Come to think of it. I haven't seen her around for a while."
The others focused on her, "You're right, Superman too."
"And Kara." The huntress added missing her friend.
"Maybe they are on an off world mission." Vixen suggested. "Or they took some time off and are in Themyscira."
"Men are not allowed in Themyscira." Zatana shot back. "Noooo!" she exclaimed suddenly.
"Well I don't hear any of your suggestions." She shot back at Zatana who was not paying attention to her.
"Where is he taking him? Stupid idiot."
Vixen turned to see Batman walking away with Klaus. "It's not like we won't see him again."
"Shut up. I'm no longer hungry." Zatana got up to leave and the others followed her. Slowly but surely every female was leaving the cafeteria.
"That sucks." Tony was the first to remark as he saw their table was no longer centre of attraction.
"Wait till you add Superman and Thor, then it will be depressing." Hawkeye retorted not caring about it.
"I hate to admit it, but you're right."
Elsewhere
"Have you found him?" Klaus asked as they walked back to their control room.
"Not yet." He answered and watched the passers-by. "You will have to regulate the amount of time you turn into an Almeraci." Every female ogled as they passed.
"Klaus."
"I decided to name him that." Klaus grinned as one female hero waved to him. Turning to Batman, the grin disappeared.
"I understand completely."
"Good. Now onto our cyborg problem. I have tried locating him but it's a dead end." They entered and found J'onn pacing around. He stopped and faced them.
"I can't trace him anywhere. All the activities in the watchtower for the past 48 hours have been erased."
"Not erased. Transferred." Klaus informed them as he watched Trixx's decryption of the flash drive complete.
Batman was on alert. "Transferred!? Where? By who?" His instinct and force of habit had his body gravitate towards the monitor but he refrained. That AI of his could do more than his computer skills right now.
"To Cyborg." Trixx took over the monitor and displayed the contents of the flash drive. "This code in the flash drive was an activation code. Very complex according to Trixx." Klaus went over to the computer and retrieved the flash drive.
"Activation code? What would granny Goodness want to activate in the watchtower." As soon as he finished that statement it dawned on him.
"Cyborg." Batman beat him to it. "His father used the mother box technology to revive him."
"Are you sure? His coding does not match to it." Trixx would have connected the dots by now.
"It's doesn't. It's a hybrid. He once told me he created his own computer language." Batman cursed. Cyborg was connected to almost every technology in the watchtower.
"I haven't been able to link to his mind."
"The activation code must have reset everything he knew."
"You're right." Klaus agreed the more Trixx broke it down for him.
"You need to secure our network, make sure Cyborg does not do anything we will regret." The dark knight ordered Klaus as his brain went into overdrive.
"I will have to scan and alter everything in your network including yours." He looked at him. Silently meaning the batcave.
"Do it. You already have access to most of it anyway. We don't know what they are after."
"Okay. Trixx, you have their permission." The main huge monitor lit up with Green lines of code as she was overriding everything that had Cyborgs finger print on it while scanning the entire network of any breaches and any corrupt files. To do this, Trixx paused everything else she had been working on to focus her processing power on it.
"I have detected the mother box's presence exporting copious amounts of data." She voiced using the monitors' audio system.
"Cut it off and trace its location." Batman hurriedly said as he watched whatever she was doing on the monitor. He watched Trixx trace and triangulate the location to the watchtower. "He is physically hardwired into our entire network." It dawned on him. Which could only be done in two places. He looked at J'onn who nodded and disappeared through the floor.
"Why couldn't we trace him before yet he was still on board."
"Trixx?" Klaus did not know the answer to that. Even J'onn with his telepathy couldn't trace him.
"The mother box has completely taken over his systems. The team mate you once knew as Cyborg is no longer there. The activation code in the flash drive was used to reset the mother box Cyborg housed inside his body."
"Damn it kid!"
Klaus glanced at him. "What?"
"He told me he destroyed it after the incident."
"Clearly he didn't and now the mother box knows everything Cyborg knew." As he mentioned that his acute senses clocked Batman tense. And that made him wary. Batman never tensed.
"Will that be a catastrophe?" For sure it will create problems but they needed to know the scope of it.
"Trixx, access protocol M.A.R.Y N/S and block Cyborg from all operational projects."
They watched as Trixx tried accessing it but failed. 'Access Denied' popped up each and every time. Even the details about it could not be accessed. Batman cursed beside him. That was why the mother box laid low for all this time, it was hacking that protocol to make it operational without Batman's, Superman's and Wonder woman's biometric scans. Fuck!
"Mother box has locked everyone out and has heavily encrypted it. I can hack it but it will take some time which we may be lacking." She went ahead and locked down all the other projects.
"Why did it target that particular protocol and is actively shielding Trixx from it?"
"Because it knows it's our secret weapon. It will activate it." Batman clenched his fists watching how Trixx resumed scanning their entire system. In doing so, she had already found a weakness she highlighted was being used by the guardians to spy on them.
"What does it do?" Trixx was really doing away with everything linked to Cyborg as they saw her deactivate the betting site too. A notification popped up on the bottom of the screen.
"It does not matter because she's locked us out and there is no stopping it." The dark night retrieved a secure phone from his pocket and typed in a message. "It is a giant energy canon."
"That is not so bad. We can destroy the canon before it launches."
Batman looked at him wishing that could have been possible. "You are standing in it."
"What do you mean standing in it?" Klaus looked around confused.
"The watchtower is a weapon in its entirety." Trixx understood what he meant and displayed the watchtowers schematics in a small tab on the monitor. Using her intelligence, she designed a rough sketch of how it should look like.
"I did not see that one coming." This universe was full of surprises. A weapon the size of the watchtower. Crazy. "Wait a minute, what powers it up?" This would need an enormous powerful power source and not many were stable enough for the job.
"The sun, it stores energy harnessed from it."
Again Trixx took that information into account and highlighted every part of the watchtower that contained a solar panel.
"But that would take forever to charge unless it has been active from the beginning." His calculating gaze confirmed everything. "You are dangerous."
"I know."
"But this will ruin the justice league if they target any part of the earth."
"I know. The Whitehouse." That would be his target if he were them.
"That's disastrous!" He paused, his senses picking up something. "The tower is shifting its position."
"It is transforming while locking on to its target." His instinct urged him to move to the computer but he refrained. There was nothing he could do that Trixx couldn't do better. "We can't evacuate the watchtower in time to destroy it before it fires." If they had caught on earlier they would have many options.
J'onn, Iron man, Hawkeye, Hal and Thor walked into the room.
"J'onn briefed us on the way. How bad is it?" Hal asked looking at the monitor at the very many random tasks that were being processed. Trixx
"You don't want to know. Where is Cyborg?"
"He used a boom tube to get away." I ran into them on my way back.
"Why is the watchtower moving about?" Thor asked as his senses had picked up on it on the way.
"It has locked onto the Whitehouse." Trixx alerted as a live video feed of the white house appeared on the monitor.
"What has locked onto the Whitehouse?" Iron man asked as he watched the screen noting that was the reason why Jarvis no longer had access to the league's systems. Trixx was cleaning house.
"We will not recover from this." J'onn murmured as he watched the live video feed showing the president being evacuated in a convoy of heavily armoured armed vehicles.
"What are you guys going on about?" Hawkeye was tired of trying to piece together clues from them.
"We are about to attack the United States of America." J'onn supplied trying to think of ways to avert it. He couldn't phase the beam if he wanted to. It was too big, too powerful, that being the idea in case Darkseid returned. How ironical was it that he was attacking them with a weapon supposed to be used on him.
"Who dares? Point me to the villain!" Thor bellowed now that he got what they were talking about. No one responded.
Hal was deep in thought after having been explained to whatever was going on by Batman in the hopes that he could use his ring to divert the strike into space.
"The best I can do is direct it into the ocean. My ring is not charged at full capacity to handle this much firepower up close." He could try but that would just make things worse.
"This is all cyborgs doing?" Iron man was still surprised. The kid was really friendly.
"That's not our main concern now. This is." J'onn pointed to the tab showing the canon was in its last stages of being set up and minutes away from firing.
"The might of Miljonir will counter it!" he held it up moving for the door.
"The diameter of the blast is too wide for you to counter. That's why it was a weapon of last resort meant for Darkseid." The dark knight called out to him but he was already gone.
"Any blast that escapes will be directed into the water." Hal spoke up and also went out. The watchtowers alarms had since started blaring and the heroes on board were conducting room to room checks for the cause.
"I doubt they will succeed. We need to start planning for the fallout and backlash we will receive." They both nodded.
Klaus who had been silent staring at the screen looked to them. "Trixx has secured everything important. I need to go and help. We will continue later." He motioned to the monitor and vanished. He needed Trixx to finish because the alien he thought could help did not allow him to interface with her.
Batman looked at the spot he was standing and thought. Of course he has super speed.
"So does queen Maxima." J'onn added guessing his line of thought.
"Touché." "Let's go and organise search parties and help groups for when they fail." They walked out.
Earth
Every relevant authority in the super power governments around the world were currently in their various war rooms discussing the justice leagues daring play.
Amanda Waller on the other hand had earlier received an anonymous text that made her issue the evacuation order for the president and his family.
I need to change this number was her thought after securing the president. She too was in her office with a live video feed of the watchtower which looked like it had transformed into a canon and was powering up to fire.
If that happened, she will not have a choice but to launch an attack against the justice league meaning her plans for Lex Luthor (who was also watching) had to be put on hold. At the back of her mind she suspected this was not the justice league's action and someone was using them as she had been used. She saw the green lantern and Thor in front of the canon discussing something.
"It better not strike my country!"
In space.
Klaus appeared beside them, staring up at the massive hole that was the canon. The watchtower had fully transformed into a mega weapon and his senses started warning him of the apparent danger of being in its path of fire.
"What are you doing here? We've got it under control." Hal spoke up, checking the amount of power his ring had. They could feel the radiation being emitted from the firing zone.
"Let us hear him out. I have learned not to under estimate this great warrior." Thor praised pointing Miljonir at him clearly thinking about Themyscira.
"Fine." At the back of his mind Hal knew he was right and Ben was maybe the only one who could minimise the damage done by this thing. He had come to recognize the omnitrix as the most powerful weapon in the universe. "Actually, I have an idea. You could turn into that Clockwork guy again and give us time to redirect the blast." That could work.
"No." Hal was about to angrily defend his plan but Klaus beat him to it. "I have a better plan." He told them.
"This is what we are going to do." He explained everything as fast as he could and they took positions.
"What are they doing?" "Green lantern should be the last in case he needs to create a shield for the planet." Were among the murmurs of the heroes in the watchtower, as some watched from the live video feed while some with great eyesight from the huge windows. They were now in the know of what was taking place.
Most of them surprised they had been working and sleeping inside a giant weapon. They watched as Klaus disappeared in a flash of bright green, in contrast to the blinding white light that emanated from inside the canon. Hal was creating some sort of huge funnel that was heavily reinforced considering what it needed to direct to whatever that thing was.
"Hal can't expect that scrawny thing to deflect the beam! It's suicide!!!" Zatana exclaimed to her group, who were subconsciously nodding and unable to look away. They were surprised Klaus turned out to be Ben, the shape shifter. Some chastised themselves for falling for a teenager. Never again. They thought to themselves.
They also knew if that beam were to hit the most important landmark on earth, the justice league as they knew it, was definitely over. According to them, Thor should have been the first one since Superman was on an off world mission. The tall scrawny creature should not have been in the picture at all.
Back in space, Hal and Thor took a minute to stare at Ben's new form. So many weird aliens. They thought dazed a bit as they stared at a humanoid alien that had a black body with one green eye in the middle of his head, two antennas with plugs at the end, a tail with round plugs on their tips, four fingered hands with plugs and feet with only two toes. He wore a green vest and had gold battery bolts on his shoulders, arms and hips.
As much as they had questions about it, they had to wait. The canon had charged up to capacity, thus all of them could feel the radiation and took their positions as per their plan. Hal reinforced the already reinforced funnel and concentrated. This was going to be tough given the quantity of energy he was about to try to control.
The canon fired, and everyone in the watchtower shielded their eyes from the blinding light it produced. The earth's population looked up to the sky when they heard the sound of the beam being fired and could see something shimmering in space. They didn't know what it was as no news agency had gotten wind of it yet, only the top governments and organisations with satellites up in space were aware.
Hal grit his teeth as the beam made contact with his reinforced funnel and decimated many layers of it before being directed to feedback, who simply held up both of his arms. He used his tail to project energy behind him as a stabiliser, allowing him to hover on the spot. He braced himself, and the plugs on both his hands split the emerging beam into two then quickly started absorbing. His plugs attracting the beams his way, none spilling out.
"Now I remember why I liked this guy! Feedback rules!!!" he shouted, exhilarated, as the energy fought to get absorbed into him.
Behind him was Thor, stunned and eyes threatening to bulge out, spinning Miljonir with one hand to keep on hovering on the spot.
"Where did it disappear to?" Vixen asked as she saw the beam flow through the funnel toward Feedback then it was gone. Everyone was watching too surprised to say anything since they could feel the intense heat generated by the energy beam.
Hal grit his teeth, and veins bulged on his face and hands as he approached his limit. He had a dozen reinforced funnel walls remaining, and they were breaking every minute. He had never concentrated this much since he joined the green lantern corps. His rings AI had also warned him that its charge was almost depleted.
The beam broke through and Hal was thrown back by the force before passing out and floating away from it all.
Feedback, who had noticed the funnel was weakening, got ready to receive the brunt of it as the two antennas on his head moved forward to join his arms.
The funnel broke apart, and the beam came surging forth full force, the diameter increasing now that it was free and the four plugs fought to attract and absorb it. From a far it looked like the huge beam was getting sucked into a tiny black hole with no spillage whatsoever.
He was slowly being pushed back by the force of intake making him to bring forth his tail to balance it out, forgetting that he needed it to hover on the spot. The force pushed him back while he was still absorbing the beam. Thor saw this and moved to help him by looping his arm around his torso then keeping them afloat by spinning Miljonir with his other arm. His arm around the torso was slowly turning red and would have been burnt to a crisp had it not been for his nearly invulnerable dense skin.
Feedback did not have to check who just supported him because he knew, so he focused on his task. The beam seemed endless, but eventually its intensity gradually reduced untill the canon's charge depleted. The watchtower started transforming to its normal state.
Thor let go of him and inspected his arm while feedback started using his tail to hover.
"Are you okay?" feedback could see his arm was a dark shade of the colour red.
"This is nothing to worry about." He dismissed his concern and examined him from head to toe.
"Energy can't harm me." Feedback knew what he was thinking. Everybody thought of the same questions each and every time making him know the next one to be asked.
"My friend." Thor was still puzzled. "What did you do to it?" "Where did it go?"
"I absorbed it all. It's my super power." At that statement, Thor let it go having some sort of understanding about super powers.
"You will never fail to amaze me!" Thor bellowed smiling wide even though he kept looking at his form. "You're appearance is that of a serpent, very strange." If they had met under different circumstances he would have no doubt killed him as those were the creatures they hunted.
"I get that a lot." Feedback felt fired up, energised and was flying about in space. "Let's go see if everyone is alright." They flew towards the hanger.
Apokolips
All the projections around the throne room were of the watchtower just after Hal, Feedback and Thor saved the day.
Two furies and every parademon in the vicinity were now piles of ashes after Darkseid witnessed earth foil his attack again. Desaad, trembling like a wet chicken, stood beside him, but he was too valuable for him to simply obliterate. He and the mother box were the ones who discovered Cyborgs connection to Apokolips via his inactive mother box during their long range scan thus instructed him to use Granny Goodness to make his plan a reality. Everything went well untill it didn't; the justice league discovered their plan too late, Superman was off world on a rescue mission, they had no defence against their own weapon and the earthlings would loath them at the end but nothing was as easy as that.
Darkseid's palm crushed a part of his throne as he stood up and walked to the space in the wall where he watched over all of Apokolips.
"Sire, I will devise another plan and this time I will not fail you." Desaad bowed so many times that he felt dizzy. Darkseid was quiet, his enhanced eyes roaming about and occasionally flexing his muscles. He is angry. I am so dead Desaad thought awaiting his fate.
"The shape shifter. Who is he?"
"I am afraid I do not know, sire." Darkseid's gaze found his and Desaad nearly fainted at the sight of the flames dancing around his eyes.
"Mother Box has everything the cyborg knew about the justice league. Mother box." He called. "Who is that shape shifter?"
His mother box detached from his person and floated high then projected the omnitrix for them to see.
"According to Cyborgs database, this is called the omnitrix and it is the device that allows him to shape-shift into different species" A picture of Ben 10 popped up next to the omnitrix.
Darkseid fully turned and walked to the projection and started interacting with it. Desaad was also intrigued. He had never seen such a device before or symbol for that matter.
However way Darkseid tried, the image could not break down the components of the omnitrix and merely put up 'Error' every time.
"Mother box fix this thing." He commanded.
"I am unable to fix it as not even cyborgs scanners could determine what it was or what it is made of."
Desaad stood up, his curiosity over weighing his fear. "Mother Box, how does it work?" Darkseid waited for the answer.
She pulled up a video of Ben changing to Supreme by pressing the omnitrix. "According to Cyborgs notes, the user selects what specie he wants to become and then presses the omnitrix."
"Really!?" Desaad sounded excited but a 'huff' coming from beside him made him shrink back.
"What do you mean? Explain it again from the start what this watch can do." Darkseid spoke as he looked at Supreme who in no doubt strongly resembled the Kryptonian. They had initially thought he was a shape shifter like the Martian manhunter.
The mother box explained to them everything Cyborg had in his notes about the omnitrix and the rest of the team including the avengers.
"Sire! We must have this watch to replicate it for our forces. We will be unstoppable!" Desaad could already picture himself turning into a strong specie. He deserved that. This was more than enough reason to invade earth.
"Silence!" Darkseid looked at all the projections and everything Cyborg noted including evidence of him turning into other species including Blaze, an Asgardian. The watch was indeed powerful if it could replicate a gods DNA to an extent where even he could sense the potency of Blaze's power from light years away. Scanning whatever alien DNA it did not have was also the most powerful function it had, according to him, which lead him to his current predicament.
There was a high possibility of it scanning him and taking his DNA thus making the human kid be able to turn into his own version of himself. He couldn't have that especially since it turns him into a prime version of the specie. He himself didn't know if he was past his prime or not, given he was millions of years old and did not seem to age like other gods.
The Kryptonian had also travelled to War world to rescue his cousin and the amazon's sister from Mongul, the warlord. He knew Mongul intended to subdue and have him as his Champion but in case that happened, he would have to intervene as he still needed Krypton's database and their DNA sample. Mongul was no match for him and if he were to put up a fight, he would simply destroy War world to teach him a lesson.
"Mother box, can you shut down the omnitrix if you were in range with it?"
"I cannot quantify an answer to that question."
Desaad gazed at the mother box puzzled. There was no machine it could not shut down. The guardians Man hunters were proof of that.
"Explain yourself."
"The omnitrix contains one of the most powerful and sophisticated Artificial Intelligence I have ever interacted with. I have since linked it to the AI that disabled me from the harvest ships and the attempted hack into Apokolips main servers."
"Cyborgs notes did not contain anything about an AI. How do you know it has one?" Desaad couldn't help but ask.
"The watch would need an AI to function as flawlessly as it is and I had an encounter with it right after the justice league deduced our plan."
"So can you shut it down or not?" Darkseid was getting impatient.
"I cannot quantify an answer to that at the moment." The mother box repeated. All the simulations it had done regarding Trixx produced inconclusive results.
The mother box blew up in flames as twin omega beams receded back to their master. The remaining furies around the room looked on warily. Desaad waited for his master to speak.
"You will find a way to kidnap him before he changes to anything. Cut off his arm if you have to." Darkseid motioned to Ben's picture.
"Sire, whatever form he takes, he is no match for you master." Desaad bowed his head.
"No one is a match for me except me." His eyes sizzled for a moment before they came down.
"Oh!" Desaad exclaimed having understood what he meant. Why didn't he think of that? Suddenly a thought came to his mind and he couldn't help but smirk in his crouched position.
"Is that hope I smell coming from you." Darkseid no doubt suspicious as to what he was smirking about but he was saved when Steppenwolf came barging into the throne room in haste.
Desaad breathed a sigh of temporary relief.
"You better have a good reason for interrupting me."
"Sire." He came to kneel in front of his throne. "War world has fallen!"
Desaad unknowingly rose and looked at him.
Steppenwolf produced his mother box and linked it up with the throne room. True enough they watched as every major planet had it as a breaking news while footages showed enormous debris where War world once orbited. "They are reporting the Kryptonian blew it up. Survivors gave testimonies they saw him fight." Steppenwolf expected this news to shock them but they were indifferent which meant one thing. They know.
"So the Kryptonian destroyed a whole planet because Mongul kidnapped his cousin?" Desaad didn't think Superman had it in him to do such acts. "I thought he did not kill."
"Mongul kidnapped his cousin?" that was the first time he was hearing that. "He defeated Mongul!?" that was troubling.
"Does he scare you now, Steppenwolf?" Darkseid noted how he took in the news. "The Kryptonian has killed Mongul. Could you accomplish such a feat as my executioner?" Darkseid studied him.
Steppenwolf knew he was a god and was powerful but Mongul was also on a league of his own. He wasn't sure if he could permanently subdue him. But that meant if the Kryptonian killed him then he was stronger than Mongul meaning...
"Did I not ask a question?"
"You did sire. And I can kill him." He said with confidence although on the inside he doubted.
Darkseid knew he lied but let it go. He needed his services for his next plans.
"Get out." Steppenwolf didn't have to be told twice.
"You better have the Kryptonian database the next time I see you." Darkseid warned Steppenwolf who walked away cursing at his luck as Kalibak was probably a head of him in planning for it.
"Word will spread about the Kryptonians feat and people will start respecting the justice league." Desaad informed his Sire because Mongul was just as hated as Darkseid so most planets did not view the news as a loss.
"That is why we need to clip his wings as soon as possible."
"Go and formulate a strategy to get me that watch." He dismissed Desaad and sat on his throne thinking on everything that he just found out.
Almerac
"My Queen." General MC knelt at the bottom of the stairs leading to the luxurious throne where his queen sat, announcing his presence to her. He then stood up and looked at the queen, whose sole attention was on the tablet she was scrolling through.
Queen Maxima glanced down at him then continued perusing what she was reading. Her attraction to Superman quadrupled as she read about War world. A mate who would destroy a planet for her. Especially one strong enough to kill Mongul. Exactly her type of mate.
General MC continued despite her silence because he knew his queen would have his head if she found out later. "My Queen. I have received important information about earth."
Queen Maxima dropped the tablet on her lap and focused solely on him, eager to hear what he had to report. Ever since her encounter with Superman and the Justice League at the fortress of solitude, Maxima had instructed her General to form a clandestine unit whose sole focus was to spy on Earth. Her interest was beyond peaked as she had even informed the board of ruling members that her choice of mates had been narrowed down to three contenders. The board however wanted proof showing they were the right fit for their queen as her bloodline could not be mixed with any regular bloodline. Thus they also agreed on the formation of the clandestine unit.
"Are you going to make me wait all day to hear news about my betrothed?"
"Forgive me my queen." He took out a tablet of his own. "I have identified an Almeraci among the justice league helping them during their recent scuffle."
"So? It's not something new. Almeraci are free to travel everywhere with the right paperwork." A thought came to her. "Or is it one of them being irresponsible on their mission?" he would regret it. Messing up her future like that was cause to be hanged.
"No it's not. This Almeraci is not in any of our citizens' database." When one of the spies reported it to him, he dismissed their concerns until he ran his own investigation. "We should have been able to notice this particular almeraci if he had been born or lived here."
"He may have been born somewhere else but the parents did not register him." She reasoned as almeraci citizens were everywhere in the universe. Not registering your child was also punishable by imprisonment.
"I doubt that my queen as no other almeraci could have given birth to him. The other human, Thor, was also with him." The general insisted and added. No one apart from Queen Maxima had the abilities this particular one had. It still wouldn't have been possible had another citizen interbred with a superior race because not many races looked like them especially not many of them had unique abilities like shape shifting.
She motioned for the general to hand over his tablet as soon as she heard Thor was present too. The way he was arguing his case also made her curious.
The general climbed up the stair case and handed over the tablet. The queens' eyes squinted in shock as she zoomed in and out at whatever she was watching. She must have rewound the video over five times not bothering to complete it.
"General. Who is this man!?" Her voice was firm as she racked her brain to his identity making her temporarily assume Thor's presence.
"We have no clue my queen. As I informed you earlier, he is not in any of our databases."
"I have not bedded him. Are you sure he is an almeraci?" she could see all the qualities she had been looking for all over her planet; how extraordinarily handsome he was, he had the power of flight and could survive in the vacuum of space. By the look of his general physique she could tell he was strong. If he had been on Almerac her general would have singled him out and she would have already had a taste of him.
"I am sure my queen. Our long range scanners around earth's galaxy detected his presence and the recent situation that befell the justice league gave us an opportunity to acquire that video."
"How is that possible?" Maxima stood up and began pacing around her throne still rewinding the video.
"I suggest you watch the whole video." The general knew where her focus was but that was not why he termed it important.
The queen heard him and let the video play out. "Where did he go!!?" she sounded alarmed.
"What did he turn into!!!?" the Queen paused and looked at the general expecting an answer.
"We have scanned it against every specie in the universe and did not get a hit. Keep watching."
The queen reluctantly resumed. Her eyes turned as big as saucers by what transpired next. "When did this happen?"
"A few hours ago your majesty."
"What did he turn into? And how did that scrawny creature stop that beam!?" a million questions running through her mind.
"We do not know, your majesty." He had done all kinds of research which yielded nothing before he approached her.
"If he changed to that means he is a shape shifter and not an almeraci. Maybe he is a Green Martian." That made sense as their shape shifting skills was unrivalled across the universe.
"No your majesty. He turned to an almeraci and that was why our long range scanners detected his presence. They have never detected shape shifters who have copied one of us." He explained and the queen was still confused. How could a stunning fine specimen turn into something so ugly resembling a snake?
"And what happened for the justice league to go to that extreme measure?"
"We theorise they may have been hacked or attacked. We would never know for sure."
"But you are sure this man I am looking at right now is an almeraci?" she replayed the entire video pausing when Klaus appeared.
"I can bet my life on it, my queen."
"And you are certain he is with the justice league?"
"Yes my queen. We have surveillance on the watchtower showing he went in and has not come out yet."
"Good." She smiled broadly. The general knew what was coming and had prepared adequately.
"Prepare a fleet to take me to Earth. I need answers concerning this citizen of Almerac!" she ordered adjusting her crown still smiling. Now she had a valid reason to go back to earth.
"It has already been prepared to your usual specifications your majesty." He bowed. It was his duty to anticipate whatever she wanted or needed while also protecting Almerac.
Queen Maxima beamed at this and almost hugged him as she was so eager to see her chosen mates again. "You have done well general."
He bowed feeling satisfied.
"Have all my royal designers accompany us during this trip." She thought about Wonder woman's outfit. She won't accept to be out dressed by that commoner.
"They are already waiting in one of the ships my queen." The general answered.
Queen Maxima nodded satisfied with his performance. He had never let her down ever since he was assigned to her when she became of age to rule.
"Lead the way, general." Queen Maxima ordered following him out of the throne room accompanied by an army of loyal soldiers.
OA
The guardians had been following up on the reports of War world no longer existing as very many intergalactic news channels reported it with a picture of earth attached to it.
They were in shock. They expected the Kryptonian to shake things up a bit and maybe disorganise Monguls plans but not literally blowing up the planet.
War world was powerful and feared by many around the universe. Mongul had personally slain very many war lords who took the fight to him when their best warriors were kidnapped and ended up in war world. Thus most stayed away and turned a blind eye to their dealings. OA on the other hand made a deal with the war lord to not interfere with any planet under their protection or else they would intervene in war worlds matters. Mongul agreed to the terms as even he couldn't take the full force of the green lantern corps.
So the news of War world's demise was rapidly spreading around the universe linking it to Superman and by extension earth. Every theory claimed the war lord kidnapped someone from earth and Superman went to fight him. Planets that did not know of the existence of earth, started to research it and the Superman who was strong enough to not only kill Mongul but blow up his planet.
As soon as they overcame the shock, their AI pointed them to whatever was happening at the watchtower the moment Trixx cut them off completely. They could no longer see or hear whatever was happening inside the watchtower. All they had was a live video feed of it captured from a long range probe they have near earth. Their interest peaked when the probe noted the watchtower transforming into something. The following consecutive events had them stare at the projection surprise no longer evident on their faces at whatever Ben could do.
"How can such a tiny creature consume so much energy?" One of them asked as feedback trumped Klaus in surprising them.
"Maybe it has an unlimited hunger for it." One suggested.
"That doesn't matter. This further shows how we need to be the ones in possession of that watch." Another stated pointing at feedback. "This thing could easily drain our source battery." All the others nodding in agreement, most of them hadn't even thought of that.
"Do not worry yourselves brothers. We will be in possession of it very soon." The strategist spoke up as he entered the room after receiving those breaking news. "The team tasked to bring peace to war world is on its way back and they claim they are in possession of something unique. All is not lost." He had planned to secure Superman's trust but with war world blown up he will have to execute plan B.
"What have they found?"
The strategist took control of the projection and every guardian exclaimed looking at it.
"What is it? An organism?" one asked.
"A parasite?" Another asked.
"We will know more as soon as they arrive and our scientists conduct experiments to determine what it is." The strategist answered. "A few stayed behind to help the few stranded survivors of war world to repair their damaged ships."
"That's good. Some of them may know what actually happened there. So far it's just rumours and theories out there."
"What will we do about the justice league? That was clearly an attack directed at the people of earth." One asked the question in everyone's mind.
"Nothing." The strategist answered. "I believe they did not intend to fire upon the populace."
"The beam was targeting the president."
"I know. If it was the justice league, why would they bother stopping the attack?" the strategist reasoned. "They were hacked." He revealed. "That's why we can no longer gain access to their systems. It seems the omnitrix bearer restructured their whole system."
They all nodded in understanding as they replayed the video.
"His version of an almeraci is perfect."
"Yes it is and I am sure queen Maxima will see him then will go looking for him." One spoke up as the justice league video got leaked all over the universe now that everyone was interested to know what this 'earth' was capable of.
"Not only him. Everyone is now interested in earth and what they have to offer. This video will cement their belief that the people of earth are capable of destroying War world."
"This complicates everything." Another gave his opinion.
"Everyone focusing on earth is an advantage to us as anyone from another universe will no doubt travel to it looking for answers thus we will be able to identify them. Better yet capture and interrogate them." The strategist reasoned with them.
The others agreed with that statement. Things were getting out of hand too fast for their own liking and they had better start enforcing law and order in the universe again.