In orbit over Metropolis…
"How is she?"
Yamashiro Tatsu, the beautiful kendō-ka known to the superhero community as Katana, shook her head as she gazed up at the most powerful member of the Outsiders, Prince Brion Markov of the small Balkan nation of Markovia (also known as Geo-Force). "Whatever made us forget what Ataru-kun did for people like your sister here nearly plunged Tara-chan back into the madness that was slowly consuming her before Ataru-kun first met her three years ago and took her to Yiziba," the sword-wielding member of the Outsiders explained — she was so shaken by what she had just been allowed to remember that her normally good English was slipping and she was using Japanese honorifics when she spoke of others — before she turned back to gently probe the shiatsu points on the face of Brion's half-sister Tara. "When she finally remembered everything…"
Geo-Force nodded. Tara Markova — known as "Terra" and seen as a member of the Titans even if she had only worked briefly for the team — was born from a tryst between the then-king of Markovia and an American CIA operative who had been assigned to the country to ensure the encroaching threat of the Warsaw Pact didn't overwhelm it. Though seen as a bastard child, Tara was loved by her father enough that he arranged for her to be raised by competent foster parents (Tara's birth mother had died shortly after the young girl was born). Involved in that upbringing was renowned geneticist Helga Jace…whose secret affiliation with the Cult of the Manhunters guaranteed that when Tara was given the ability to manipulate the Earth when she was eight, said experiment would drive the girl insane. Especially when she learned the truth of her parents.
Tara would eventually be saved by a young man her age from Japan named Moroboshi Ataru, who encountered the then-mercenary in Africa when she was helping Deathstroke the Terminator on a mission that would eventually kill the then-guardian of her future Titans teammate, Garfield Logan (Beast Boy/Changeling). Once Tara had been taken to Yiziba by Ataru and introduced to his sister Negako, the illegitimate daughter of the King of Markovia was then presented to the Great Crystal of Power and was Gifted with the power of Landslide. With the stabilising force of two dozen prior incarnations living on a planet like Yiziba added onto the considerable Earth-based powers she had received from Jace, Tara — who kept the battle-name "Terra" even though she had adopted a Yizibajohei-pattern jumpsuit in her preferred colours of gold, brown and Indian red — eventually met up with the Titans and became part of the team shortly after they reformed thanks to the demonic-descent empath Raven. During that time, the group had fought both Deathstroke and his elder son — who had been gifted by the HIVE to become the Ravager…and would later die from the after-effects of the experiments that had given Grant Wilson the ability to use all of his brain's cognitive abilities — and, in the wake of Slade Wilson's taking up his dead son's contract with the HIVE to terminate the Titans, volunteered to be the older mercenary's "spy" in the group.
The truth, however…
In the mountains of Colorado, two years ago…
"Whoa…!"
"My God…!"
"What in X'Hal's name happened?!"
An amused chuckle echoed from nearby. "Looks like these bozos forgot to make sure their 'sleeper agent' was really working for them, Balloon Bod."
Eyes snapped around. "Tara…?" Changeling gasped.
Walking out into the open was a familiar blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. As the Titans all gazed on her, they then gaped. "Um…friend Terra, where did you get the new uniform?!" Koriand'r of Tamaran (Starfire) then asked as she pointed at Terra.
The geo-kinetic smirked as she pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her belt to get one up and light it up. She was no longer wearing the sleeved one-piece bathing suit-like uniform that showed off her teenage legs. "I've had it for years, Kory," the Markovian-American answered. "It's just that before you brought me into the team, Slade here contacted me and asked me to be a spy in your group so he could fulfil his son's contract." She thumbed the dazed and bound Deathstroke before taking a draw on the tobacco fumes; fortunately for her, her Yizibajohei-enhanced powers gave her good invulnerability to the side-effects of nicotine. "I was hired by Robin's old boss."
Everyone gaped. "The BATMAN hired you?!" Victor Stone (Cyborg) demanded.
A nod. "Yep. Sorry you guys weren't told about this, but we had to make sure these jokers didn't get wind of it before it was too late," Terra stated as she thumbed the unconscious HIVE agents lying all over the place; when she felt the time was right, the geo-kinetic had unleashed a mini-volcano inside this underground base to wreck the machine that had held her teammates down, thus allowing them to break free and give their enemies a righteous beat-down. "You know how it is at times."
The other Titans nodded in understanding. Even if there was something of a rift between their leader Richard Greyson — the first Robin — and his guardian Bruce Wayne, one had to be totally blind to NOT know how much the Dark Knight Detective of Gotham City cared for the former acrobat who had fought alongside him for so long. "So what happens? Where is Dick anyway?!" Donna Troi (Troia) asked; given that the HIVE had learned all the secret identities of those Titans who still had them — and given that the first Robin had abandoned that identity to allow another ward of the Batman, Jason Todd, to take it up — there was no sense of trying to mask his real name.
"Right here."
Everyone looked…
…and then Starfire squealed out as she flew right into the arms of the man now calling himself Nightwing. "Dick! Thank X'Hal, you're alright!" She then stopped on noting the man with the curly blond hair in the white-and-blue uniform that had come in with the Titans' leader. "Oh, hello! Are you Dick's friend, too?!"
Nightwing chuckled. "This is Deathstroke's younger son, Joseph Wilson. He's known as 'Jericho' while in this uniform. He came to help out." A sigh. "He's mute, by the way; an accident with a man who wanted to target his father many years ago."
Starfire blinked, and then her eyes widened on seeing the scar tissue on the other man's neck. "Though you cannot speak, friend Jericho, I greet you," she then said as she bowed her head to him, which he returned with a courtly bow of his own. "If you are the Ravager's brother, I also express my deepest condolences at your loss."
Jericho's hands came up to sign his response, which Nightwing verbalised for the others. "'We drifted apart many years ago, but thank you for your kind words, Your Highness,'" the Dark Squire of Blüdhaven said. "'And I am sorry that the HIVE's manipulations concerning you and your friends caused you problems with my father. Even if Father and Mother are divorced because of what happened to me, he always cared for both of us. Sometimes a little too much, which the HIVE clearly capitalised on.'"
"So what did these bastards do?!" Cyborg demanded.
"They put Grant through the same type of experiments that Slade went through back in his Army days to give him the power to access every neuron in his head," Terra answered as she gazed in sympathy at her old mercenary partner, who was now conscious enough to stare in wide-eyed shock at his younger son now standing with the people who — in some part of his heart — he blamed for his older son's death. "But unlike Slade, who can relax part of his mind, Grant was given full access to the whole enchilada. That's what made him croak finally. The HIVE knew that even if he was a merc, Slade wouldn't let that sort of thing pass…so when Grant died…"
"He sought vengeance."
That was Starfire. Staring at the alien woman, Deathstroke was quick to see the understanding in her green eyes, and then he slowly nodded. "Yes…" he breathed out, his voice hoarse. When Terra had unleashed her powers on this base, he had barely escaped having a rather large boulder crush him; even with his abilities, avoiding millions of tons of moving earth moving at the speed of a jet had pushed him to his limits. Taking a deep breath, he closed his left eye — the right one had been shot out by his ex-wife Adeline years ago shortly after their younger son had his throat nearly sliced open by the Jackal — and then he turned to gaze quizzically at Terra. "Why, Tara?"
Terra smirked. "When we worked together in Africa, you used me, Slade. You didn't give a shit that I was going nearly insane thanks to what Doc Jade did to me. No one ever really cared…save for one man." She took a pull from her cigarette. "He took me to a woman who could probably beat the living crap out of you without breakin' a damned sweat and they fixed me up. Even made me a lot better. And then after Bats found out you had taken Grant's contract from these idiots, he contacted me to help out." She thumbed the unconscious HIVE members. "But despite all that, I always liked you. You're my friend. Hell, you're the first guy I ever got a crush on!" As the Titans all gaped at her, she then laughed. "So I wanted to do everything I could to keep you safe from your own idiot ethics. Look what they did to Joe." She nodded at Jericho before she finished her cigarette. "What do you call yourself now, Dick?!"
"Nightwing," he answered.
A whistle. "Damn! Nice battle-name! Almost Yizibajohei in…"
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! YOU SAID THE FORBIDDEN NAME!"
That was Starfire, who had leapt into a wide-eyed Nightwing's arms as she stared in fright at Terra. As the geo-kinetic blinked in confusion, a calm hand landed on her shoulder. "Tara, it seems that Koriand'r's people have also had many ill experiences with your adopted race," Raven stated as she stared knowingly at the other woman.
A shake of her head. "Stupid…"
Aboard the Watchtower…
"Why…?"
"That's being investigated, Tara."
Terra jolted on hearing the sandpaper-on-steel voice of the Batman, and then she turned to stare at him with teary eyes. "Whoever they are, Bruce, I want 'em!" she snarled. "I don't care who they are! They don't have ANY fuckin' right to…!"
"They will be dealt with," the Dark Knight Detective stated. "The other teams are here now to discuss what happened to all the people Ataru arranged to receive Gifts from the Seeker's Forge. Do you feel up to attending the meeting?"
The young geo-kinetic slowly nodded, and then smiled as her half-brother helped her up. They then walked out of the small living room of Batman's personal space in the orbiting headquarters of the Justice League, heading down a hallway to the main meeting room. Said room was now filled nearly to the rafters with various superheroes from all over the planet. Looking at them all, Terra was quick to spot the other Titans, all of whom were gazing with concern at her; they knew how much their teammate had come to crush on Moroboshi Ataru thanks to what he did for her years before. The Outsiders also looked concerned; they knew how much Geo-Force loved his sister and wanted to ensure the primary victim of Helga Jace being a part of the Cult of the Manhunters was safe. Also giving her looks of concern was three of the most powerful psychics on Earth today: Professor Charles Xavier, the sponsor of the X-Men; his first student Jean Grey (Phoenix); and Lieutenant-Commander Maria Kennison (Telepath), former student of Major Dean Raeburn and the leader of the Heroes Alliance of Canada. The Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, Doctor Stephen Strange, was using the Eye of Agamotto on her, no doubt to ensure she had fully recovered from the backlash of what had happened to Ataru a year ago. No doubt, Xavier, Grey and Kennison were scanning her with their powers as well. Terra didn't mind that; though she still saw herself as a mercenary more than a superheroine, she definitely liked the camaraderie being part of the "spandex club" often produced, especially after a big fight scene with some heel (to borrow the Yizibajohei term for what would be seen as a "supervillain" on Earth).
"You alright, Tara?" Clark Kent asked from the head of the table. The Man of Steel was flanked by Steven Rogers (Captain America) to his right and Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) to his left. Behind him was a scowling — Doesn't that guy ever do anything but scowl? Terra thought to himself — Bruce Banner, the Incredible Hulk.
A sigh. "Do I look okay, Kent?!" Terra sarcastically wondered. "Findin' out that the guy who helped put my head back together again got his own head warped around, which back-lashed on all of us! What's going down in Tomobiki right now?!"
"The alien mushroom plague was eliminated by Kasuga Ayumu an hour ago," a cold voice answered from nearby. "She also removed the memory-erasing machine Lum deployed from her father's ship to try to force Ataru to admit his feelings for her in public." A sigh. "It was just revealed that there were other aliens from an allied world of Uru's living in secrecy in Tomobiki. They placed a cobalt bomb there out of some pseudo-religious devotion to Lum; I've yet to learn the reason behind it, though."
Terra gazed on the man known throughout mystical circles as the Blackhawk. Born David Hannon and currently one of Canada's richest men, he was often seen as a near-equivalent to the Batman when it came to protecting his home city of Stelton from those who would disrupt the lives of normal people there. A place that was the site of a Hellmouth ages ago — long before Sunnydale in California gained such a portal — Stelton was, in many ways, a dark creature's paradise. David Hannon — who lost his parents to a combined vampire and werewolf attack when he was a child — had been taken in by Haudenosaunee shamen and trained in the mystical arts so that he could help keep things in his home city under control. During that training — which took him all over Earth to meet like-minded mystics as he prepared to take the mantle of what his teachers called "Karhakonha'hòntsi" — the young David Hannon spent time in the mountains of China training under Henri Ducard and the League of Assassins beside an equally young Bruce Wayne. And while Blackhawk — who didn't really care that his English name actually matched up to the team name used by the famous mercenary squadron of pilots who had flown for England against the Nazis in World War Two — could be as moody as the Dark Knight of Gotham when dealing with others, he wasn't as concerned about what was "right" and "wrong" as the other masked hero.
"So what about this bomb?!" the original Green Lantern of Earth, Alan Scott, asked as people began to whisper to each other about what the Night Hunter of Stelton said.
"No doubt, given Infinity's control problems, they went out to find the Weaver and have her teleport the thing off the planet," Shayera Hol of Thanagar answered. People close to the woman known more commonly as "Hawkwoman" were quick to sense the slight tremor in her voice. While Thanagar — whose group of colony planets bordered the space claimed by Earth's closest galactic neighbours, the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios — had long made peace with Yiziba in the wake of an attempted "pacification" centuries ago, the current Hawkwoman had been raised to fear the uttering of that world's name thanks to dark childhood stories told to her by her parents. Though she had tried hard to get along with Terran-born Yizibajohei, it was a very hard habit to break. "Once Haruhi gets involved, that thing'll be sent back post-haste to Lumukyō, the capital city of Phentax Two. Even odds if Haruhi doesn't allow the damned thing to go off once it's there; she's got as much of a crush on Moroboshi Ataru as Tara does."
People blinked. "Wait! These guys actually named their capital city after Lum?!" the current Flash, Wally West, demanded. Having graduated to the battle-name and costume of his mentor when Barry Allen had died a year before, the Fastest Man Alive had switched from the Titans to the Justice League, thus allowing Wally's cousin Iris to assume his old place in the former group under the battle-name "Impulse."
"Unfortunately, Wally," one of the current generation of Green Lanterns, Shayera's lover John Stewart, answered. "The Niphentaxians are people that have the mental power to replicate anything they encounter with perfect accuracy. Technology, social behaviour, cultural mores, the whole works. Just like the Iotians in that one Star Trek episode." A sigh. "The downside of that is that they don't really have the ability to conceive of their own culture and society. Whether it's genetic or cultural, I can't say; members of the Corps tend to avoid that area of space."
"So what's their connection to Lum?" Telepath asked.
"Ten years ago, a Niphentaxian delegation visited Uru…"
The explanation of the most powerful race of the Galactic Federation took about twenty minutes by Batman's well-honed time sense. Like many of the others who valued their intelligence as well as their powers or physical training — Reed Richards, the Hulk and Blackhawk amongst them — the Dark Knight Detective took the chance to thoroughly analyse what John was saying to draw up a possible threat analysis of these people.
And it was potentially dangerous. The cobalt bomb that had been detected in Tomobiki by young Mihama Chiyo — the Azuma High School prodigy had transmitted her findings to all the major hero groups before heading from Nakano to Tomobiki to meet up with her friends there — was typically used as a frontier surface base's self-destruct device to ensure enemy forces couldn't capture the base should the defenders be forced to withdrawal. And with the Niphentaxians' high level of fanatic devotion to the Oni warlord's daughter — matched to the common fear of "They Who Must Never Be Named," which Moroboshi Ataru would now be seen as one of even if he had not received a specific Gift to this time from the Great Crystal — the future for the people in Tomobiki would be rather bleak if drastic action wasn't initiated now.
At the end of it, Peter Parker — who, as Spider-Man, was an independent but had been invited to this meeting as a friend of the Avengers, the Defenders and the Fantastic Four — then asked, "So what happens once Haruhi gets rid of that bomb? An invasion?"
"Possibly yes," the second Green Lantern of Earth, Hal Jordan, answered.
Moans from almost everyone in the room. "Another one?!" Jennifer Walters, the She-Hulk, groaned out. "Jeez! Don't these idiots get the hint finally?!"
"They don't, Jen."
People gazed on the Hulk. "What do you mean, Bruce?" Captain America asked.
A smirk crossed the gamma radiation-charged metahuman's face. "Thanks to my little sojourn to Sakaar sometime ago, I took the chance to learn about the local galactic situation around Earth," the transformed Bruce Banner stated. "Most of the races in the Galactic Federation of Planet-States are aware of the more powerful visitors our world's received over the years, thanks very much to their close relations with our system-mates on Triton. The Kree, the Skrull, the Shi'ar and the rest of them. But since all of us in this room have been so damned good in dealing with threats from beyond this solar system — like the time the X-Men had to fight the Shi'ar Imperial Guard when Jean's powers went out of control…" — he gazed at Phoenix, who was nodding in understanding before she felt the hand of her long-time lover Scott Summers (Cyclops) on her shoulder — "…and she nearly destroyed the D'Bari star before Ayumu got involved and banished her back to Earth — the general thought out there is that since the big guns are so 'weak,' our defence of the planet wouldn't stop THEM!"
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
"Are you SERIOUS?!"
"No, kid, that's Harry Potter's godfather," the Hulk said as he gazed in amusement at the wide-eyed Garfield Logan, who was gaping in shock at them.
Laughter filled the room; the Sirius/Serious joke had become quite popular when the superheroes of Earth got the chance to meet the Boy-Who-Lived after he had been allowed to become the Warlock. "So obviously, when they learned of Ataru inheriting his martial arts skills from Negako — not to mention his helping empower people such as Harry Potter — people in the Men in Black decided to play up on the Federation's blindness towards our capabilities to make us seem not-threatening," Charles Xavier stated as he gazed knowingly on the Hulk. Even though Xavier — as a member of the private group called the "Illuminati" — had a hand in Bruce Banner's banishment from Earth to Sakaar, they were still friends; given the latter's mortal fear concerning his ability to fly out of control when he got really mad, he had trusted the founder of the X-Men and his friends (Reed Richards and Stephen Strange being two of them) in the Illuminati to do the right thing. "Thus, it would guarantee the Oni, when they did come here…"
"Would agree to an 'honourable' way for us to avoid the invasion," Captain America finished for the founder of the X-Men. "Thus, the Tag Race."
"I believe so, Steve."
"So that's why they blanked all our minds, even those like yours," Mister Fantastic stated. "Given Ataru's past interactions with us directly and via his friends — like the incident with Galactus four years ago when Haruhi and Ayumu went to the Shi'ar Empire to steal the M'Kraan Crystal to allow the neutron galaxy trapped in its core to be freed and placed in its own pocket dimension for Galactus to feed from — whoever was behind this probably was afraid that if the Oni learned of us through Ataru…"
"They could have equated what was happening on Earth with us to what happened on Yiziba at the Dawn of Power," the Batman finished for the leader of the Fantastic Four. "And given the considerable fear those people hold towards the Yizibajohei…"
"Casus belli," Captain America finished.
"Yes. A cause for war."
Silence fell over the room. "Well, it was going to get out sooner or later," Telepath then stated. As people gazed on the young woman with the wavy brown hair, crystal blue eyes and the finely chiselled face — calling Maria Kennison "Romanesque" would be about right even if she wasn't as shapely as some of the more well known heroines like Superman's cousin Supergirl, Wonder Woman or Phoenix — the leader of the Heroes Alliance/officer commanding 33rd Specialised Warfare Operations Squadron took a deep breath. "Stephen, would Harry being gifted as the Warlock — not to mention many of his female friends now at Hogwarts getting their own Gifts — have played into this?"
"I believe so, Maria," the Sorcerer Supreme answered. "British wizarding society — the part of it controlled by Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic, of course — is heavily wedded to wand usage. That's how underage magic usage is detected; there's a trace spell on wands sold to first-year students before they begin attending Hogwarts. As the Warlock, Harry no longer needs a wand. And given the level of his power — plus the experiences of his previous incarnations — when Voldemort and the Death Eaters confronted him at the end of the Triwizard Tournament last year…"
"Which ended about three months before the Tag Race went down in Tomobiki," Terra cut in, her eyes widening as she began imagining dropping a MOUNTAIN RANGE on top of the snake-faced bastard that had murdered Harry Potter's parents.
After all, even if Harry was no Ataru in those departments where it counted the most to a young teenage girl with teenage hormones, he was still a friend.
"Indeed, Tara," Doctor Strange stated. "They were expecting a mere boy with only a fourth-year level of education at Hogwarts. They ended up facing a being who knew levels of magic that none of them — even Tom Riddle himself — had ever heard of. We all know how isolated and arrogant people in that society are, especially the so-called 'pureblood' elite." As people nodded, he stated, "Given that there are a rather high propensity of European wand-magicals in the enforcement arm of the International Confederation of Wizards, the chances are there that those who are either Death Eaters or sympathetic to Riddle's goals decided that they had to put down Harry…"
"Then discovered the empathic link that formed between Harry and Ataru when he took Harry to be Gifted…and realised there was a weak spot that could be exploited," Telepath finished. "And given that there was initial contact between the Men in Black and the Oni at the time, it probably didn't take much to force the wizards…"
"To swallow their pride when it comes to dealing with 'muggles' and ally with the rogues under Professor Rhetor to literally kill two birds with one stone," Zatanna Zatara said. One of the openly-known magicals on Earth, the young sorceress from America always kept a weather eye on developments in the many isolated enclaves around the planet…especially in Europe, where dark lords like Voldemort seemed to emerge to cause chaos every generation or so. "Thus, when they memory-charmed Ataru…"
"They learned of all his friends. And their friendships to us," the Batman finished.
"Since we didn't suspect it was coming — and since this would have been done with both a mix of the Men In Black's technology and the International Confederation's mind-magics — they caught us all unawares before we could defend ourselves," Blackhawk added as he flexed his fingers, where specially enchanted slicing claws he used to kill supernaturals were mounted. "And when we all forgot everything about Ataru and his friends, we had no reason to question it when Zed told us that things in Tomobiki were under control. That whole incident with the space-taxi company — despite people in Tomobiki being led to believe that the whole planet had been affected, no doubt to convince the drivers they were succeeding in ensuring their co-worker wasn't swindled of his fare — only caused damage in and around the city. Easily cleaned up, which is what the MIB does best when it comes to alien matters. And now…"
"'Tis still not right, Blackhawk!" a thunderous voice then snarled as people gazed in amusement at the old Norse god of thunder, Thor Odinson. "Young Ataru didn't act with any sort of malice when he sought out fair damsels — as well as young Harry Potter and that young fighter Saotome Ranma — to take to the Forge of the First Race to bestow each of them a Gift, like he did for young Tara." He waved to Terra in emphasis. "And given what the Infinite One and the Weaver of Realities did to deter Galactus from feasting on Earth's life force, that these monsters would repay that by ripping apart young Ataru's memories and his bonds to the Daughter of Mother Gaea herself…!"
The most powerful of the Avengers shuddered before he perked on feeling a calming hand on his shoulder. "My lord, enough," Wonder Woman stated as she gazed respectfully on the Asgardian. "What has happened has happened. The Norns and the Fates blessed us by ensuring none that benefitted from Ataru's actions either died or were seriously hurt."
A sigh. "Aye, Diana. Still, those who did this must face justice for what they did."
Nods around the room. "So what happens now?" Clive Barker then asked. The archer known as Hawkeye was standing beside his counterpart in the Justice League, Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and the latter's ward in the Titans, Roy Harper (Arsenal). "I mean, is Lum actually married to Ataru? If she is, what does that mean for all of Earth? I can guess what Terra, Rampage and all the other girls who want to date the guy might be thinking right now when it comes to her, but Lum IS the daughter of a major leader on the Oni homeworld. Not to mention her being a living 'goddess' to these Niphentaxians. Much that I hate to say it, the guys who did this to all of us had a good point: If something bad happens to Lum, how will they react?"
"Pre-emptive strike?"
People gazed on the man in the black bodysuit with the white skull motif on his chest. "Are you proposing assassination, Captain Castle?" Captain America asked of the man who had been born Francis Castiglione and was now commonly known as the Punisher.
"Surgical," the United States Marine Corps special operations officer affirmed for the leader of the Avengers. "Nothing widespread or impacting on normal civilians. But go after the leaders of this 'Church of Lum' and put them down fast and hard. Just like the whole Phoenix Thunder concept Major Raeburn dreamt up back in 1942 to deal with the Nazis. It's both strategically and tactically sound and given that they really don't know about our capabilities, we'd have the element of total surprise."
"I don't like it."
The Punisher gazed on the Batman. "Sir, you don't have to like it."
"Would your superiors consider something like that?" Doctor Strange asked.
A sigh. "There is precedence, Doctor. Commander Kennison's teacher and her friends in 1 CSWU back during World War Two," the Punisher answered. "Sure, there were active hero teams such as the All-Star Squadron and the Invaders that worked to keep the Axis metas like Axis Amerika and the Übermenshen at bay…but — and I mean no offense to you when I say this, Captain…" — he gazed on Captain America, who was nodding — "…the membership of all those groups were not properly trained soldiers prepared to fight in a world war. Too many times did they treat the enemy with the same soft rules you all use against supervillains in peacetime. In a war, that can't happen! Major Raeburn, Squadron Leader Dover, Commander Thompkins and Staff-Sergeant Larsden all understood the basic rule of war: WIN it!" He took a deep breath. "Ladies and gentlemen, you all know my reasons for liking Moroboshi. If it wasn't for him, my family would've been cut down by those mobsters and I probably would have gone postal on them. Just like Mack Bolan did after his family got killed by the Mafia just after Vietnam ended." As people grimaced on hearing the name of the man known more popularly as the Executioner, the Punisher added, "You all want to believe that there is a possibility that even lunatics like the Joker can be reformed in the end. You also know that — save for the Heroes Alliance — what you do could be legally seen as vigilantism, which is technically against the law even if the public authorities wink at it since you all damn hell work your butts off to make sure that people who don't deserve to get hurt don't get hurt. I'm not trained that way. I see a threat, I deal with the threat decisively so it doesn't rise again. Not everyone on Earth — despite what Doc Wyszynski probably hopes might one day happen — has super powers."
"Maybe a demonstration, then."
Eyes locked on Mister Fantastic. "What do you mean, Reed?" his wife Susan, the Invisible Woman, then asked as she gaped at her husband.
"If they don't realise how powerful we can be, Sue, let's show them," the leader of the Fantastic Four stated as people stared at him, surprised he was proposing THIS. "We have the ability and we're more than willing to do what is needed to keep Earth safe. Let's demonstrate this and make it clear that this is the last time the people of Earth are going to allow anyone from outside to waltz in and act as if they're the King of the Universe! All the way to Uru and Phentax Two if we have to!"
"With official sanction," Superman then proposed. "If it goes that far."
"You may be right, Reed," Captain America stated.
"Tomobiki?" the Batman wondered.
"No better place to start," Terra said as she stood from her chair and moved to walk out of the room. Quickly stopping on noting that no one was following her, the geo-kinetic turned to stare at them. "What the hell're you all standin' there for?! An engraved invitation?! You don't know ALL the people Ataru took to Yiziba! If they're on their way to Tomobiki, there ain't gonna be even CORPSES left behind! Let's go!"
That got people moving as we…
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