Justice League 8A

free) Batman will lay down smoke in D15, D16, E17, F17
free) Atom will perplex Batman's +1

1) Batman will flurry attack Brainiac. 10 (+1) vs 18. Rolls (5, 2) for a hit, dealing (3 - toughness) = 2 clicks. Second attack is (3, 2) for a miss. He'll share 1 IAP with Atom.

2) Red Tornado will TK Green Arrow to F17.
free) Batman will outwit Mark II's invulnerability.

3) Green Arrow will push to RCE the Mark II. Rolls (3, 5) for a hit, dealing 4 damage to Mark II.

4) Atom will teleport over to E11.

5) Wonder Woman will HSS to F12 and punch Mark II. Rolls (2, 6) for a hit, dealing 3 damage. She continues on to K17 after picking up the last LO.

Justice League:

1) [3] AA U Batman D15 @
2) [15] V Wkd Wonder Woman K17 (5/8) @@
3) [7] R JL Aquaman (0/7) *KO'ed*
* w/ Unstoppable
4) [17] E Or Martian Manhunter (0/9) *KO'ed*
5) [16] V Cr Green Arrow (6/7) F17 @@
6) [4] E JL Black Canary G12 (5/6)
7) [1] LE The Atom E11 @
8) [2] V Red Tornado H16 @
9) V Leg Power Girl D15 (0/9) *KO'ed*
* w/ Endurance – 5
* w/ Drag – 5

Total: 937

Metropolis:

1) [3] R FFSM Supergirl (0/6) *KO'ed*
2) [6] E Leg Superboy D16 @
* w/ Disintegrate – 7
* w/ Monster Hunter – 3
3) [3] R SM Steel *KO'ed*
4) [7] E SM Eradicator (5/7) J14 @@
5) [13] Agent Vic Sage (V Gotham City Detective) H12 (4/5)

Total: 508

Grand Total: 1445

Vs.

Brainiac:

A) Master Mold – 1500 A,B,C 10 to 15 (5/51)@@
Factory dial (1/10)
B) Sentinel Mark V 9, 10 D-E(10/10) @
C) Sentinel Mark II 10-11 FG(8/15) @


LO: K16
HO: D15

Map: The Satellite

Metropolis 8B

1) Superboy will push to use CCE against Brainiac. Rolls (3, 4) to just hit! Damage is 5 (3 + 2 + 1 - toughness) which is just enough to KO Brainiac! Superboy takes a push and all the IAP.

2) Vic Sage will attack Mark II. Rolls (3, 3) for a miss.

Justice League:

1) [3] AA U Batman D15 @
2) [15] V Wkd Wonder Woman K17 (5/8) @@
3) [7] R JL Aquaman (0/7) *KO'ed*
* w/ Unstoppable
4) [17] E Or Martian Manhunter (0/9) *KO'ed*
5) [16] V Cr Green Arrow (6/7) F17 @@
6) [4] E JL Black Canary G12 (5/6)
7) [1] LE The Atom E11 @
8) [2] V Red Tornado H16 @
9) V Leg Power Girl D15 (0/9) *KO'ed*
* w/ Endurance – 5
* w/ Drag – 5

Total: 937

Metropolis:

1) [3] R FFSM Supergirl (0/6) *KO'ed*
2) [13] E Leg Superboy (7/8) D16 @@
* w/ Disintegrate – 7
* w/ Monster Hunter – 3
3) [3] R SM Steel *KO'ed*
4) [7] E SM Eradicator (5/7) J14
5) [13] Agent Vic Sage (V Gotham City Detective) H12 (4/5) @

Total: 508

Grand Total: 1445

Vs.

Brainiac:

A) Master Mold – 1500 ***KO'ed!***

B) Sentinel Mark V 9, 10 D-E(10/10) @
C) Sentinel Mark II 10-11 FG(8/15) @


LO: K16
HO: D15

Map: The Satellite

Brainiac 9C
1) Mark II will shoot the red tornado and wonderwoman with RCE, 9 vs 18 and 16, all 5 to red tornado, he will choose to take the pushing damage
Free) Mark II Outwitts WW invulneravility
2) Mark V charges againts WW 10 vs 16
Roll is: 1,3 = 4, miss
Justice League:

1) [3] AA U Batman D15 @
2) [15] V Wkd Wonder Woman K17 (5/8) @@
3) [7] R JL Aquaman (0/7) *KO'ed*
* w/ Unstoppable
4) [17] E Or Martian Manhunter (0/9) *KO'ed*
5) [16] V Cr Green Arrow (6/7) F17 @@
6) [4] E JL Black Canary G12 (5/6)
7) [1] LE The Atom E11 @
8) [2] V Red Tornado H16 (2/7)@
9) V Leg Power Girl D15 (0/9) *KO'ed*
* w/ Endurance – 5
* w/ Drag – 5

Total: 937

Metropolis:

1) [3] R FFSM Supergirl (0/6) *KO'ed*
2) [13] E Leg Superboy (7/8) D16 @@
* w/ Disintegrate – 7
* w/ Monster Hunter – 3
3) [3] R SM Steel *KO'ed*
4) [7] E SM Eradicator (5/7) J14
5) [13] Agent Vic Sage (V Gotham City Detective) H12 (4/5) @

Total: 508

Grand Total: 1445

Vs.

Brainiac:

A) Master Mold – 1500 ***KO'ed!***

B) Sentinel Mark V 9, 10 D-E(10/10) @@
C) Sentinel Mark II 10-11 FG(7/15) @2


LO: K16
HO: D15

Map: The Satellite[/quote]

As far as I'm aware, you cannot use RCE if you are targeting multiple characters. So Red Tornado only takes 3 clicks?

Also, Mark V is too far away to charge WW; he can only charge 4 squares, right?

If you want to you can retake your turn, or you can just deal 3 damage to Tornado and pick someone else for Mk V's attack to miss against. Your call.

RT takes 3 and the attack by mark V goes to the atom, and misses

I see why you thought you could attack Wonderwoman... at some point her token got mixed up with Black Canary's. I don't know when it happened exactly but thankfully it doesn't change too much.

Justice League 10A

free) Batman outwits Mark V's invulnerability
free) Atom perplexes Batman's damage +1

1) Batman will push (indom) to charge to D11 and flurry the Mark V. First attack rolls (1, 5) for a miss. Second roll is (5, 3) for a hit, dealing 4 damage. He'll share 2 IAP with Atom.

2) Black Canary will attack Mark II with CCE. Rolls (2, 2) for a miss.


Justice League:

1) [5] AA U Batman D11 @@
2) [15] V Wkd Wonder Woman K17 (5/8)
3) [7] R JL Aquaman (0/7) *KO'ed*
* w/ Unstoppable
4) [17] E Or Martian Manhunter (0/9) *KO'ed*
5) [16] V Cr Green Arrow (6/7) F17
6) [4] E JL Black Canary G12 (5/6) @
7) [3] LE The Atom E11
8) [2] V Red Tornado H16 (4/7)
9) V Leg Power Girl D15 (0/9) *KO'ed*
* w/ Endurance – 5
* w/ Drag – 5

Total: 937

Metropolis:

1) [3] R FFSM Supergirl (0/6) *KO'ed*
2) [13] E Leg Superboy (7/8) D16 @@
* w/ Disintegrate – 7
* w/ Monster Hunter – 3
3) [3] R SM Steel *KO'ed*
4) [7] E SM Eradicator (5/7) J14
5) [13] Agent Vic Sage (V Gotham City Detective) H12 (4/5) @

Total: 508

Grand Total: 1445

Vs.

Brainiac:

A) Master Mold – 1500 ***KO'ed!***

B) Sentinel Mark V 9, 10 D-E(6/10) @@
C) Sentinel Mark II 10-11 FG(7/15) @@


LO: Wonder Woman
HO: D15

Map: The Satellite

Metropolis 10B

1) Eradicator will HSS to H13 and shoot at Mark II. 10 (+1) vs 16 (+1, -1). Rolls (1, 3) for a miss.

Justice League:

1) [5] AA U Batman D11 @@
2) [15] V Wkd Wonder Woman K17 (5/8)
3) [7] R JL Aquaman (0/7) *KO'ed*
* w/ Unstoppable
4) [17] E Or Martian Manhunter (0/9) *KO'ed*
5) [16] V Cr Green Arrow (6/7) F17
6) [4] E JL Black Canary G12 (5/6) @
7) [3] LE The Atom E11
8) [2] V Red Tornado H16 (4/7)
9) V Leg Power Girl D15 (0/9) *KO'ed*
* w/ Endurance – 5
* w/ Drag – 5

Total: 937

Metropolis:

1) [3] R FFSM Supergirl (0/6) *KO'ed*
2) [13] E Leg Superboy (7/8) D16
* w/ Disintegrate – 7
* w/ Monster Hunter – 3
3) [3] R SM Steel *KO'ed*
4) [7] E SM Eradicator (5/7) H13 @
5) [13] Agent Vic Sage (V Gotham City Detective) H12 (4/5)

Total: 508

Grand Total: 1445

Vs.

Brainiac:

A) Master Mold – 1500 ***KO'ed!***

B) Sentinel Mark V 9, 10 D-E(6/10) @@
C) Sentinel Mark II 10-11 FG(7/15) @@


LO: Wonder Woman
HO: D15

Map: The Satellite

Brainiac 10C

1) Mark V exploit weakness vs batman 9 vs 17
Roll is: 1,2 = 3

nada, he takes a damage
free)mark V outwitts batman's outwitt
free)Mark II outwitts Atom's Perplex
Clear Mark II
Justice League:

1) [5] AA U Batman D11 @@
2) [15] V Wkd Wonder Woman K17 (5/8)
3) [7] R JL Aquaman (0/7) *KO'ed*
* w/ Unstoppable
4) [17] E Or Martian Manhunter (0/9) *KO'ed*
5) [16] V Cr Green Arrow (6/7) F17
6) [4] E JL Black Canary G12 (5/6) @
7) [3] LE The Atom E11
8) [2] V Red Tornado H16 (4/7)
9) V Leg Power Girl D15 (0/9) *KO'ed*
* w/ Endurance – 5
* w/ Drag – 5

Total: 937

Metropolis:

1) [3] R FFSM Supergirl (0/6) *KO'ed*
2) [13] E Leg Superboy (7/8) D16
* w/ Disintegrate – 7
* w/ Monster Hunter – 3
3) [3] R SM Steel *KO'ed*
4) [7] E SM Eradicator (5/7) H13 @
5) [13] Agent Vic Sage (V Gotham City Detective) H12 (4/5)

Total: 508

Grand Total: 1445

Vs.

Brainiac:

A) Master Mold – 1500 ***KO'ed!***

B) Sentinel Mark V 9, 10 D-E(5/10) @@
C) Sentinel Mark II 10-11 FG(7/15)


LO: Wonder Woman
HO: D15

Map: The Satellite

Justice League 11A

1) Green Arrow shoots Mark V with RCE, rolls (6, 4) for a hit, dealing 3 clicks after toughness.

2) Atom punches Mark V. Rolls (1, 6) to just hit, dealing 1 click.

3) Wonder Woman will HSS to F12 and swings the LO at Mk II and rolls (1, 5) to hit for 4 clicks.

free) Atom will perplex Superboy's damage +1

Justice League:

1) [5] AA U Batman D11 @@
2) [19] V Wkd Wonder Woman F12 (5/8) @
3) [7] R JL Aquaman (0/7) *KO'ed*
* w/ Unstoppable
4) [17] E Or Martian Manhunter (0/9) *KO'ed*
5) [19] V Cr Green Arrow (6/7) F17 @
6) [4] E JL Black Canary G12 (5/6) @
7) [4] LE The Atom E11 @
8) [2] V Red Tornado H16 (4/7)
9) V Leg Power Girl D15 (0/9) *KO'ed*
* w/ Endurance – 5
* w/ Drag – 5

Total: 937

Metropolis:

1) [3] R FFSM Supergirl (0/6) *KO'ed*
2) [13] E Leg Superboy (7/8) D16
* w/ Disintegrate – 7
* w/ Monster Hunter – 3
3) [3] R SM Steel *KO'ed*
4) [7] E SM Eradicator (5/7) H13 @
5) [13] Agent Vic Sage (V Gotham City Detective) H12 (4/5)

Total: 508

Grand Total: 1445

Vs.

Brainiac:

A) Master Mold – 1500 ***KO'ed!***

B) Sentinel Mark V 9, 10 D-E(2/10) @@
C) Sentinel Mark II 10-11 FG(3/15)

Map: The Satellite

Metropolis 11B

1) Superboy charges to E12 and punches the Mark II. Rolls (3, 6) for a hit, dealing 3 (+2 -2) damage, for 3 clicks and the KO.

2) Vic Sage will shoot at the Mark V, rolls (2, 5) for just enough, dealing 2 clicks and the KO.


Justice League:

1) [5] AA U Batman D11 @@
2) [19] V Wkd Wonder Woman F12 (5/8) @
3) [7] R JL Aquaman (0/7) *KO'ed*
* w/ Unstoppable
4) [17] E Or Martian Manhunter (0/9) *KO'ed*
5) [19] V Cr Green Arrow (6/7) F17 @
6) [4] E JL Black Canary G12 (5/6) @
7) [4] LE The Atom E11 @
8) [2] V Red Tornado H16 (4/7)
9) V Leg Power Girl D15 (0/9) *KO'ed*
* w/ Endurance – 5
* w/ Drag – 5

Total: 937

Metropolis:

1) [3] R FFSM Supergirl (0/6) *KO'ed*
2) [18] E Leg Superboy (7/8) E12 @
* w/ Disintegrate – 7
* w/ Monster Hunter – 3
3) [3] R SM Steel *KO'ed*
4) [7] E SM Eradicator (5/7) H13 @
5) [17] Agent Vic Sage (V Gotham City Detective) H12 (4/5) @

Total: 508

Grand Total: 1445

Vs.

Brainiac:

A) Master Mold – 1500 ***KO'ed!***

B) Sentinel Mark V *KO'ed*
C) Sentinel Mark II *KO'ed*


...And the World is Saved!

Thanks for the game Frank, great playing!

great playing might be an exageration
but thanks for the game, MM is really fun, and thank you for having patience with me

Metropolis Team Totals after issue #9:

E Supergirl 133 pts
IXP: 5 IAP: 3

E Superboy 106 pts
+Monster Hunter 3 pts
+Disintegrate 7 pts
IXP: 8 IAP: 2

V Gotham City Detective 27 pts
IXP: 2 IAP: 2

Le Lois Lane 17 pts
IXP: 6 IAP: 2

R Black Lightning 48 pts
+Stunning Blow 10 pts
IXP: 15 IAP: 3


Total 331 (squad size: 200)

TXP: 142 TAP: 2

Metropolis Team Totals after Annual:

E Supergirl 133 pts
IXP: 6 IAP: 2

E Superboy 106 pts
+Monster Hunter 3 pts
+Disintegrate 7 pts
IXP: 13 IAP: 0

V Gotham City Detective 27 pts
IXP: 6 IAP: 3

Le Lois Lane 17 pts
IXP: 6 IAP: 2

R Black Lightning 48 pts
+Stunning Blow 10 pts
IXP: 15 IAP: 3


Assuming that Metropolis and JLA split the point total of all enemies KO'ed evenly...

point total = 2668 /2 = 1334 pts scored by Metropolis /4 = 334 TAP = 83 TXP, 2 TAP


Total 331 (squad size: 200)

TXP: 238 TAP: 0

End of Annual bonus XP rolls:

Supergirl: 1d6 = (1)
Superboy: 1d6 = (6)
Lois Lane: 5d6 = (4, 6, 6, 1, 6)
Vic Sage: 1d6 = (3)
Black Lightning: 2d6 = (1, 2)

E Supergirl 133 pts
IXP: 6 IAP: 3

E Superboy 106 pts
+Monster Hunter 3 pts
+Disintegrate 7 pts
IXP: 14 IAP: 2

V Gotham City Detective 27 pts
IXP: 7 IAP: 2

Le Lois Lane 17 pts
IXP: 12 IAP: 1

R Black Lightning 48 pts
+Stunning Blow 10 pts
IXP: 16 IAP: 2

Upgrades, retirement and recruitment

1. Black Lightning will spend 16 IXP and TXP to upgrade to LE Jefferson Pierce.

LE Jefferson Pierce 64
+Stunning Blow 10

Jefferson, under arrest by President Luthor's HDC back in Metropolis, has decided to give up the costumed life. He retires from my squad, and decides to study law and political science to try to fight the charges against him.

2. My squad will spend 120 TXP to recruit V Power Girl as a reservist, who is taking time off from the JLA as of their coming dissolution. Power Girl is thrilled to be named Supergirl's official mentor.

3. Superboy will spend 9 IXP and TXP to upgrade to LE Conner Kent.

4. When they get back to Metropolis, Cir will find that her school friend Natasha Irons has a surprise for her. R Steel (Natasha Irons) joins the team for 100 TXP.

5. Natasha has a particular knack for making on-the-spot repairs using whatever raw materials are available. For my annual bonus feat, I will spend 20 TXP to equip Natasha with Nanobots, representing her insane talent for jury-rigging her armor and other machines.

New Team Roster

E Supergirl 133 pts
IXP: 6 IAP: 3

LE Conner Kent 115 pts
+Monster Hunter 3 pts
+Disintegrate 7 pts
IXP: 5 IAP: 2

V Gotham City Detective 27 pts
IXP: 7 IAP: 2

Le Lois Lane 17 pts
IXP: 12 IAP: 1

Reservist: V Power Girl 120 pts
IXP: 0 IAP: 0

R Steel 50 pts
+Nanobots
IXP: 0 IAP: 0


Total 402 (squad size: 250)

TXP: 37 TAP: 0

Nice battle guys! Way to take down MM, garg!

Great job, fellas.

Glad to know that the world isn't going to end.

End Post:

The Fortress of Solitude rattled and shook, dust and debris falling from the ceiling as the Eradicator machine drove the continual reshaping of the Earth. Knowing in the back of their minds that every moment they spent trying to stop Brainiac was that much more damage done to their world, the Justice League and the allied Supermen pressed themselves harder and harder against their foe. Sweat mingled with blood, torn fabric draped over torn flesh, but there was no hesitance in them; no pause at all between intent and action.

While the more powerful and more veteran heroes hastily knocked the animated statues to the ground, they failed to see a third form rising up to tower over them. The shaking of the fortress hid the sound of the Kryptonian crystals and alien tech twisting and tearing up from the ground. The gargantuan mass of crystal and metal took on the rough shape of the Cyborg Superman enlarged twenty times. Its red eyes glowed with an intensifying heat, its skeletal jaws opening and releasing a scream like sheets of rough metal dragging against each other.

Supergirl turned and spotted the emerging menace just early enough to brace for its attack, a crimson beam of searing heat that would have reduced a more delicate girl to ashes. Cir-El withered, falling to her knees in pain until finally the attack ceased. Checking herself for injury Cir gently touched her arms, torso, and head where she made a shocking discovery.

"My hair is on fire! MAH HAIR IS ON FIY-YAH!" Supergirl screamed, jumping to her feet and running around in a panicked circle windmilling her arms like a madwoman. "Aaaauuugh Put it out! Put it out!"

Unfortunately it was the Cyborg that was the first to grant her request, ending her plight with a crushing fist that drove Cir-El into the arctic ice. While the flames had been snuffed, so too was Supergirl dropped abruptly into unconsciousness. Superboy's eyes went wide at seeing this and he threw aside the mechanical construct he had been fighting.

"Nooo!" the teen hero cried, zooming straight at the crystalline giant. Superboy's fists ripped though its armor, punching fist-sized holes through the Cyborg's chassis.

Green Arrow settled into a perch high above the grand hall, swinging up from the rough hand-holds he'd climbed up. Satisfied with his sniper's nest, he saw Superboy tearing holes into the enormous cyborg creature and smiled. With lightning speed born of experience, skill, and need, he drew a trio of explosive arrows and sent one after the other through the small openings Superboy had created.

The clanking Cyborg seized and shook, the arrows so effectively tearing apart its insides that it couldn't even begin to defend itself from the enraged Superboy tearing open its outer shell. With a heave of effort Superboy wrenched the gigantic Cyborg's head from it's buckled shoulders, ending the threat. Screaming in his youthful rage, Superboy turned and hurtled the severed head at Brainiac where it shattered harmlessly against the parent-robot's alloy plating.
________________________________________

It was nearly impossible to hear anything over the sound of the helicopter's spinning rotors, the roaring ocean waters, and the rain pelting them from above like falling arrows. Hal spared a look over his shoulder as he was helping another group of people into the massive cargo chopper. You could see the tidal wave coming, now. It was like a mountain of water, white-capped and furious as god, ready to wipe out Coast City for its sins.

"Running out of time, Jordan," Carol's voice came over the comm. in his helmet. "We need to get these people to the safe zone."

"There's still room left," he said. "We could fit another couple dozen people if we--"

"There's no time! This building is clear; if we stop off at another, we might get caught in the storm."

She wasn't wrong. This tsunami was looking like it was part wave, part hurricane. The winds were whipping the air at torrential speeds and the helicopter was having a hell of a time maneuvering. They'd made three trips from the coast to the safe zone inland, but communication with the coast guard was getting more difficult from some kind of magnetic interference that was blocking comm. channels and scrambling their connection to satellite guidance. It was only going to get worse the longer they waited.

But there were at least twenty more bodies they could cram into this chopper. At least twenty more people who didn't have to risk death on the coast if he and Carol would just be willing to give them just that little bit more time.

"Hal, we have to go!"

He sighed. "I'm going to make one more pass."

"We don't have time for--"

"One! More! That's all. We don't have to hit another building, but I'll be damned if I'm leaving anybody behind. Wait here - I'll be back."

She was calling after him as he ran back into the apartment complex, but he turned off his radio. He knew he'd pay for that later, but if he came out with just one more person it would have been worth it.
________________________________________

"If you ever breathe a word of this to anyone, I'll deny it and kill you in your sleep," Blue Beetle said as he and Booster Gold stared down the tidal wave rolling in off the coast of Manhattan. "But… I really wish Guy was here right now."

"Dammit," Booster sighed. "Me, too."

"Beetle, you are reading me?" Dmitri said over the comm. "Evacuation is no-go. Not enough time."

"I've got more bad news on that front," Vixen cut in from her position elsewhere in the city. "Those defensive walls Luthor built after the Invasion aren't enough to stop the wave. When it hits… this isn't a very big island, guys."

"Roger," Beetle said. "Okay, listen up - I want Fire, Ice, Aztek, Dmitri, Dr. Light, and Booster to form up with me at the coordinates I'm sending out now. As quick as you can, people, we don't have long. The rest of you, do anything you can to help evacuation crews. They're your bosses, now, got it? Anything they ask, you do."

"You've got a plan?" Booster asked as the rest of the JLI clicked their acknowledgement.

"Not specifically, no," he said, looking out at the wall of water growing taller every moment. "But we aren't giving up yet. Come on…"
________________________________________

The whole world was going crazy and Cassie Sandsmark had no idea what to do. The embassy was shaking and people were screaming, and she knew she should have gone with her mom when it all started, but she knew somebody had to contact Diana or Donna or somebody and get help.

Only now she was basically alone and there was no Diana or Donna to find and she didn't know how to call anybody else, not that her phone was getting reception or any of the land-lines were working. Why wasn't there a big red phone somewhere she could just pick up and say 'Justice League, please?'

She looked out the window and saw people running and screaming as everything shook. Water was running in the streets, the tide was rising. She remembered when Aquaman had been possessed by that demon Eclipso and the whole city had sunk. If this was anything like that, it was going to hurt a lot of people. Somebody had to do something!

She saw a reflection in the window of her face. She saw a star on her forehead, ghosted from the architecture across the street. Turning around, she saw the rows of cases of Themysciran artifacts on display. She ran to them and ran her fingers over the cases as she'd done a million times since she started interning for Diana. She knew exactly which case she was looking for.

Looking down, she saw the Gauntlets of Atlas. The sandals of Hermes. The Girdle of Artemis… As she stared down at them, remembering the powers Diana said they granted, the embassy shook again and the glass in the cases shattered under her hands. The gauntlets seemed to glow. It was like the universe was giving her a sign.

"Okay, universe," she said, picking the items up. "I get it. You win. I'm gonna be in so much trouble…"

Cassie ran through the halls to the room where she kept her bag. Today, she'd had phys ed. She had her gym bag. Rifling through it, she pulled out the black shirt with the logo on it; the golden w's. Wonder Woman's logo. She changed shirts, smelling the funk from running laps and playing basketball, but trusted nobody would notice a little b.o. in the middle of all this insanity.

She locked the Girdle of Artemis around her waist and felt invigorated. It would protect her from harm, heal her wounds, and was already energizing her like a nice shower and a blast of fresh air. Sliding the Gauntlets of Atlas on, they resized for her small forearms and filled her with strength. Then the Sandals of Hermes - more like half-boots with winged ankles.

"Time to fly," she said, jumping in the air and feeling a shimmer run up her legs. She teetered back and forth in the air, wobbling forward and back. It was awfully hard to get the hang of, she thought as she fell back to the ground. But there was no time for a learning curve.

She ran back upstairs, stopping to grab Tom's motorcycle goggles from his office, and threw open the large window at the top of the stairs. There was no time to loose. The city needed a hero.

"What would Donna Troy do?" she asked with a smile, then jumped out the window and took flight.
________________________________________

With the animated statues dispatched, the Justice League was able to concentrate all their efforts on the central mass that housed the Brainiac intelligence as well as, somewhere inside its core, the piecemeal corpse of Superman. Sparks fell from walls and ceiling, fires burned, walls shook. Bodies of automatons and heroes littered a floor slick with water, blood, oil, and coolant.

"Protect the fallen!" Wonder Woman shouted, simultaneously broadcasting through J'Onn's telepathic link. "Agent Sage, J'Onn, Atom - pull the wounded back and into safety. Arrow, Canary, Tornado, give them some cover. The rest of you, form up on me!"

As the Amazon Princess charged in, Superboy and the Eradicator on her flank, Red Tornado and Black Canary created a wall of sound and whirlwinds that deflected the projectile attacks of the robots, while Green Arrow aggressively deactivated beam weapons with arrows that discharged electricity, burst in short-range EMPs, or just pierced their targeting lenses with good, old-fashioned metal tips.

"None can stop me," Brainiac droned robotically, with neither joy nor malice. The cold monotone of his digital voice made his pronouncements seem almost logical. But then he stopped. Red Tornado rose before him, crimson arms sweeping crimson winds in twin whirls like a ruby djinn. A face of twisted metal, a triad of emerald orbs glowing in its forehead, grew from Brainiac's mass to stare at the android.

"What… are you?" it asked. "How is it that I… know you? Your design, your build, almost…"

"I am the Red Tornado, monster," he said back, a synthetic voice full of passion and determination; more human than anything Brainiac could ever be. "And I am stopping you."

Behind him, others moved quickly to pull back the bodies of the wounded.

"I can… can still help…" Steel wheezed through his faceplate as J'Onn picked him up.

"Do not exert yourself. You have been wounded, and--"

"No, just the suit. He locked down my suit, and I'm trapped inside. But I can still help, just get me free."

J'Onn looked up as Wonder Woman and Superboy pummeled Brainiac's enormous central body. Batman slid by on a zip-line, slapping a pair of explosives on the torso that blew open small cracks in the chassis which Eradicator set about widening with energy blasts. But even as they watched, the metal was liquefying and re-sealing itself, the damage done being undone just as quickly. And not far away, machines were drawing together and merging into new robotic guards to attack the League. Any advantage they were gaining was falling apart right in front of them.

"We have a very small amount of time," he said, pulling Steel to the side. "Let us see what you can do."
________________________________________

"Why! Are! You! Fighting! Us!" Hawk shouted at Cheshire as he held her prison jumpsuit in one hand and pummeled her with the other. "We're trying to help you stupid people!"

"Hey, hey!" Arsenal shouted. "Enough! Jesus, she's a woman!"

"Didn't stop her from punching the crap outta plenty of men in her time. Fair's fair."

"Terra, what's our situation?" he sighed into his comm., ignoring his thuggish teammate and trying not to think of Cheshire as the 'mother of his child.' "Terra? Do you read?"

"She is gone," Raven said, suddenly behind him. Her voice was horse and her body crackled with barely contained energy. He jumped a little in surprise, a shudder running up his spine from the cold that always seemed to surround her; a cold that seemed to have been ramped up even higher since she healed Red Star. "She is unconscious, but she is safe."

"Safer than we are," Tempest said, emerging from the water that was quickly filling the prison. "This whole island is going down."

"We've got to get out of here," Arsenal shouted to the team. "Round up any stragglers and let's move! Alcatraz is going full Titanic in five!"
________________________________________

Hal ran through the halls of the apartment complex, shouting for anyone to hear him, beating on doors and listening for any signs of people. The ground shook beneath him and the building shuddered. Earthquakes had been rolling through the city for the past 40 minutes, making it that much harder. People were trapped in their homes, sometimes unable to get out. He'd had to break doors down to get to some, freeing others from under overturned cabinets, shelving units and worse.

He came up short as he rounded a corner and entered an outer hall with windows along the side facing the ocean. The wave was so high, the storm so heavy, that it looked like midnight. This wasn't just a natural disaster, it was a city-killer. Coast City wouldn't be the only one affected, but they were right in the center. He was hit with a wave of sickness that clenched his gut and made his knees weak. He wasn't accustomed to feeling powerless, but the sheer size and scope of what was about to hit… what could he do in the face of that? What if his city died and he was helpless to do anything to stop it? His right hand kept squeezing and releasing, yearning for the emerald ring that would have allowed him to save everyone, to stop this madness and make everyone safe again.

His heart hurt like a deathly black hand had just given it a squeeze. He was filled with a feeling he couldn't identify, but which made him feel profoundly unlike himself. This was not who Hal Jordan was - Hal Jordan was a doer. A winner. A guy who never gave up. never gave in, and [/i]never[/i] lost. He would not give in to fear-- Green Lantern ring or not, that just wasn't who he was.

As if in answer to his resolve, he heard a scream. It was faint and distant, but his head whipped to the side and he honed in on it. Dropping his helmet so he could better hear, he shouted out to whoever it was, banging on all the doors as he passed. Finally, he got a response.

"We're in here!" a voice shouted from inside an apartment. Hal stopped and turned the knob, but the door wouldn't open.

"I'm here for you, but you need to open the door."

"It won't open," the voice said. Sounded like a kid, couldn't be older than 12 or so. "It's stuck. Hurry! You have to help my mom!"

"Alright, stand back." He moved back and kicked at the door. Two times, three, it was stuck good. He backed up to the opposite wall and against a window, seeing the wave getting even closer. Time was almost out. Turning back, he ran and slammed himself against the door. It gave and he collapsed through and into the apartment, finding himself at the feet of a scruffy-haired young girl who looked terrified.

"It's alright," Hal said, getting up to his knees and looking the kid over for injuries. She was covered in blood, but didn't have any obvious wounds. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's my mom - you have to help her!" She pointed further into the apartment and Hal walked into the living room to see a woman laying in the middle of a pile of glass and metal that used to be a table.

"She-- sh-she fell," the kid shivered. The woman didn't look good. There was a lot of blood.

"Okay," Hal said, kneeling by her. "Okay. I need you to… alright, get me a couple t-shirts. Quick."

The kid was gone and back in seconds and Hal set about tearing up the shirts to make tourniquets. Her mom had been cut up pretty bad in several places, but there were two that worried him the most. He took the girl's hands and put them on one deep cut on her upper shoulder near the base of her neck and told her to keep pressure on while he tied up her leg. When he finished there, he started improvising something to help her shoulder.

Looking up, he could see out the doorway to the window beyond and the oncoming wave.

"Hey, kid, do you know how to get to the roof?"

"Y-yeah," she said, gulping down air.

"Then go," Hal said, looking her hard in the eyes. "There's a helicopter up there that will get us all to safety."

"I'm not leaving my mom!" she said, standing her ground firmly. Hal respected the kid for it.

"What's your name, kid?"

"M-Mia. Mia Dearden."

"Good name. I'm Hal Jordan. You're a scrapper, kid, and that's a good thing. Don't you ever take any crap from anybody. Now look, Mia, I'm going to help your mom - but you have to get safe and make sure I've got time to get her up there. I need you to tell the lady pilot - her name's Carol, you'll like her. She's a lot like you are. Tell Carol that I'm coming back and I have a wounded woman that will need medical care. Can you do that for me and your mom?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Good girl," Hal said with a smile. He put his hand out and shook with the girl, a firm handshake meant to confer trust and confidence. Mia looked a little stronger as she ran out the door. Hal looked back down at the girl's mother and swallowed hard. He wasn't at all sure he'd be able to keep her alive long enough to get to the roof.
________________________________________

Steel huddled over his discarded power suit with the Atom, examining the parts. He rubbed his chin anxiously as the Fortress shook around them.

"It's still in-tact," he said. "Brainiac must've just fried the electronics. But the core is still functional, even if the software is all offline."

"You think you can get it running again?" Atom asked.

"No, but that isn't the point. The point is the power source hasn't been breached or drained. It was something I was working on back when I was a weapons engineer - the last project. The one I never shared with anyone."

"So what can it do for us?" Atom asked hurriedly. "I need to get back out there as soon as--"

"There's enough energy in this generator to power a city for a month," Steel interrupted him. "We get the backup interface online and I can rig it to dump all that energy at once in an explosion big enough to completely destroy Brainiac."

Atom looked at him blankly. "That's… an explosion that big - how would we survive it?"

Steel looked at him hard, sad resolution in his eyes. “Shrink down small enough and you could ride the photonic waves safely enough. And they would be fine."

He looked to where Wonder Woman and J'Onn J'Onzz battled alongside Superboy and Eradicator, Red Tornado with a wall of wind and Black Canary with a wall of sound, giving everything they had to stop an enemy that seemed incapable of even being slowed down, let alone defeated.

"They're Gods. Aliens. Robots. Whatever the hell Batman is… Beyond human in every way that matters. They'll survive this. Brainiac won't."

"But you won't either!"

"I don't care about me! Look out there – they’re throwing the kitchen sink at that robotic son of a b#### and it’s barely making a dent! He can heal from any attack they make, so we have to hit him with something that will atomize him in one shot. This is the only thing we have that can do that.”

He stopped and took a slow breath, calming himself. “Every breath I take is because a man flew out of the sky and saved my life. The last words he said to me - maybe the last words he said to any living person - were to make my life count! If I have to die so that Brainiac fails, let me die a man. Let me die proud, justified, in the name of the man who I owe this life to. Don't let Brainiac destroy the legacy of Superman over one life."

"It's more than just you, John," Atom shouted over the roaring noises outside the alcove they sheltered in. Pointing out to the fight, he said "not all of us are that far beyond human-- a lot of us are just… just human-plus. But we're mortal. We can die. Even Superman can die."

"Then help me get the interface online, then get out there and make sure they get clear," John Henry Irons said, his tone showing no room for argument. "Because if this is our last hope, I'm not taking any chances."
________________________________________

"Damn it," Hal growled, tightening the tourniquets and checking the strength of her pulse. "You aren't dying on me."

The room seemed to darken, then, and a wave of green light washed over him. When he looked up, he was momentarily surprised to see Ganthet hovering in the space before him. Then he frowned.

"What the hell is this? Did you come here to gloat? To watch me fail without your precious ring?"

"Of course not, Hal Jordan," Ganthet said, inclining his head to the side in a gesture of confusion. "Why would I do such a thing? It serves no purpose."

"Well then you can help me save this woman's life or you can get out. I haven't got any use for you little blue men anymore."

"But we have use for you," Ganthet said, calmly.

"No. Don't you dare!" he said, standing and shoving a finger into the guardian's chest. The smaller creature seemed surprised, clearly not used to physical contact of any sort. "If you think for one second you can just show up, slap a ring on me and steal me away while all this is happening, you can forget it! I won't leave this city without a fight!"

"Do you really think…?" Ganthet sighed, then. "No, I understand. I can see why you would believe us capable of that - we've done worse often enough. No, Hal Jordan. I have not come here to take anything from you or to take you from anyone. I have come to give you something."

"What?"

"Hope."

So saying, he raised a hand and the woman on the ground was wrapped in a field of green that bound her wounds and stabilized her. Hal blinked as light enveloped him and when he opened his eyes he was back on the roof with the woman and Ganthet, near enough to the helicopter that he could see Carol freaking out in the cockpit.

Ganthet raised his hands toward the oncoming tidal wave, his eyes closed, face scrunched in concentration. Light coalesced in the distance, and a wall appeared at the edge of the beach that was over a mile high. It stretched as far as the eye could see up and down the coastline. When the wave hit it, it didn't even shudder. The water washed back and continued striking back and forth as the tsunami raged.

Ganthet let his arms drop, but the wall remained. "Have no fear," he said softly, collecting himself. "The wall will remain long after we've gone. Only when planetary conditions return to normal and your people are safe will it fall."

"When we're gone?" Hal asked. "Where are we going? Why are you here, Ganthet? Not that I'm not thankful, but you guardians don't usually make personal appearances for us little people."

"I've come to make you a Green Lantern again. You should never have been let go in the first place, and I'm correcting that error. Together, you and I will protect this planet from this disaster, and when it's finished we will return to space and you will help me to help your friends defeat Darkseid."

"Darkseid?! What is going on, here?"

"There are a great many mistakes I have made personally and that we as Guardians have made collectively in the eons of our lives. I mean to begin correcting them. I need help to do this, and you and your friends are the only people who can do so. You are important, all of you, and I need you. Please-- help me. Help me make this universe better, starting here on your planet."

Hal looked from Ganthet to the wall of green and back to where Carol was walking toward him from the helicopter.

"What's going on?" she asked, removing her own helmet, her raven hair shaking out and tumbling slightly in the wind. She strode to Ganthet and stared down at him, a Guardian of the Universe, like she was Queen of Earth and he owed her an explanation. God, she was beautiful. When was it going to be their time?

"What are-- are you a Green Lantern? One of the--the alien ones? From out there?

"No, madam, I am not. Not precisely. I am a Guardian of the Universe; the Green Lanterns are our emissaries. I have protected your city, and now I would save others. With Mr. Jordan's assistance, if he is willing."

"With mister-- Hal?! What in god's name do you need him for? He's just… just Hal!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Hal smiled.

"Not that he doesn't have his uses, but why not get Green Lantern?"

"That is what I am attempting to do," Ganthet said, holding his hand out to Hal. In his palm rested his old ring. "If he is willing to return to us."

"If he… he is… Hal?" she looked from the ring to Hal's face, and he kind of shrugged. What could he do? What could he say? After all these years, all the stunts he pulled and lies he told to hide his identity, apparently this was how it all ended.

"This isn't how I wanted you to find out," he said. "It was supposed to be… better. More personal. Special."

"Right," she said, eyes wide as he picked the ring up. "Special."

As he put the ring on his finger, the power flared through him again. He felt whole for the first time in too long. The ring pulsed green light and the molecules of his clothes flowed and reshaped into his uniform. He was a Green Lantern again.

Carol stepped toward him, watching the change happen. She looked him up and down, and then her look of surprise turned to one of annoyance. Quick as a whip, she slapped him across the face.

"All those years, all that time I didn't know what the hell was happening with you, where you were… it was always this? You were always-- always him?"

"Yeah. I was. I am."

"You son of a b####," she whispered. "I don't know whether to hate you or to love you."

"We've always kind of done both, haven't we?" He took her hand in his. "Carol… I'm sorry. I'll explain all this someday. I promise. But you see what's happening out there. This mess, it's the whole planet. I have to go help. People are dying-- I have to stop it."

"And you can," she said, still wrapping her mind around the concept. "Because you're Green Lantern. Hal Jordan. Green Lan… how is anybody going to believe this?"

"I was kind of hoping nobody had to know."

"They'd think I was crazy, anyway. And now you're going to leave again."

"I have to. I wish things were different. For me, for us, for… everything."

"They were never going to be. From the beginning, Green Lantern or not, this is who we were always going to be."

"Doesn't mean it can't change, someday."

"Someday," she nodded.

"Until I see you again," he turned and nodded to Ganthet and they started to lift off. As his energy field enveloped him, Carol grabbed his arm and pulled him back hard, spinning him and kissing him full on the mouth. He was too shocked to respond at first, but quickly recovered, pulling her tightly to him.

"Don't think that changes anything - I still hate you as much as I love you," she said breathlessly as they pulled apart. "Come back to me. There's a lot we need to work out."

"Hey," he smirked, lifting off the ground. "It's me."

He waved a quick salute to the people in the helicopter and gave Carol a last smile before flying away with Ganthet.

"It's you," she sighed, proud that she never let a tear slip her eye.
________________________________________

Wonder Woman and J'Onn hammered away at the smoking, spark-spewing wounds already inflicted on Brainiac and Batman hurled explosive batarangs into the fray, but his shell kept repairing itself. Throughout it all Brainiac seemed oddly reluctant to attack the veteran leaguers. Black Canary and Sage kept firing at the smaller robots that attempted to spring forth from Brainiac's body, preventing a fresh swarm of drones from appearing to impede the heroes' work. Though a fresh gout of laser fire burned J'Onn and sent him crashing to the floor next to Supergirl, the heroes pressed on and chipped away more and more of Brainiac's mass.

"Justice League - alert!" Atom's voice came through the comms. "We've got a major situation."

"Oh, really?" Green Arrow grunted, firing a pulse-wave arrow to clear the area around Black Canary. "We've got a major situation, now? 'Cause I was enjoying this lovely little tea party we were--"

"Steel's ready to set off a bomb that will obliterate Brainiac, along with anybody in the vicinity when it goes off."

"That… is a situation. Yeah."

"We can't be sure that that's necessary," Wonder Woman said, tearing free from a heavy metal tentacle that wrapped around her midsection. "If we can defeat Brainiac without destroying this whole place-- all the artifacts held here, the history that would be lost…!"

"There's no question," Batman's cold voice came over the line, chilling everyone who heard it. "It's the earth or Brainiac. Tell Steel to arm the bomb."

"No," a metallic drone rang out from Brainiac's core. "I will not allow it."

Two things happened at once. A pulse of electromagnetic energy swept out from Brainiac's central mass, rolling over the heroes as they tried to hold their ground. Those with superhuman endurance largely shrugged it off, the rest were stunned and staggered. Green Arrow fell from his perch, crashing to the ground below. Red Tornado sagged as his systems struggled to remain operational. And Steel held his hands over his face as his suit sparked and popped, circuits violently fried as his manual interface screen exploded.

But as Superboy lowered his hands from his face, he heard something else. From deep within the core of Brainiac, a booming sound repeated. Over and over - boom, boom, boom - like a door beaten by a sledgehammer, the beating of a heart trying to burst from its chest.

The rest of Brainiac returned to life, tentacles and grasping claws flailing wildly at them while guns and turrets melded out from the walls to open fire, but the central mass of his core was booming; something inside was attempting to hammer its way out. Fist-shaped lumps erupted one by one across the enormous midsection. It was almost free.

"Something's happening…" Superboy said, eyes widening.

"Get back!" Eradicator shouted, pulling the boy out of the way just as the core of Brainiac exploded, shrapnel and wire flying out and away as a body emerged. The half-flesh half-endoskeletal cyborg Superman fell from Brainiac's giant form and landed on his knees in the middle of the room. It looked up as the League held back, unsure what to make of this.

"We don't have much time," the Cybrog spoke in Superman's calm, steady voice. "We have to destroy Brainiac and stop the terraforming mechanism before it's too late to save the planet from what he's started."
________________________________________

The churning, roaring sky was thick with black clouds that spun with winds so fast and furious that a person could hardly hold their ground on the land below. Tornadoes twisted their way to touch ground in dozens of places. And everywhere they touched down, a speedster was there to meet them. The American mid-west glowed red from the wake-trails of the Flash, Jay Garrick, and Jesse Quick.

Jay bolted toward a newly-forming tornado as it touched the ground. Feeling the burn in his old legs, the acid in his stomach, the throttling pain in his sides, he pressed on. Driving himself through the winds, he ran in a counter-circle to the direction of the tornado. Moving faster and faster, time slowing, he watched as the whipping winds of the tornado slowed before him, the dust and debris coming to a halt in mid-air. He'd reached perceptive equilibrium - moving so fast that time seemed to freeze. He smiled for a second, pleased with himself that this old man could still get himself there, even after all he'd had to do already today.

As he ran faster, the winds of the tornado seemed to start to reverse, the direction moving opposite where it began. His own wind currents were counter-acting the tornado. It dissipated and dispersed, dirt and rocks and grass and leaves flying outward and falling to the ground as the twister died.

Jay stumbled, feeling his knee throb and start to give out. Dropping down, he tumbled across the field as the world sped up and his perception returned to normal.

"Jay!" Flash shouted as he appeared at his side. He knelt beside the older man and looked him over. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, Junior, just-- just an old man, is all," Jay tried to laugh but ended up coughing hard. "I don't know how much more I got left in me."

"Jay, I…" Flash looked around, the white lenses of his costume reflecting the tumult and chaos of the wide plains. Not far from here there were cities and towns, some small and others major population centers. If they didn't hold off the end-of-days amount of tornadoes that were churning up every few minutes…

"People are in danger," he said, looking back down at the grandfather figure that had been in his life since he was a young boy. "We're the only ones who can stop this. Our community-- the heroes are stretched thin. It's bad everywhere. You helped me evacuate the east coast from the tsunamis, you helped me reroute those volcanoes, you helped me stop that nuclear plant from going into meltdown… I know I can't ask you for more. But this is me having no choice but to ask."

"My legs…"

"Will have plenty of rest tomorrow. Next week. Next month. Retire if you want, move to the beach and write your memoirs. Tell everybody about the life you've led and how it all came down to this moment, today."

Flash looked up, watching Jesse bring down another tornado. They were getting bigger.

"Uncle Barry was willing to die to save the world from Darkseid," he said, swallowing back a sudden lump in his throat. "Can we afford to give less? I know that I'm no Barry Allen - but how can I not try? How could you?"

Jay sighed, taking Wally's hand and sitting up. "You're right, Junior. I know. But these old bones…"

"I'll have Joan get a wheelchair ready for you, Gramps," Wally smiled. "You can spend the rest of your days complaining about your knees."

"Don't you tempt me, kid," Jay grumbled with a smile as he stood with Flash's help. "There's a few more coming down over there."

"Time to run. You ready?"

Jay simply nodded, adjusting his silver cap and pushing off on the balls of his feet. He'd hit the runner's wall four or five times today already, he just hoped he had another wind waiting for him on the other side of this one.
________________________________________

Blue Beetle stood at the ready, staring down the oncoming tidal wave that was ready to sink Manhattan. Again. This poor town, he thought. So amazing it can't help but be a target.

Further up the coast, Ice and Dr. Light were building an immense wall of frozen water and solid energy. Fire was doing her best to roll out a heat-wave powerful enough to evaporate the oncoming tide. And to the other side, Dmitri and Booster were merging their force-fields into another defensive wall. Looking south from his position, Beetle could see the wall of light from Aztek's armor moving his way. Now, it was his turn to combine powers and connect the bridge.

It was looking better than it really was; they were getting decent defensive coverage, but none of them were equipped to create shields of this size. Those in power-suits were stretching their energy paper-thin to cover more distance, and Fire and Ice were both pushing their endurance past their limits to build their elemental walls. Beetle didn't know if any of this would hold when the tide hit, but what else could they do?

He looked out over the ocean and his HUD scrolled data to the left and right of his field of vision. The readouts varied based on his thoughts; when he thought about wind speed, a new panel popped in. When he started gauging his maximum effective range, a grid ghosted over his vision, laying in telemetries and geometry for his force-field. He'd been wearing this armor for a long time now and he was still constantly surprised by what it could do.

And that amazement was what he was counting on. He'd never tried a force-field before, though it had made energy shields of a sort to deflect bullets and beam attacks a few times. He was hoping that the scarab's endless ability to surprise him with its effectiveness would be his saving grace again. Reluctantly, he had to admit that he was glad he'd accidentally let the damned thing bond with him - if he was still running around in tights and a utility belt, he'd have been completely useless out here.

He raised his arm and the tech-gauntlet and sleeve shifted and reformed into a projector dish, beaming blue-gold energy out to the Atlantic. As it began building a wall of light, Aztek's brilliant yellow barrier soared across the water to meet it. When the edges of their energy fields touched, Beetle's HUD began to cycle rapidly, static shivering at the edges of his vision and words and pictograms in a strange language scrolled too quickly for him to follow.

"Uh, Aztek-- you getting anything weird on your end?" he stammered, eyes flickering from one info pane to the next. All the while, his field projector was ramping up more and more power.

"Something is definitely happening," Aztek's voice came over the line. Uno was unusually flustered; normally impeccably cool and collected in the field, something had him as spooked as Beetle was.

"How's your power levels?" Ted asked, watching the beam from his dish growing wider and brighter, hearing the hum grow steadily into a low roar, watching the available power grid shooting toward 500%.

"Spiking. Badly. I am… concerned."

"To say the least," Ted shook his head to clear his mind and focus. "Okay, we have to cut this off."

"But the wall--"

"We'll think of something else, 'Tek, but if we don't stop this now and our power levels keep multiplying, I have no idea what's gonna happen next. We're no good to anybody dead, and the last thing we need is twin explosions on the coast, you got me?"

"I get you," Aztek said with a sad tone. Beetle could feel for him - he had no idea what the hell they were going to do about the wave when their wall came down, and he doubted any of the others would be able to take off the slack.

"Shut down your projector on three. One… two… th--"

He was cut off by a bright light, his visor darkening to shade his eyes as an enormous wall of green energy shone into existence. It stretched as far as the eye could see up and down the coast, blocking the wave as it roared in. Beetle cut power to his projector and his suit powered way down, though his HUD was still crackling and his available power levels were still way, way above normal limits.

"What's-- Ted, are you seeing this?" Booster's voice came over his comm.

"Yeah. I am. It's a-a miracle…"

"You think Guy's back?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. He's never shown this level of control with his ring, and he's never done anything like this without making sure we all knew it was him."

"Well, whatever Lantern is out there doing it, I hope like hell he doesn't stop," Fire said, sounding exhausted. "I don't know if I have the energy to keep going."

"I think… I think it's gonna be alright," Ted said, landing on the dock and walking to the edge. The armor of his helmet and mask withdrew, allowing him to see the energy wall with his own eyes and feel the rain in his hair. He felt refreshed, relieved.

"We're gonna be alright."
________________________________________

"What th-- what the hell's going on?!" Superboy said as the Cyborg stood to his full height. The thing was moving slightly, as if it was out of breath. It looked around as if, what? Worried? Concerned? "[i]What is going on?![/I"

"Don't give it time to recover!" Eradicator said, charging in and slamming the thing to the wall.

"Please-- don't…" it said, its voice desperate. "We don't have time to fight each other."

"This is a trick," Eradicator said. He had the cyborg pinned to the wall, his forearm pressing against its throat. "I won't fall for it."

"I s-swear!" the cyborg pleaded, pulling at Eradicator's arm but not putting up a fight. "This isn't-- I'm not who you think I am!"

"What is he saying?" Wonder Woman demanded, landing nearby and marching toward them.

"Don't listen," Superboy frowned, wiping his mouth as he moved in as well. "It's a liar. It told me its plans-- I watched it trick Power Girl and shoot her in the back when she let her guard down."

"That was Brainiac," the cyborg said. "Not me."

"Who are you, then," Wonder Woman challenged. "Or do you still expect us to believe you're Superman?"

"N-no. Not exactly," it said, its organic eye looking around like it was trying to find a way to make them understand. "I'm a fully-aware AI based on him, programmed into a responsometer."

"Seriously?" Superboy scoffed. "You're gonna feed us that crap and expect us to eat it?"

"A responsometer is the device that powers the Metal Men," Batman said, lowering from the ceiling. "The first thing the Cyborg did was attack Metallo at Dr. Magnus' lab; his real goal could have been to steal one."

"Yes," Cyborg nodded. "He uploaded all of Superman's journals from the Fortress into it-- used it to build a personality, an intelligence based on him."

"--And used it to mimic emotion and personality," Wonder Woman said. "Used it to create a duplicate of Superman. To fool us with Kal's heart."

"This changes nothing," Eradicator said, eyes burning like twin suns.

"He's right," Superboy said. "Whatever hardware he's got for a brain, we still need to frag this guy."

"Yes! That's what-- wh-what I intend to do," the Cyborg said. "I know I’m a robot, a platform for Brainiac’s consciousness, but… but I have all of Superman’s memories. All of Clark Kent’s. My personality was built off of all of his dreams, all of his hopes, everything he ever took the time to write down, to record… everything he felt and said and did, it’s all in me. It’s that personality – Superman’s personality – that’s given me the strength to choose. To break free of Brainiac’s overriding control so that he can be destroyed. I can't let him win. I won’t."

"Brainiac's inert," Atom said, suddenly appearing from out of the air, growing to his full normal size. "But I'm reading power surges. We don't have long before he's active again."

"I could only buy us minutes," the Cyborg said. "His consciousness is uploading into a new form. He'll be back online soon. Once that happens, he'll be able to retake control of my body… probably fry out the responsometer and destroy this artificial personality he created. With Brainiac back online, it’s only a matter of time before the last working piece of the man Clark Kent was is destroyed and everything is lost forever."

"What is it you want?" Wonder Woman asked. "What do you intend to do?"

"The b-bomb. Steel has a bomb that Brainiac… that I know is capable of destroying him, us, completely. Let me deliver it to his core."

"Why don't we just destroy you right now and blow the bomb ourselves, huh?" Superboy shouted, getting in the Cyborg's face.

"Because you won't survive. You-- you aren't strong enough. I have the scans Brainiac did of Steel's device, I know the payload it's capable of. You won't make it."

"And you will?"

"No. I won't. But I have to be destroyed, too. If I’m not, he’ll use me to come back and attack again. This won’t be over until every piece of Brainiac in this fortress has been annihilated, including me.”

"I don't know how we can believe you," Wonder Woman said.

"We can't," Batman growled.

"D-Diana… Bruce… you were my closest friends. You were Superman's closest friends. I'm not him, I know that, but everything he felt, everything he believed, all the struggles and hopes and frustrations and dreams-- everything he recorded about himself, I am. Please, for everything the three of you ever shared, for anything you ever felt for him, me, our friendship-- let me end this. Don't let me die a villain."

Nobody spoke. The fortress continued to shake; sounds of collapsing ceilings rumbled from somewhere deep in the building.

"I'll go with him," Eradicator said, still keeping the pressure of his forearm on Cyborg's neck. "I can make sure the bomb goes off."

"But it would destroy you, too," Wonder Woman said. "I can already see the damage your energy powers are causing your skin. You wouldn't survive the blast."

"Yes, I would," he looked toward her and spoke simply, and the contrast of his face - Superman's face - speaking with a robot's mind, and that cybernetic skull with only a patch of Superman's skin and one eye, but which spoke with Kal-El's soul…

"I'm not this body," Eradicator said. "It is only a shell wrapped around an energy construct. Energy cannot be destroyed. At worst, I will be dissipated, but that does not guarantee that I couldn't recombine myself into another form. My intelligence would continue."

Wonder Woman looked to Batman, and the Dark Knight back at her. Superboy punched the wall in frustration.

"You can't seriously be listening to this! It could all be a trap! They could have been working together the whole time-- we don't know either of these two… things!"

"It doesn't make sense as a trap," Batman said. "Of everything that they've ever said… this is the first line of logic that actually stands up."

"We have to do this quickly," Cyborg said, and Eradicator nodded. "Diana, Bruce, I… I wish there was time to say… well, to say goodbye. I know logically that I'm not who I think I am, but it feels so… I'm sorry. Sorry for all of this. Sorry that this little device that made me wasn't strong enough to take over and stop Brainiac sooner."

Eradicator pulled back and Cyborg collected himself. They began walking toward where Steel was trying to reconfigure his power-armor, but Cyborg pulled up short.

"Tell Kara… I'm sorry. Tell her that Clark’s memories of her in his journals, how much he loved her, how she inspired him-- they were part of what gave me the strength to do this." He seemed to sigh, shoulders slightly hung like a great weight rested on him. Looking back, he nodded to Superboy. "And you… young man," he pointed to the boy's shirt. "You wear it well. But take it from me - you can carry the weight or you can be angry. You can't do both."

Superboy frowned with furrowed brows, not knowing how to respond, what to say.

"None of this makes any sense. Where is the real Superman? I was supposed to be him, but..."

"He died,” the Cyborg said plainly. “It's your turn to step up, now."

"Justice League!" Wonder Woman shouted. "Rally! We're evacuating the Fortress."
________________________________________

John Henry Irons knelt over the armor he'd built. He'd put into its construction every brilliant thought he'd ever had. He'd built into it the weapons that had made him the most sought-after engineer in defense. He'd tweaked and perfected every schematic he'd ever laid out, then invented new systems that nobody'd thought of yet. It was everything he swore he would never do again, justified only by the determination that this time he would be the one in the driver's seat. This time his designs would be used to stop violence and killing, not cause it.

When he quit the armstech game, he swore that he'd die before he ever let himself be the cause of innocent people losing their lives again. As the apple-sized reactor at the heart of his Steel armor came back to life, thrumming a cool blue-violet and ready to explode with the flick of a switch, he laughed to himself. Nobody could say John Irons didn't keep his promises.

"Time for John Henry to beat the machine," he smiled. Of course, that John Henry also died in the process…

"You've done well," Eradicator's hollow voice said from behind him. "Now leave the rest to us and go with the League to safety."

John turned around and saw Eradicator and the Cyborg standing over him. Eyes widening, he nearly pressed the detonation button right there, but saw Batman slide in between them.

"It's alright, Steel," Batman said, leaning down to examine the armor. "This is how it's going to be. We're getting you to safety and they're delivering the payload."

"Can we trust them?"

"We don't have a choice," Batman said in a low growl, hands sliding over the Steel armor. He nodded as if in approval of John's work and stood again.

"I don't understand a damn thing happening, here," John said as he stood with him. "But… everything rides on what happens right here and now. I don't know if I can--"

He was interrupted by the sound of whirring gears and motors, Brainiac's machines returning to life. They looked out into the main hall and saw the robotic villain assembling a new body, pieces of metal and machinery pulling together and slowly fusing into a new whole.

"Listen," the Cyborg said quickly. "We're here because Brainiac and the Eradicator each stole half of Superman's body and hacked the logs and journals from this Fortress. Eradicator tried to turn those jumbled bits of data into memories. Brainiac tried to turn them into a soul and put that soul into me. Maybe-- I don't know, maybe the two of us together are almost enough to be one whole Superman."

"We can do this, you cannot. It is simple." Eradicator held his hand out and John reluctantly put the detonation controls in his palm. When Eradicator moved to pull back his hand, John held him.

"Finish this," he said, fury underlying his voice. Eradicator nodded.

As they left, the Cyborg turned back to Batman one last time.

"We will destroy Brainiac, here. There will be no trace of him left in this Fortress, and he'll never be able to take it again. But… there are other pieces of Brainiac out there. Backups. He'd never keep his entire self in one place without redundancies in case of failure. So we will finish this, but--"

"But it's never over," Batman finished for him. "You don't have to tell me that."

"Of everyone I know, I thought you would be the one who would best understand. Keep them safe."

Batman nodded and fled with John. Though his metallic skull couldn't truly smile, if you watched the shape of his one organic eye, the arch of the eyebrow above it, there was a smile inside him.
________________________________________

"Fall back!" Bane shouted as he slammed two massive fists into the energy construct chasing him. The green light being flickered and shattered under Bane's assault, but there were too many still coming. He ran back through the snowy field, looking for any cover he could find.

Deadshot said nothing in response, only continuing to fire his guns. Pistol clips emptied, he threw them aside and drew two fresh from the crossed holsters behind his back. Rolling backward, he shot down two more constructs and propped up Captain Atom's body as a shield.

Bane narrowed his eyes, liking the smaller man's idea. But with the constructs dissipating when they were destroyed, there wasn't much actual rubble or debris he could use for defense. He shrugged; you use what you had available. As a 4-foot hedgehog came rolling toward him like a cannonball, he grabbed Cat-Man's leg and swung him like a club. He impacted with the hedgehog like a bat striking a baseball, destroying the construct and breaking a few more of Cat-Man's bones. A small price to pay - Bane was unharmed.

Then, with no warning or apparent reason, all the constructs simply vanished. As one, they broke into sparkles of green light and faded away into nothingness.

"The field… is clear," Bane said, unsure what to make of the sudden change. "The mission…?"

"Is f###ed," Deadshot said flatly. "Not our problem, now."

A wall of green light shone into existence, a mile high and stretching as far as the eye could see. Bane brought a finger to his ear to key his communicator.

"This is zero-five. Mission compromised, commander and support eliminated; only zero-two and myself remain. We are unable to proceed without air support. Copy?"

"Roger, zero-five, you are cleared. Pull back to safe zone with zero-two; backup and retrieval en route."

Bane walked casually back toward their fallback position, looking over his shoulder to the sky as several small shapes could be seen flying skyward. He smiled. He'd get another chance someday, hopefully soon. This was all going to work in his favor, it was just a matter of playing the right game and being patient. The victory that was the most carefully built and the most expertly planned was the most satisfying.
________________________________________

The two Supermen had blasted their way through the layers of metal and circuitry, cables and connectors, chips and plastics and tech beyond the imagination of most men to the heart of Brainiac's core. The genocidal robot fought back, and every foot gained was contested. But at last, they had reached their goal.

"Keep them off me!" the Cyborg shouted. Eradicator fired blast after blast, burning out the goggles over his eyes so that his energy leaked from the empty sockets.

As he fought, the Cyborg’s robotic arm and torso opened and began interfacing with Steel’s armor and the bomb inside. Cables reached from him to the core of Brainiac, overriding the alien computer intelligence and multiplying the power of Steel’s bomb ten-fold.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Eradicator demanded, struggling to fight back wave after wave of defense drones.

“Steel is a brilliant man, but he underestimated Brainiac. The bomb needs more juice to do its job, so I’m stealing some. Just a little longer and it’ll be ready…”

In desperation, Eradicator raised his hands and pushed his energy out through his palms as well, shooting in three directions now instead of just one. The heat burnt through the skin of his hands, skin blackening and cracking like cooked meat. It peeled back and flaked away until his physical shell was consumed and destroyed up to his forearms.

"I can only do so much," he said through grit teeth, holding up the churning whorls of crackling energy that used to be his hands. "This shell is… is failing me…"

"It just has to hold another few seconds! Don't give up yet!"

"If there is any of Kal-El inside you, if that mechanical responsometer device produced an algorithmic intelligence with even an iota of his spirit, his heart, then you should be aware - there's no quit in either of us."

The Cyborg chuckled quietly as he finished the last prep on the armor-bomb, standing back to back with Eradicator. "That's what Pa always said about him and me. There's no quit in us Kents, Clark."

"And there never will be," Eradicator nodded.

As Brainiac robots attacked them from all sides in the tight confines of the hollow at the core of his computer consciousness, the two Supermen held their ground. The Cyborg felt the switch in his hand and squeezed it. It gave a slight click and he closed his eye tightly.

"Thank you," he said, and then everything went white.
________________________________________

The Justice League was well clear of the Fortress of Solitude when the explosion hit. From where they'd landed on the arctic mountain range, they looked to the crystalline structure and winced as a pillar of light burst through the center toward the sky. The land shook beneath their feet and a shockwave swept past them, taking a few from their feet.

"That must've been them," Power Girl said, staring at the Fortress as the gleaming white crystals that made the building turned to a dull grey and sagged slightly. "I guess he wasn't lying. The cyborg really… there really was some of Superman in him."

"The responsometer is serious tech," Atom said, nodding. Then, looking toward where Red Tornado stood, he added, "And just because something's robotic doesn't mean it can't have a heart. There's a lot about artificial intelligence we don't understand, yet."

"Yeah, well," she shrugged and wiped at an eye. "There's a lot about actual intelligence we don't understand, yet. Doesn't matter to me. Brainiac rebuilt Clark's mind and heart, then thought he could control what he'd made. But Superman was too strong for him. Even a digital remake."

"He saved us all again," Steel said, feeling the satisfaction of trust and faith repaid. “Even if he had to destroy the Fortress to do it.”

“Don’t underestimate Kryptonian engineering,” Power Girl said, folding her arms across her chest. “He put a big hole in the roof, but I wouldn’t call the Fortress destroyed. Not just yet. Maybe—I don’t know, maybe someday, with the right equipment and enough tech, it could be rebuilt.”

“Someday,” Steel nodded.

"I'm surprised," Wonder Woman said to Batman as they looked on. "I wouldn't have expected you to be willing to take such a risk, letting them take the bomb to Brainiac's core on their own. I'd have thought you would have insisted on having some contingency plan in place."

"Who says I didn't?" he said, showing her the detonator in his hand. "I connected a manual remote to Steel's armor."

"And if they took too long, you'd have blown it yourself."

"But I didn't have to," he said. She smiled at him. Not many people knew Batman very well, but she could hear what his tone meant. Though still dark and chilling, his voice had a smile in it. Somewhere deep down, he felt the same way she did.

Superboy stood a little back from Cir-El. He could hear her lightly sobbing and wanted to reach out to her, but wasn't sure how. He remembered the words of the robot, the challenge from Superman. He was struggling with what to think of the cyborg, whether it really was some part of Superman inside him.

Maybe it didn't matter. Maybe it was more important to recognize the Superman inside himself.

"Are you alright?" he asked her gently as he came up beside her, turning her shoulder softly with his hand. The touch made his palm tingle.

"Oh, me?" she asked, sniffling and pushing tears away with the backs of her hands. "I'm fine. You know me - nothing keeps me down!"

"Nothing does," he smiled. "But… y'know, if you were feeling, like, whatever? And you wanted to, like… I'm here, you know?"

"Yeah," she smiled her huge, bright-toothed grin. "I know."

He took her hand and held it and she looked down at their hands together with wide eyes, then back up to him, her mouth a little 'o.' Then she relaxed into a tiny smile and turned back to look at the Fortress again.

"I'm sorry about your dad," he said.

"It's okay," she shrugged. "He almost made it back this time, but had to save the world first. He'll make it back again, and next time he'll be able to stay. I just know it. Superman always comes back."
________________________________________

Ganthet, Hal, and Kyle watched from orbit as the bright light shone over the arctic.

"That's it," Ganthet said, a slight creak in his voice. From here, the three were shielding the entire planet from the forces trying to tear it apart. The strain was really showing on the Guardian, now. There was a reason they couldn't just solve the universe's problems themselves.

"They did it," Kyle smiled. "I can feel everything stopping."

"Of course they did it, kid," Hal smirked. "They're the Justice League."

"So, what now? After the chaos dies down, I mean."

"You're coming with us," Hal said, pointing off into space. "Out there. Ganthet says there's something important about you, and last time he told me that about somebody she turned out to be… well, important."

"She was the Starheart," Ganthet said. "The living embodiment of the green flame. And you, Kyle, are the Vanguard."

"What, uh… what's that mean, exactly?"

"That's what we're going to find out together," Ganthet smiled. Hal didn't like it when Guardian's smiled. Not only because they never smiled, and thus it must mean they're up to something, but because it always made him feel like there was some big thing he wasn't in on.

"I don't know," Kyle said, looking back toward Earth and seeing the green lines of their combined power crisscrossing the globe. "This is my home. I'm part of something important with the League. They need me - I can't just leave them all."

"It is your choice, of course. But you recognize that you have connected to something in your power that is new. You have begun to see how important that must be. I am offering you the chance - the only chance you will have - to find out what it means. And while your friends will miss you here, your loss would hurt the universe more."

"It's big picture time, kid," Hal said. "Time for you to decide whether you're in this to help a few or to help everybody. Time to redefine how big the idea of 'everybody' really is."

Kyle watched the planet turning slowly beneath him, then looked out to the universe beyond.

"Can I bring my wife?"

"I was hoping you would ask," Ganthet smiled again.

"Wait, what?" Hal said in surprise, turning to the small blue man. "What are you talking about? Green Lanterns never get to bring civilians to Oa."

"This is an unusual case, Lantern Jordan. Kyle is not a part of the Corps, and his wife may turn out to be as important as he is. You will have to trust me."

"I'm still getting there with you. And you're asking a lot."

"Did I not do all that I've promised so far? It is a new day, Hal Jordan. And with the new day, a new light will dawn."
________________________________________

The sun hung low in the violet sky over New York as the Justice League International received a Presidential commendation. Cameras flashed for the heroes that had prevented Manhattan from suffering another catastrophe. From his podium, President Luthor thanked them personally, promising to heal the cities of the United States. Then, bringing Captain Atom to the forefront, flanked by new heroes nobody yet recognized, he introduced the Human Defense Corps to the country and the world.

The same sun streaked through the window of Cassie Sandsmark's room as she looked at the gauntlets, girdle, and boots in the small duffel-bag. She smiled broadly at her secret, adding a black wig to the Wonder Woman t-shirt and goggles in the bag before sliding it back under her bed. Something amazing was happening and she couldn't wait to see where it took her.

The sun was getting low in the blue sky over Metropolis as Power Girl stood on the roof of the Daily Planet, finishing an interview with Lois Lane. She smiled, looking out at her city and feeling like it really was hers. She had finally put Superman to rest. She was finally comfortable in her own shoes. The Justice League could have her whenever they needed her, but the rest of her time belonged to this big, beautiful city.

A streak of black and red soared through the sky with a loud "Woooo-hooo!" and Power Girl sighed, shrugging at Lois who could only shrug back in return.

"I'll watch over her when she's up there if you take care of her when she's down here," Power Girl said and Lois laughed as the blonde woman took flight.

"Dammit, Supergirl - get back here!"

For Supergirl herself, there was only joy. Zipping through Metropolis, she smiled broadly. One step closer to finding her father, she was sure of it. One step closer to solving the mystery and returning home to her time. Or… maybe not returning immediately…

She flew beside a bus and waved at a young boy who looked at her with big eyes. Giggling, she took off as Power Girl caught up and gave chase. The boy laughed, not noticing the three green dots in a triangle that started glowing on the screen of his 3DS. A message briefly displayed - Initializing - and faded. The game had returned to normal by the time the boy went back to playing.

The same sun shone on the Kent farm as a young man came into his room and flopped on the bed. Running a hand through his scruff of black hair, he turned his head to the side and contemplated the eyeglasses on his nightstand. If he really wanted to be Superman, then maybe he ought to consider… but he was interrupted by Martha Kent's call for dinner. He smiled. He'd worry about the rest later. Probably tomorrow. First food, then to Metropolis and Cir-El. Everything else could wait.

The sun was high in the mid-afternoon sky in Star City as Dinah Lance returned to her flower shop after a late lunch. Her two employees were minding the shop while she was gone and Bryce told her about a weird order they'd gotten. Some guy had bought a huge flower arrangement, then had it sent to her office in the back. She sighed when she saw it - all green coneflowers and green zinnias mixed with canary-yellow roses and tulips. There was a card, but she hardly had to read it. In fact, she nearly threw the whole thing away sight unseen, but curiosity forced her to read the hand-written note.

I know I broke things between us. I know I can't ask for forgiveness, but I can try and earn it. Whatever happens, if I can make you smile once every day, I'll be happy. And if I can only love you again in my memories, I'll make it enough. Luck willing, I'll get to show you the better man loving you has made me. I only wish it hadn't taken me so long to find him.

-Oliver

She smiled to herself, then frowned. No, she wouldn't do it. Damn that man. She threw the flowers out immediately. But she kept the note.

The same sun shone on Coast City where Carol Ferris found it impossible to look at the sky the same way, knowing Hal was out there-- that all her memories had to be reorganized and that the two loves of her life were the same man. And off the coast of San Francisco on Titans Tower, where the Titans relaxed in the exotic garden, enjoying a respite after all they'd been through. Gar fawned over Tara, making sure she always had anything she needed, driving her crazy in the process.

“Cut it out!” she fumed, arms folded as she huffed in her deck chair. “I don’t need a nursemaid, I just wanted some of that iced tea.”

“Oh, lemme get that for you!” Beast Boy smiled broadly, hopping off to pour a glass.

“Leave me alone, Salad Head. I can take care of myself.”

“Tsk, tsk. I can’t let you strain yourself, babycakes!”

“Call me ‘babycakes’ again and I’ll knock your teeth out!”

“Whatever you say, sweetie pie…”

Across the garden, Roy played with his daughter, marveling at everything about her. Gar meditated on the beach halfway in the water, feeling the air and the ocean current at the same time. Dick and Kori stood together, arms around each other, just watching the waves ripple on the ocean and surprising themselves that the sight of the Pacific could still make them smile after everything that had just happened.

The sun never shone in the Batcave, where Batman stared at the files of the Case of the Supermen. He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair. With the press of a button, the files were logged and the case closed. When Batgirl arrived, he asked if she would be interested in expanding their digital network. She had talents that needed to be utilized, and he wanted them to have a wider reach. If it worked, he wanted to expand it again for Justice League use. She smiled broadly, a kid given the keys to the candystore. She didn't have even a single complaint when he told her to work from the cave while he patrolled with Robin and Spoiler that night.

From its position in orbit of the Earth, the League Satellite could see both the sun and moon at once on either side of the planet. It was a beautiful sight for Kyle and Alex as they said their goodbyes. He was leaving with Ganthet for deep space and Steel was joining to take his place. At Batman's behest, the engineering genius was going to completely overhaul the Satellite and take the tech of the League to a whole new level of efficiency and capability.

There were many farewells. Green Arrow gave Kyle some last advice and an arrowhead to remember them by.

"Because no matter how fancy your ring might be, sometimes the best solution is the simplest."

Power Girl cried a little as she lifted Kyle off the ground in a goodbye hug. Alex had a big last hug with her League girlfriends. And then, with a last look at the world that had been the center of their universe for their entire lives, Kyle Rayner and Alexandra DeWitt followed Ganthet and Hal Jordan into the infinite beyond of the universe.
________________________________________

Diana and Arthur lay on their backs on the beach of Themyscira, feeling the waves gently washing over their skin, the wet sand beneath them.

"This really is paradise," he said with a smile. She rolled onto her side and into his arms.

"Now it is," she laughed, holding him. He let out a long breath, like all the weight and weariness of the world was leaving him with the air from his lungs.

"I don't know what it is, but I feel like something is ending," he said. "And I don't know what's taking its place."

"We are," she said. "The two of us, together. That weird feeling you have is called happiness. People enjoy letting themselves feel it from time to time."

"I know what happiness feels like," he laughed, squeezing her. "This is different. It's a transition, but it's like… this time, we get to be the ones who decide what we're transitioning into."

"That's a lucky thing for us. Transitions are moments of real power - we'll have to choose carefully."

"I choose you," he said, smiling at her and kissing her. "My best friend. Forever. Everything else… we'll work it out as we go."

"A wise choice," she smiled back. "I think I've felt something similar to what you're talking about. In some way, I feel like we were all waiting for Superman to come back to life. As much as none of the four Supermen seemed like him, it just… it's like we were expecting the real Kal to just show up from out of nowhere and save the day.

"Now that he hasn't and we did it all ourselves, it's like we can at last close the book on that chapter. We can move on. It's time to define what the world can be after Superman."

"I have some ideas," he said with a distant gleam in his eyes.

"I'm not surprised."

"Seriously! Without having to be responsible for running 70% of the planet, I've had some time on my hands. I've been thinking about what the League can be, now. What we can do for the world."

"Well, since you bring it up, I've had some ideas too."

"I'm not surprised," he smirked at her and she slapped his chest playfully.

"Well, the League is in our hands, now. We'll have to put together a plan and bring it to the team. See what they think."

"But in the mean-time," he said, rolling her over and onto her back. "I have more immediate plans to implement."

They laughed together and kissed in the waves beneath the warmth of the sun. It was a beautiful day. They were expecting a lot of beautiful days in their future.

"I can't believe we made it," he said. "We survived everything they threw at us and we came out the other side stronger, better. Together. There were times - a lot of times - where I didn't know if we would."

"There was never any doubt in my mind."

The sun fell over the ocean's horizon and the stars came out over the Themysciran sky and two lovers at peace at last. The future was theirs. They had but to embrace it.

The End.