#40: Tilting The Axis Of The World

"…I know a thing or two about experiencing great personal tragedy and trying to do some good in this world, so that's why I'm here today to support Jason Burr. Jason, I know you've been through so much, and I think, maybe, I can relate, so that's why I want to extend my hand to you. And I must add that the actions of the Justice League were not endorsed, or sanctioned, by Batman, Incorporated. I hope you, the world press, understand that. I'll boil it down to tomorrow's sound bite: Bruce Wayne is a friend to Jason Burr."

"Holy crap!" said John Stewart. He nearly dropped the bottle of water he had at his mouth. "That did not just happen."

Three members of the Justice League stood in the monitor centre of Laputa, their island headquarters. Each one locked eyes on the main screen broadcasting Bruce Wayne's face.

Green Lantern was shocked. The Flash sat back, quietly amused by his comrade’s reaction to the speech.

All the international news channels showed the live footage from the Rio de Janeiro leg of the Kobra Foundation press tour at the Museu Histórico Nacional. The keynote speaker? Bruce Wayne.

"Well, it’s a live feed," said Barry Allen. "Jason Burr's just gone and bagged himself the greatest PR coup any cult leader could ever ask for."

“I can’t believe that Bruce’s endorsement means that much,” said John.

“Bruce Wayne just said he approves of Jason Burr. Wayne Enterprises' CEO just said he approves of Jason Burr. The man who writes the paychecks for BatInc, the corporate arm of Batman's war against crime just said he approves of Jason Burr.” Superman smiled. “I wonder what his play is.”

“If it’s Bats, it’s sure to be a corker,” said The Flash.

“You saw the announcement?” said Wonder Woman. As she entered the room, her colleagues' heads swivelling around at her voice. “Bruce and his games.”

“Is no one else bothered by this?” said John. “He’s just charged into a situation and thrown his apparently considerable weight behind someone we suspect having ties to a major terrorist organisation. Are we not concerned?”

The Flash leaned back in his chair. “The Batman always has a plan. Live and learn on the job, Lantern. Hal would--”

The Flash fell silent mid sentence as an alarm began to blare through Laputa: Justice League emergency.

“I guess Bats’ grand reveal can wait,” said The Flash. “No rest for the wicked.”


“What prompted you to stand up for Jason Burr?”

“What does this mean for Batman and the Justice League?”

“Are you sponsoring Jason’s tour?”

Bruce Wayne put up his hands and smiled broadly. “Folks, I’ve got one thing to say before I hit the bar and that is no comment. Ciao. Well, I guess that’s two things, but you catch my gist.”

Bruce hurried toward the bar and snapped his fingers at the bartender, who nodded and poured him a sparkling water. Bruce tipped big, and turned to face the crowd.

Where was Jason Burr?

Bruce put his down his glass and worked the crowd, glad-handing and small talking as he decided on his next course of action. With a wink and a smile he ably snuck past two signs marked ‘Somente Pessoal Autorizado’ and arrived in the empty lobby of the Museu Histórico Nacional, away from the conference rooms.

Bruce could hear the ocean from where he stood, and just for a moment he let himself relax, drift off his arms like warm breath on a cold day. For once, he let himself be in this moment instead of anticipating the next, or thinking through the last--

“Are you lost, sir?”

Bruce was wrenched from his moment by a member of the museum staff. Even though it was closed to the public, the staff of the Museu Histórico Nacional still had free rein. Bruce wasn’t looking for trouble.

“No, no,” said Bruce. He pulled himself back into the moment. “I’m just so bored. Thought I’d grab some air.” He leaned in close and gave her The Look Alfred Pennyworth had spent many a day way back when training him to give in situations like this. Theatrics, be them in or out of the costume, were necessary when you were a man in Bruce Wayne’s position. “Don’t tell anyone you saw me, okay?”

The woman blushed, complete disarmed by the Gothamite playboy. Alfred would be proud. “Of course, Mr Wayne.”

Bruce looked around the immediate area and saw a bustle of humanity approach. He stepped away as he recognised a number of the bigger-built characters from intelligence gathered by two trusted League agents in Brazil, Beatriz da Costa and Tora Olafsdotter. Their work had been impeccable so far. He made a mental note to mention them to the rest of the League when they next discussed expansion.

The tall, bald gentleman was Marcus Souza, former US Marine, while the blonde, bearded man was Thorvald Bergfalk, former member of the Swedish Särskilda Skyddsgruppen. These two men made up Jason Burr’s security entourage; they were his go-to men for protection, and neither of them had any hint of Kobra in their backgrounds. Da Costa’s checks had made sure of that. There were other staff members swarming around the man in charge, and Bruce caught a glimpse of Jason Burr in amongst the chaos.

“Bruce? Bruce Wayne?” Jason Burr’s eyes met Bruce’s and the Gothamite smiled in recognition. Burr extended his hand but before Wayne could take it the former was carried forward into the main hall. “We’ll catch up soon, Mister Wayne. I heard your speech earlier, I’m sorry I missed it--”

Burr was gone, and Wayne was alone in the corridor.

Good, thought Bruce. Now for the real work to begin.

{Arthur, I’m here as requested,} said Bruce. {Where do you want me?}

{I’m in the exhibition hall,} said Aquaman. There was an echo to his voice. Bruce was always fascinated by how different Arthur’s own telepathy was different to J’onn’s. {Thank you for coming, Bruce.}


The Justice League arrived in the middle of the desert after bouncing their teleportation signal of numerous proxies put into place by the Global Peace Agency.

On arrival James Harper, aka The Guardian, welcomed the Justice League. Behind him stood a phalanx of faceless officers, their features obscured by the masks they wore. When Superman took a step forward, the officers saluted.

“Thanks for coming,” said The Guardian. “You know we wouldn’t call if it wasn’t serious.”

Ignoring the salute, The Flash spoke first. “What’s going on? Key words.”

The Guardian bristled slightly but nodded. “One of our experimental deep space probes picked up an unidentified object approaching Earth at impossible speeds. We were able to use Erdel Gate technology to,” James held up his finger, “a) slow the object’s velocity and,” he held up another, “b) redirect the object to this site, so when it lands, we’ll be meeting whatever it is. Better to control its descent than have it land in a populated urban area.”

“You have made the right decision, Guardian,” said the Martian Manhunter, “but I have a query. You mentioned ‘Erdel Gate’ technology. I would like to know more,” said the Martian Manhunter.

“Saul Erdel was a patriot,” said James. “I met him once, when he was young, before your time on Earth, Martian Manhunter. Erdel’s work is now in the hands of the Global Peace Agency. We keep it safe. And we use it for the betterment of mankind.”

The Martian Manhunter said nothing but Wonder Woman felt the tension emanate from him. “At this juncture, that is neither here nor there, but it is a conversation that needs having,” said Wonder Woman.

“If you say so,” said James. “At this point, I’m just doing what I’m told by someone I trust. The Weatherman’s will be done, and all that.”

“‘Weatherman’?” said Superman.

Clark had not heard the term before in this context. He knew that the Global Peace Agency was run by Chloe Sullivan, that she was the director of the operation ever since Checkmate and the DEO crumbled and the pieces had to be picked up.

“Don’t worry, you know her,” said James. “The GPA is just getting better at keeping secrets to those who might be listening. Weatherman will have a sit down with you when all of this is done. Semantics is all.”

“Do we know what the object is?” said Green Lantern. His power ring had picked up nothing approaching Earth, neither had his partner’s. “Any idea at all?”

“That’s the thing, it’s a complete fluke that we caught it,” said James. “It didn’t appear on any scans the deep space probe was performing, but the cameras caught it.”

Harper handed Superman a pad with the footage on it. There was a humanoid shape, completely still, while something else writhed over him. Even at the speeds, there was movement. Something that could move fast and exist under those circumstances?

Justice League emergency indeed.

“Lucky you caught it,” said the Flash. “ETA?”

“Erdel Gates are waiting for our arrival then they’ll spit it out at zero velocity,” said James.

“An impossible object only noticed thanks to an impossible coincidence,” said Wonder Woman. “Let’s say hello to our strange new visitor.”


Aquaman stood in the middle of the museum floor, his skin glistening wet. Surrounded by display cases, he looked left and right, his teeth on edge as he identified the artefacts on show.

Batman descended from the balcony above and landed silently behind the King of the Seas.

“You’re never as quiet as you think you are, Batman,” said Aquaman.

Bruce wasn’t surprised his arrival had been heard by his comrade. Arthur wasn’t human, no matter how human he looked. A species evolved to survive in the deepest depths of the ocean, his entire physiology was more than human.

“Your request for assistance dovetailed nicely with my own plans,” said Batman. “What’s going on here, Aquaman?”

Aquaman didn’t turn to face Batman. He was lost in thought, his hands behind his back, his gaze levelled immediately forward at the display case he was stood in front of. “As part of my royal duties, I have been travelling to all the colonies of Atlanteans across the world, rebuilding relationships. You see, numerous colonies split off from the central kingdom thousands of years ago. Sought to live lives away from the gaze of Atlantis. My people were not always as enlightened as they are now.”

There was an edge to Arthur’s voice. Bruce recognised anger when he heard it.

“I was directed toward an old settlement but found it pillaged. Don’t misunderstand me, the settlers had long died, long moved on, but they had buried their dead there for centuries. When I reached the settlement, I found the graves open. Ancient bones scattered. With my connections on the surface world, I discovered that the archaeologists here at the institute discovered the lost colony. Without thinking they took what they could find and now the results are on display here,” Aquaman gestured around him, indicating at all the display cases lining the walls. “I have an appointment with the curator here later this afternoon, a formal request for the exhibition to be closed and the artefacts returned to the sea, but I had hoped that the clout of Bruce Wayne might be of influence here. Apparently Atlantis is still not officially recognised as a nation in some parts of the world.”



“Any assistance you need, I’m sure Bruce Wayne will accommodate fully,” said Batman. “I am surprised though.”

“Why’s that?”

Batman switched to the telepathic link. {When you requested my presence, I had thought you meant the cape and cowl. Not the business suit.}

Aquaman smiled. {Not all problems require fear and intimidation to solve them. That said, I believe your skill in the latter will come into--}


A loud explosion rocked the museum and their eyes snapped to the door. Smoke rolled into the immediate area.

“The fundraising event,” said Aquaman. “Kobra.”

Batman said nothing. He moved through the smoke until he arrived at the conference hall, his cowl lenses flicking through filters so he could see through the thick smog that hung in the air.

The attendees groped about wildly in the dark or hugged the ground and walls, completely blind thanks to the smoke screen.

Batman’s attention turned to the main stage, where Jason Burr gripped the podium, trying to get everyone’s attention.

“Please remain calm,” said Jason, “everyone remain calm and head toward--”

Jason vanished abruptly, apparently dropping through the stage floor. From where he fell rose a shape, vaguely humanoid but twisting and turning like a twisted and constantly changing shadow cast by a spinning zoetrope.

“You should perhaps panic,” said the figure. “Run and hide and cower, and know that no matter where you are, eheh, we can find you.” It leaned forward. “Mewling in the dark.”

Batman was surprised when his batarang flew straight through the figure and embedded itself against the back wall. He was even more surprised when the figure’s head swivelled around 180 degrees to see what had travelled through it, then another 180 to see who had thrown it.

“Batman, oh me, oh my,” said the figure. “So violent. To think that one who spends so much time in us would be so against us.”

The power set was the big deciding factor on Bruce’s deduction of the figure’s identity.

“Shadow Thief,” said Batman.

“Not just,” said the figure.

Hands shot out from the ground and grabbed at Batman’s legs and arms, and the Caped Crusader struggled against their grip.

Shadow Thief took a step down from the podium and took on a more human form. A more feminine form. The hands dragged Batman to his knees, their grip like steel.

“Shadow Thieves,” said Shadow Thief. “Our daddy dearest got hurt all nasty last year, torn and shredded by those Las Vegas super-monkeys when he should have been making them choke on their own nightmares*. But apparently shadow stuff doesn’t like to be torn up, apparently it likes to grow back. Grow back and duplicate. So my brothers and my sisters, we thought we’d make daddy proud. Make his name mean something.”

*That was Grace of the New Outsiders in Danger Trail #20.

Batman looked down and saw twisted faces laughing and gurning at him from the darkness at his feet.

Shadow Thieves. How many?

There was a loud thud and the main Shadow Thief looked across the room and saw Aquaman through the smoke. In Aquaman’s hand was his golden trident, one of the marks of his office, and he did not look happy.

“Let Batman go.”

Shadow Thief placed a hand on her hip and laughed. She cocked her head around to Batman and a smug expression moved over her face. “Him? Really?”

“Me.”

Aquaman grimaced and slammed his trident down on the ground. A bright light erupted out from his weapon and the Shadow Thieves vanished from sight, forced away by the immense explosion of incandescence generated by Aquaman’s trident.

Batman rubbed his wrists and searched the room for signs of the Shadow Thieves.

“Gone,” said Batman. A chalk-like residue was left around his feet. He crouched down and rubbed it between thumb and forefinger, pondering its meaning.

“You’re welcome,” said Aquaman. “Where’s Burr?”

“The Shadow Thieves took him. We need to find him,” said Batman.

“Or,” said Aquaman, but Batman raised his hand to silence him. “Careful, Batman. I might forget we’re allies.”

“This residue is radioactive,” said Batman. “Batwoman briefed me on the damage done to Carl Sands’ shadow suit last year, perhaps this residue is the result of a damaged iteration of the suit.”

“Radioactive? How radioactive?”

“We’re not going to be sterile any time soon, but it’s a signature, and we can track it,” said Batman. He flicked a switch on his belt and a small pad became available to him. He tapped the buttons in sequence and stood. “I didn’t realise your trident could do that.”

“It gets dark in the ocean sometimes, pitch black some might say,” said Aquaman. He pointed at his eye. “I don’t need much light to see, my people have evolved so they barely need any, so I can draw on the smallest light source to and see as bright as day. Other times I like to cheat. Royal prerogative.”

Batman almost smiled. “One of my satellites is scanning the city, if Shadow Thief-- Thieves-- is in the area we’ll be able to track them down.”

“Your satellites?”

“You think I would come to a city unprepared? I re-tasked a private satellite as soon as I knew where Burr’s next appearance would be. Just. In. Case.”

“I apologise, I almost forgot who I was talking to,” said Aquaman.

“Forgiven,” said Batman. He smiled that time. “Let’s go.”


The sight of the machinery pulled at something in the Martian Manhunter’s stomach. This was the technology that dragged him from Mars, thousands of years in the past, to what was then the present day, back in the 1950s. He had lost so much when Saul Erdel's teleportation beam captured him and pulled him to Earth. There was power in the sight and the sound, power that someone as attuned to his nature as J'onn J'onzz was would be remiss to ignore.

Noticing his discomfort, Wonder Woman placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, and J’onn nodded slowly in thanks.

{Are you all right?} said Wonder Woman.

{The sound it makes, the way the light bends, it brings back memories of my final moments on Mars,} said J’onn. {I have been back since, of course. My brother is imprisoned beneath the sands in the Martian Panopticon, as you well know, but the memory.} He shuddered. {I wish I had known this existed before now. Not to do anything to it, no, but to prepare myself.}

“We’re preparing the gate for re-entry,” said one of the GPA scientists.

“Decontamination is inbuilt into the Erdel Gate’s frame, so whatever arrives, arrives clean. We’re also pumping in null atmosphere responders, ready to accommodate whatever the object needs to survive on Earth.”

“Sounds nasty,” said The Flash. “Clever though.”

{I’ve surrounded the immediate area in a construct, locking down the GPA lockdown, just in case,} said Green Lantern. {Flash--}

The Flash had already begun to vibrate, his body shimmering in the desert sun. {I’m accelerating my body, running start if what we need is speed.}

“We’re ready,” said Superman.

James Harper put a finger to the communicator positioned at his ear. “We’re a go.”

The Erdel Gate roared and a figure fell through the event horizon. Whatever the twelve-foot tall thing was, its surface covered in a hard, pitch scales. On arrived, it collapsed to the ground without a sound.

On impact a jagged crack shot across its surface, revealing a translucent, ethereal layer beneath that seemed to glow blue.

“What is that?” said Wonder Woman. She gripped her lasso, curious instead of aggressive. Wondering what the sight meant.

A large, cerulean claw emerged from under the obsidian shell, sending more cracks through the surface. The twelve-foot tall monolith shattered, revealing four creatures of immense size, all glowing blue, all looking angry at their arrival. They were shaking off the remnants of the scales, making unearthly noises as they worked. They were reptilian in appearance, though the way they shone in the dimming light of the evening made them appear majestic, even though their forms were somewhat horrific.

“Friendlies?” said Green Lantern. {I don’t like to judge a book by its cover, etc.}

{Does your ring's database recognise the creatures?} said Wonder Woman.

John Stewart was quiet for a minute while his power ring connected to the Book of Oa, depository for all knowledge collated by the Green Lantern Corps. {No. How is that possible?}

“I don’t like this,” said one of the officers under the command of the Guardian. He raised his weapon and his posture shifted.

“No one fires without my order,” said The Guardian. “Unless they want my boot up their ass.”

The creatures took a step forward, as did Superman. The Man of Steel put up his hands and smiled.

“We do not mean you any harm. Do you understand me? My name is Superman. What are your names? What language do you speak?”

“Good work that man,” said The Guardian.

“What’s he doing?” said the officer who aimed his weapon at the creatures.

“Trying to communicate with them,” said Wonder Woman. She lowered the man’s rifle with one finger. “Words first, before an action that might be detrimental to all of us here.”

“As in you don’t fire that weapon unless you damn well need to,” said The Guardian. “If this is first contact, we’re not ending it with bloodshed.”

{There’s a humanoid shape at their feet, can you see that?} said The Flash.

<Kkkkssss // langgggg // langguaugeeee>

{He's yours when the signal is given.} Superman nodded. “Yes, I’m speaking English, do you understand?”

<Language // archive // activate,> the main creature, the larger of the three, shook off the last of the cocoon it had been covered in previously and shifted something in its long, angular throat. ”English in use. You are Superman.”

“I am. Who are you?”

“We are retainers,” said the creature. “of the Lord Ne’syr. Extensions of her will.”

“We mean you no ill will,” said Superman. “There is someone else with you, they look injured. Can we help them?”

“You will not,” said one of the three. “The Spartan is our prisoner, not to be addressed or acknowledged.”

“You are far from home,” said Wonder Woman. “But here we do not let the injured suffer. You were on course to Earth, we merely changed your arrival point so as to not impact a populated area. What are your intentions here, retainers of Ne’syr?”

“To prepare the way for Lord Ne’syr,” said the main creature, “are you the designated representatives of this planet?”

{Anyone seeing where this is going?} said Green Lantern.

“Are you here to negotiate the terms of your surrender?” The creature almost looked smug at the question.

{Flash, their prisoner, would you mind?} said Superman. “I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?”

“If you think we’re here to lay down and let you stamp all over us,” said Superman. “You see, my colleague in the red and yellow just took your prisoner out from under your noses.”

One of the creatures spun around and saw that the figure they had wrapped themselves around during their intergalactic sojourn was indeed gone.

“Blasphemy.”

The Flash stood beside Green Lantern, the prisoner-- for all accounts a human male-- in his arms. “Well, oops.”

“And all this talk of surrender doesn’t sit right with me at all,” said Superman. “So you can either explain yourselves like civilised folk, or we can fight.”

{Sometimes I forget you’re from Kansas, Superman,} said The Flash.

{You can take the boy out of the farm but you can’t take the farm out of the boy,} said Superman. “Now, I’m more of a fan of the former but--”

The creatures shrieked and dove for the Justice League.

“Typical,” said Superman


“I’ve got something,” said Batman. “There’s a warehouse at the harbour nearby. Satellite feed shows the same radioactive deposits at that location.”

“I can work with a harbour,” said Aquaman.

The two Justice Leaguers hurried out of the museum hall. Marcus Souza and Thorvald Bergfalk watched them go in silence. When they were gone, the latter took his mobile phone out and began to dial.

Outside, Aquaman looked around. “Why do you think they took Burr? What would anyone want to do with him?”

“We’ve suspected that Burr isn’t so clean, that Kobra got its hooks into him from day one, but what if we’re wrong? What if they’re wanting to take him down once and for all and reclaim the name he’s trying to clean up?”

“You don’t sound like you believe yourself,” said Aquaman.

“I don’t, but Diana has asked me to be more open-minded,” said Batman. “Teleporters are go.”

The two men dematerialised and arrived at the harbour just off Via Elevado da Perimetral to the north.

“We’re barely a mile away from the museum,” said Aquaman.

“I have a theory. The Outsiders damaged Shadow Thief’s technology last year. I’m thinking that--”

Batman vanished into the ground.

“Batman, no--”

Aquaman reached out but was dragged into the dark too before he could do anything else.

“That was easier than I thought it would be,” said the Shadow Thief. Her voice echoed through their heads, even as the dark engulfed them.

Batman was drowning in darkness. It was pervasive, pushing against his lips and trying to get inside him. He had taken as deep a breath as he could manage when he felt himself drop and with his training, he knew he had about ten minutes before he would need to breathe again. He flicked his cowl lenses across the spectrums available but everything was black.

“We thought Jason Burr was a coup, such an easy, easy distraction, but then you fall into our trap when all we want to do is get on with the job. How embarrassing this must be for you. An embarrassment of riches for us.”

Batman said nothing. To speak would be to let the darkness in and he didn’t know what that would lead to. The experience was comparable to sensory deprivation, everything gone but the voice of the female Shadow Thief. He couldn’t see Aquaman, he couldn’t see Burr, he didn’t even know where he was. How could he get out of a trap that had no sense of scale or space?


The first of the creatures slashed at Superman’s chest, but their claws didn’t do any damage to the Man of Steel. He breathed in deeply and exhaled, sending it into a construct generated by Green Lantern. It was dazed, angry, but not deterred. Superman prepared another breath, ready to freeze the creature in place, but it dashed toward one of the soldiers, claws raised.

Superman was about to dive forward when the second creature split into two smaller iterations of itself and one went for him and another for Wonder Woman. He exhaled hard and the creature found itself entombed in ice.

Weapons fire did nothing but bounce ineffectively off the creatures’ hides. Before the creature could strike one of the GPA men, the Guardian was between the two, his shield shrieking with sparks as the strike landed hard against the surface of it.

“Fall back,” the Guardian ordered.

Harper was swatted away by a follow up blow and the officer behind him nearly screamed, but when the claw found its mark the creature cried out and shrivelled up, the once incandescent blueness of its being snuffed out as if someone had simply flicked a light switch.

Wonder Woman lassoed the smaller creature while the Martian Manhunter grabbed its head, hoping to glean more information from its consciousness. Instead, the Manhunter gritted his teeth as nightmarish images flooded his own mind. He cut off the psychic link and wrapped his hand around the creature’s mouth, hoping to knock it unconscious.

“Are you all right?” said Superman as he checked on the GPA officer who found himself with a dead creature at his feet.

“I don’t, I don’t know,” said the faceless officer. “Look out--”

Superman turned just in time to see the open mouth of one of the creatures yawn wide around his own face, but an emerald construct sent it flying away.

Superman looked at Green Lantern and nodded in appreciation.

The dazed creature scrambled upwards and reached out toward one of the nearest GPA agents, but when it touched him it crumbled, the light within out in seconds.

{Lock them down, they seem to be allergic to contact with human flesh,} said Superman. {This escalated quickly and we need to figure out what they want here.}

{I’ve got them,} said Green Lantern. His ring throbbed as two containment spheres surrounded the frozen creature and the one J’onn had his hands around. The Martian Manhunter slipped away as the construct formed and then Green Lantern looked over to Superman. {But I think they made themselves quite clear, Superman: Domination}

{STAR Labs will have appropriate containment facilities,} said the Martian Manhunter.

{What about the GPA?}

“You do know it’s really creepy when you don’t talk for minutes on end?” said Harper.

“We apologise, Guardian,” said Wonder Woman. “Our telepathic link allows us to communicate in silence.”

“Handy tool, but when you’re throwing down with an alien threat, bit dangerous not to coordinate with the folks fighting on your side,” said Harper. “And heck, I wouldn’t mind getting me one of them. But I’m just an old soldier, what do I know?”

{He’s right,} said Wonder Woman. {The Guardian invited us here, we’ve excluded him since the beginning.} She paused mid-thought. “I’m sorry, Jim. Sometimes we get too caught up in how we do things, we don’t take a minute to think beyond that.”

“No need to apologise, your majesty, you’re the Justice League, you do what you do, but there are further implications. That’s all I’m trying to say,” said Jim. He smiled and changed the subject. “What are you doing with our friends there?”

Green Lantern held two constructs aloft and Superman glanced back at him as Stewart floated in place. “STAR Labs.”

“You don’t need to go that far, we have facilities available,” said Harper. “Science City has alpha level cells ready and waiting and their hostage looks like he could use some attention.”

The man in Flash’s arms hadn’t said a word since the former had whisked him away from his captors. He wore a red and blue costume and a facemask covered bruised flesh and chipped teeth. He’d been through a battle and come up short.

“Yeah, he’s not doing too great,” Flash said. “What did they call him? ‘Spartan’?”

Spartan grabbed the Flash’s arm and everyone tensed up. He didn’t attack, instead he began to open his mouth, open and closed, again and again, until he managed to speak. “My-- my name—is Yon-- Yon Kohl.” It seemed to take all the energy out of him, and after he finished he collapsed back into unconsciousness.

“He needs medical attention, but we’ll need to speak to him when he’s back on his feet.” A gaggle of doctors approached with a gurney and the Flash lowered him onto it. “Is that all right, Guardian?”

“Of course,” said Harper.

“Guardian, the men who came into contact with the entities, I would like a moment to scan their minds, check that there is no further implication beyond the initial contact?”

“Of course, Manhunter,” said The Guardian. “Patinkin. Roussimoff.”

The two GPA agents approached and the Martian Manhunter acknowledged them with a polite nod. “I wish to scan your minds, in case of psychic infection.”

“If the General says that’s fine,” said the taller man. “That’s fine.”

J’onn placed his fingers across the soldiers’ faces and closed his eyes. Behind him, Superman scanned the two soldiers quickly with his own enhanced vision.

“I detect no traces of alien infection, either psychic or physical,” said the Martian Manhunter.

“Phew,” said the second man. “That would have been a sucky way to go.”

“We’ll run our own tests and keep you informed,” said The Guardian.

While they had been talking, Green Lantern headed over to the scientists who had taken cover during the attack and began discussing the transfer of the creatures in his constructs to their facilities, while Superman stood, hands on hips, in front of The Guardian.

“Interesting day,” said the Man of Steel.

“Completely. And thanks for your help during it. To be fair, it looks like we didn’t need you after all. These things folded like paper just like that,” Harper clicked his fingers, “we’ll take it all from here. You’ve probably got a dozen over things you can be dealing with at the minute.”

“You call, we’ll come,” said Superman, “anything to help out. Stay safe, Jim.”

{The Guardian is a wise man,} said Wonder Woman.

{What do you think? Are we getting too far up our own backsides?} said The Flash.

{Not how I would phrase it, but something to consider, perhaps,} said Wonder Woman. {After the way the media turned on us so quickly after the Kobra incident in Midway City, we would do well not to forget that we serve at the leisure of the people. We shouldn’t be excluding them if we share a mutual goal.}

{A man like Jim Harper has seen it all. One of the best men I know,} said Superman. {If we were to invite him into the fold, he’d keep us solid. Connected.}

Green Lantern generated a construct under the feet of The Flash and began to rise up into the air. {It’s definitely something worth discussing. Let’s head back to Laputa and check in with the others.}

Superman and the others lifted off, not noticing Patinkin and Roussimoff, the two GPA officers who had been touched by the creatures, watching them go. There was something behind their eyes, something alien, something undetectable, and it considered the attack from moments ago. If this was another day, another time, their eyes might have started glowing an incandescent blue, but instead they turned their attention back to their tasks, not letting anything else on as they did so…


Batman’s arms felt heavy. The darkness was like an ocean and nothing he tried gave him any freedom. His hand found its way to his utility belt, and he fumbled for a second, the shadow matter fighting back against his movements. Wherever he was, whatever the environment, it didn’t want to let him go.

The Caped Crusader’s hand found the right compartment on his belt and flicked it open.

“No you don’t,” said the Shadow Thief. She snatched away the device he had been groping for, along with the rest of the belt, leaving him without its devices.

“You’ve been without oxygen for over ten minutes, Batman. Your lungs must be burning. Why not open wide and let the dark in? Let us take the weight off your shoulders?”

Batman would have smiled. The world was black but his head felt scarlet, crushed under the weight of his own oxygen deprivation. He couldn’t last for much longer but he didn’t have to. Wherever he was, it was dark, he was drowning, but the Shadow Thief was there, somewhere, and Aquaman had to be in a similar situation. But there was no light and without that they were defenceless.

Until now. Batman pressed a subcutaneous button on his wrist gauntlet and the phosphorous flare that the Shadow Thief had taken from him ignited remotely, sending a spark of light outward that quickly dimmed within the shadow field.

“What did you hope to gain there?” said the Shadow Thief. “I was being nice. Letting you drown in peace. Now I have to--”

The world exploded, Batman was thrown to the ground and the shadow field receded. It was then clear that Batman had been suspended in a tank of water, the liquid swimming with the same shadow matter the Shadow Thief could manipulate.

The Shadow Thief was in Aquaman's grip; he'd knocked her out with one solid punch to the jaw. He looked dehydrated, and Batman could see a glass cage surrounded by industrial-sized heaters that had been shattered from the inside. Aquaman’s own prison?

“What did you do?” said Aquaman. “I was in complete darkness but her hand exploded with light. Knew exactly where I was and where to find her. Your doing, I suppose?

“The Shadow Thief underestimated you, Aquaman,” said Batman. He pulled himself up and reattached his utility belt. “You said it yourself, you barely need any light to see, so I took a risk. Ignited the phosphorous flare and hoped you were nearby. I was lucky.”

“Hmm,” said Aquaman. “You do listen then.”

“Always,” said Batman. Aquaman lowered Shadow Thief down and glanced around. “Concerned?”

“She said she had siblings, didn’t she?” said Aquaman. “But there was only her. Wait.”

The female Shadow Thief shifted and twisted until her female shape changed back to male. The face was familiar, but haggard, worn down by exertion.

“Carl Sands, the original Shadow Thief,” said Batman. “The damage done to his shadow vest was more severe than we suspected. I fear it may have driven him insane. Splintered his identity and allowed him greater control over the shadow vest than before.” He took a sedative from his belt and knocked the criminal out with a quick injection. “That should keep him down for a while.”

“That’s a lot of supposition,” said Aquaman.

“True, but nothing STAR Labs won’t be able to find out when we drop him off,” said Batman. “Are you all right? You look dehydrated.”

“I’ll be fine,” said Aquaman. “Let’s--” He paused. “Got him.”

“Burr?”

Aquaman walked across the room and wrenched a door off its hinges. Jason Burr was tied to a chair, his mouth gagged, but apart from that he looked relatively unscathed.

{Don’t say it,} said Batman.

{I wouldn’t,} said Aquaman.

Batman removed the gag from Burr’s mouth and took a step back.

“How do you feel, Mister Burr?” said Batman.

“You saved me. Thank you, thank you,” said Burr. “I don’t know what that lunatic wanted. She didn’t even make any demands.”

Jason stood after Batman severed his restraints with a slash of a batarang. The Caped Crusader turned away and began to speak in Portuguese, organising the collection of Shadow Thief by the Rio de Janeiro branch of STAR Labs.

“Any injuries?” said Aquaman.

“No, no. It’ll take more than that to get me down. Thirty years in isolation, experimented on by my own brother,” he paused. “I’ve experienced much worse.”

“Let’s go,” said Batman. “I’ve contacted STAR Labs, they’re en-route.”

The trio headed for the door. Aquaman kicked it open and was surprised by the media presence already waiting for them. Camera flashes flared, loud questions were asked.

Jason slapped his head and looked down at his wrist. “Subdermal tracker. My bodyguards must have--”

Marcus Souza and Thorvald Bergfalk stood behind the media circus, happy to watch and wait while their employer worked his magic.

“You saved me,” said Jason. He turned his attention squarely on Aquaman. Cameras caught the sight on film. Uploaded straight to media outlet servers. Posted to the internet in record time. “You saved my life.”

“That’s what we do,” said Aquaman. Batman had slipped away before they emerged into the sunlight. He didn’t need to turn around to know that.

The journalists were asking questions, shouting, trying to get Aquaman’s attention. Jason was ruffled, bruised, but no lasting damage had been done to him by the Shadow Thieves. Paramedics were attending to him even before he could take another step.

“I have a statement,” said Aquaman. “I’ll keep it short.”

Jason waved away the paramedics and watched as Aquaman seemed to grow in stature as the journalists focused their attention on him.

“The Justice League is a force for good. We always have been. No matter who stands united under that name, we will do whatever it takes to protect you. We have been cast in a negative light in the last few months, and I do not blame Jason Burr for that. There are forces operating in the shadows that seek to ruin us, and him. I can promise this.”

Aquaman took a step forward and tilted a camera up so it focused on his face.

“Lord Naga and Kobra. Injustice, Unlimited. Darkseid. Anyone who threatens this world-- anyone-- if you stand in the way of peace you stand in the way of the Justice League. And I give you my personal guarantee as the King of the Seas, as a father and a husband, as Aquaman, that if you endanger the world, we will find you. And we will stop you.”

Arthur released the camera and breathed in slowly. “That is a promise.”

Jason Burr was applauding. “The Justice League are the heroes this world deserves. If it wasn’t for their kind, for Superman, I’d still be locked up, at the mercy of my brother and his mad cult. I know they’ve come under fire after what happened in Midway City but I don’t blame them. That would be ridiculous considering what they’ve done for the planet.”

“But they demolished the hospital you renovated--” said one of the journalists.

Aquaman grunted in disgust and turned to go.

“The Justice League were tricked by a militant faction of Kobra, a holdover from my brother’s reign of terror. Don’t believe the tripe you read.”

Jason looked over to Arthur. “Aquaman. Your majesty. Please--”

Aquaman turned to face Jason, who had his hand extended.

“You saved my life today. You and your friend. I owe you my life. Thank you so much.”

Aquaman glanced at Burr’s hand and took it in his own. He shook it sharply once, but then Burr wrenched it up in celebration, an action that took the regent of the oceans by complete surprise. Behind the massing crowd he spotted a STAR Labs transport and nodded to himself as everything started being nicely tied up for his liking.

“Aquaman of the Justice League, everybody. The world’s greatest superheroes.”

Jason Burr beamed. Aquaman waved, allowing his royal training to come into play. Everyone present lapped up the spectacle. And all Arthur could think was simple: Free publicity for Jason Burr.

Batman’s voice whispered in his head. {Aquaman, I need you back at the Museu Histórico, we’ve been played.}

{Of course we have,} said Aquaman. {I’m on my way.}

Within minutes, Aquaman arrived back at the museum via the teleporter. Batman stood in the shadows of the office where Aquaman had materialised.

“What’s going on?” said Aquaman.

“There’s been a robbery,” said Batman. “The kidnapping was a distraction; the exhibition seems to have been the real target.”

“What?”

“Shadow Thief was bragging while I was submerged. Told me Burr was a distraction. Led me back here, and sure enough,” said Batman.

An unfamiliar man stood behind a desk. He rummaged through the papers on the desk then pulled out a collection of stapled together papers.

“What was taken?” said Aquaman. The hairs on the back of his head began to tingle. “Who are you?”

“Professor Randall Pritchard, I, ah, I run the oceanic archaeology wing. I was the one who, ah, umm, yes, I recovered the artefacts of the sea-dwellers that are currently on display in the museum.”

Aquaman tensed. Batman took a step forward between the two of them. “Professor Pritchard has already been contacted by one of the main sponsors of the museum’s work and told that if the remains are not returned to where they were located then sponsorship would be withheld.”

“Apparently Wayne Enterprises don’t approve of my work,” said Pritchard. “I didn’t mean to offend you, or anyone else, Aquaman. Your majesty. Uh. Sir.”

“Reparations are being made,” said Aquaman. “I cannot fault you for that. Now, tell me, what was taken?” There was an urgency to his words. Clear for all to hear.

Professor Pritchard scratched the back of his neck, nervous to be in the presence of the King of the Seven Seas.

“An artefact we had yet to identify, umm, I don’t even, we don’t know what it was,” said Doctor Pritchard. He handed the papers to Aquaman, who began to flick through the pages.

Batman noticed the king’s body language shift. “You recognise it?”

“Yes, the design of these artefacts is familiar to me,” said Aquaman, “unfortunately. This isn’t like finding a clay bowl or an old coin in the mud, Professor. This is technology.”

Batman grimaced. “Professor. You should leave.”

Pritchard nodded uncomfortably and hurried out of the office, leaving the two Justice Leaguers alone in the dark room.

“Not just any technology, technology from another dimension. My wife’s home dimension, Xebel. An evolutionary off-shoot of my own ancestors. They’re water manipulators.”

“What’s the implication?” said Batman.

“I’m not sure yet. I need to talk to Mera, but how did the thieves know? How did they know what this was?”

“We’ll find out,” said Batman. “I just hope we won’t be too late.”

There was a buzz on the Caped Crusader’s utility belt. He pressed a button against his ear and then his expression shifted.

“What is it?” said Aquaman.

“Shadow Thief just escaped from STAR Labs. They say a man in purple and black armour broke him out of his containment sphere and vanished into thin air.”

“Purple and black? Planetmaster.” Aquaman still had a dull ache in his mouth from where the villain had landed one hell of a punch.*

*Justice League #1.

“One of Kobra’s lackeys,” said Batman. “This was all a game. Let’s move. The day isn’t over yet.”


“Mister Marlowe, sir, your office is making a strange sound,” said Susanne.

Marlene wasn’t paid enough to be inquisitive, she was paid to answer the phones. The fact that the phones didn’t ring, and that her boss seemed to know what was going to happen before anyone else did made her day job a breeze. Browsing the internet for gossip and bargains. Messaging when the feeling took her and her friends were online.

Jack Marlowe strolled down the corridor back to his office, curious as to what was going on that he wasn’t immediately aware of. There were only a few things that weren’t wired centrally to his brain, and if it was the alert he thought it was, that couldn’t mean anything good.

“Miss Reeves, please take the rest of the day off. Paid, of course,” said Marlowe.

“Thank you, sir,” said Susanne. She gathered her belongings quickly and vacated her desk, leaving the entire floor empty apart from Marlowe.

Jack Marlowe was six foot four and if you got a look under his business suit, you would see that he had the physique of a superman. Suit on, he looked imposing, a corporate alpha male built to expand the HALO Corporation’s influence.

The office took up the majority of the floor of what used to be the Library Tower, the tallest structure in Los Angeles. If you read the right magazines, you would learn that HALO Corporation purported to be ‘a diversified technology, manufacturing and services company with a commitment to achieving worldwide leadership in each of its business. HALO is also a leading manufacturer of communications and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.’

The company was private. Answerable to no one but Jack Marlowe himself.

A holographic display projected itself across the far window when the sensors inside the room detected Marlowe and Marlowe alone. A map of the world was visible, and as Marlowe took steps forward the projection zoomed in until it settled on an empty space in New Mexico, near Chaco Canyon.

“An active Spartan signal on Earth.” Marlowe stood motionless. “I wonder, has it finally begun?”