Phantom 38

“Greetings, Kalibak, it has been centuries since we last met,” the newcomer smiled genially, looking up at his brother—and wasn’t that still a shocker, Kara thought, fingers still upon the open power cables. Slowly slotting them back and closing the Hyperdrive generator, she carefully removed the power cells, watching Kal and the Flash both walk into her view.

“You have been busy, preying upon those weaker than yourself again,” Orion remarked, crossing his massive arms over his equally muscled chest as he stared up fearlessly into Kalibak’s eyes with a smile, before looking at them and the destroyed city, “Though I have to commend the planet’s defenders. You couldn’t get past this city this time around, and they managed to make you bleed.”

“You should look at their condition first before making comments about mine, brother,” Kalibak snarled, showing him a bloodied fist, adn Kara winced as her back throbbed again. Yeah, she could support that statement wholeheartedly. She had been about to blow this city to kingdom come in an attempt to send Kalibak to a galactic prison, “This is not New Genesis territory,” the giant walked a step forwards, pushing his face into his brother’s as he pointed at the portal behind him, “Walk back into that Boom Tube and maybe Father will not hear about this.”

“What will he do even if he hears?” Orion laughed, waving away the threat with a tilt of his head, “He has a permanent truce with New Genesis, do you remember?”

“Yes, I curse that truce with every breath I take,” he answered, looking behind the smaller man into the glowing portal. “How the hell did the Highfather come to know of my movements? Steppenwolf was supposed to cloak this planet from his sight!”

“Are you talking about this guy here?”

A smile broke out on her face as the lingering tension went away at the sound of her brother's voice, and she looked up along with everyone else to find him floating in the sky, a decapitated, rotten skull in his hands. “Damn, you guys look beat up,” he commented, his hodded face turning towards her before a dozen miniature suns formed behind him along with a golden barrier to contain the gravity. Kara winced at the sudden sunlight entering her vision even as her suit and skin greedily soaked up the solar radiation. Ahead of her, she heard Kal let out a sigh of relief too as the area around was illuminated, and a familiar hand landed on her head, ruffling her hair, “ah…you were recreating the Projector. Smart.”

“He is a tough one,” she muttered, hearing Diana too land behind her, the sound of her sword being sheathed ringing through her ears.

“I can see that,” Harry replied earnestly, and she watched him look at the Flash and Kal-El both before looking at Kalibak and throwing the skull towards him, “Here, you can take him back.”

“Hn, useless piece of scrap,” Kalibak grunted, letting the head stop by his feet before crushing it under his foot with a grunt, grinding the bones into dust angrily, “Couldn’t even defeat an island full of women by all those Parademons. Some God of War you were, your bullheaded bootlicker!”

“On that, I agree with you,” Her brother spoke, crossing his arms over his chest and walking forward, staring up into the monster’s eyes, “You have lost, return to Apokolips.”

“Hah! You are not the first to say that to me today,” Kalibak grinned, looking from Harry to her and Kal-El. “These two Kryptonians said much the same, before I ground their faces into dirt.”

“Yeah, well, I am not a nice as them, and something tells me that Orion here is going to stop you from further embarrassing yourself. So turn around and walk back into that Boom Tube,” he snorted, waving a hand in the direction of the STAR labs, where the portal still glowed.

“I am going to enjoy wiping that attitude off your bones along with your organs,” Kalibak grinned viciously, leaning down to glare into the darkness of Harry’s hood, before spitting to the side and turning around to look at Orion, “and you! Don’t think this changes anything. Apokolips will still have its dues, and the day it does, I will enjoy crushing you and that whore of a traitor’s daughter!”

“Try it, brother,” Orion spat, the first traces of anger coming into his voice as hsi eyes started to glow the same acidic orange as Kalibak’s. The New God took a step forwards, uncrossing his arms and spreading them wide in an open invitation, “Our fight still remains unconcluded.”

Tension built in the air around them, so palpable that she could almost taste it along with the blood and ash on her tongue as everyone looked at the two brothers. Kalibak growled slowly, his arms twitching at hsi sides, while Orion too seemed ready to throw hands. However, right before they threw themselves at each other, the portal in the ruins of the laboratory disappeared, and another opened right by Kalibak, the white tear in reality clearing away to reveal a cloaked, scaled biped.

A burnt, metallic staff glowed in his hands, and his slit nose flared as his pupilless black eyes stared at them, lingering on Orion for the most part before turning to Kalibak. “Kalibak, Master summons you back to Apokolips. Now.”

“..Fine,” the giant muttered after a brief pause, giving Orion and the rest of them one last baleful glare before walking into the portal and disappearing into the smoking, hazy ruins behind the stranger.

“Orion,” the creature muttered, the head of its staff glowing a bright azure, “It has been many centuries since we last met.

“DeSaad,” Orion greeted back, “I had hoped you would have died in one of those pits by now.”

“I have many more centuries to serve the Mighty Darkseid, and correct your foolish ignorance of His Majesty’s vision.”

“Keep dreaming you old fuck,” the yellow clad man snorted, the orange in his eyes dying down as DeSaad just stared at him, before the Boom Tube collapsed, leaving them alone wna without any Apokoliptians.

“So…I guess you guys know my name now,” Orion waved at them all, and she waved back hesitantly as his eyes met hers. Looking up at Kal and her brother as they both somehow stood side by side, the alien rubbed the back of his head and nodded in the direction of the destroyed skull a few feet away, “Apologies for not noticing Apokolips’ actions sooner. But Steppenwolf was carrying a cloaking device tied to his lifeforce. Quite an accomplishment that you managed to kill him, otherwise his motherbox would have kept on scrambling our detectors.”

“He was a mighty warrior,” Diana offered, coming to stand at Harry’s side as she looked down at the destroyed head, before meeting Orion’s eyes, “What business do you have on Earth, Orion of New Genesis, now that your brother and his attempt at tyranny are no longer here.”

“Do you speak for the Earth, Amazon?”

“We protect it and the lives that it holds,” Kal interjected, and as if on cue, she heard the whine of Batman’s aircraft, align with the whirring of choppers in the sky above, “From whosoever attempts to destroy Earth’s sanctity and freedom.”

“I see,” Orion nodded slowly, his eyes flicking to Batman as the vigilante walked out of the shadows to their left, “Are you people to be this planet’s rulers, their face on the Galactic Scale?”

“I’d rather rule an ant's nest than this cesspool of stupidity,” Harry snorted, and Kara watched his head tilt towards the choppers above, “Even now, they are stupid enough to point their rifles at us, who saved their asses from being turned into these winged abominations. Whatever you guys make of this situation, I was here only to save my sister and my love, nothing more, nothing less.”

With that, her brother quietly disappeared, gone from their senses like he had never been there in the first place.

“He is not a people’s person, is he?”

“He has his ways of contributing,” Kal-El answered before she or Diana could, surprising them both. It was not secret that Harry and Kal did not get along in the slightest, yet here her cousin was, laying praise on him in his absence, “We are not the rulers of Earth. No one has the right to be one over the seven billion individuals living on this planet. But we defend them against those they cannot. We save them where they falter. We stand where the line breaks. We carry the weight so others don’t have to. Not because we're gods, but because someone must. Not for glory, but for hope. The people of this world deserve more than fear and fire your brother brought with him. They deserve to believe that when the sky falls, someone will catch it. And maybe… maybe we do it better together.”

“Superman speaks truly,” Diana added, looking around at the destruction their fight with Kalibak had caused, “Our powers were given to us for a reason, and what better way is there to utilise them than to be a force for justice and good. To help those unable to stand against oppression and evil.”

“Damn right,” the Flash muttered from teh side, staring at Diana wit—that wasn’t a healthy amount of red, Kara was sure as she saw the young hero blush, furiously looking down as her sister-in-law gave him a dazzling smile.

“”

Of course, the Batman stood silent as Orion’s eyes turned towards him next, the spotlight from the news and military choppers above landing on the three of them, capturing the most famous heroes on Earth in a rare moment of camaraderie.

“Quite poetic, defenders of Earth,” Orion smile, his eys moving over every one of them, before turning towards the portal he had exited from, “I had come to make Kalibak return and stop his rampage before the Earth was destroyed, but it seems you have the responsibility of protecting this planet well in hand, Heroes. By your leave then, I take the word of Earth’s survival and Kalibak’s retreat to the High Father.”

“Survival?” Batman spoke up finally, catching Orion’s attention right as the large man stepped a foot into his portal, “Not victory?”

“Of course,” the New God smiled over his shoulder, “You did not think that was the last you saw of Kalibak or Apokolips, did you?”

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What are they talking about there?” THe Flash asked her, coming to a stop by her on the top of a crumbling building, and Kara shrugged, her eyes fixed upon the impromptu press conference going on below.

After Orion’s departure, they had all started on the rescue, dragging out those few civilians somehow still trapped in the remains of the buildings. Unfortunately, several dozen had died in the initial wave of Parademon attacks, as well as a few succumbed to injuries caused by the destruction during Kal-El’s fight with Kalibak. With the disaster relief forces quickly arriving on site along with the army, her cousin found himself quickly swarmed by the media, along with Diana and Batman.

By a turn of events they had not expected at all, they were now standing in front of three dozen cameras and mics, flashes going off every second in their faces as the relief work got converted into a press conference. Thankfully, she had somehow thought enough to erect a notice-me-not around herself, and was able to quietly watch the spectacle isntead of being harassed by the vultures.

“So..uhm, your brother. He is not standing around, is he?”

“I don’t think so,” she muttered, watching Kal-El give an account of how he had come to save the city today, along with his fight against Kalibak. Shrugging lightly, she sipped from the beer can she had swiped a few minutes ago, “But he can hide himself pretty well. I wouldn’t know even if he was standing right before me.”

“That’s scary,” teh speedster offered, sitting down by her and opening the box of pizza he had brought with him, “wanna have a pizza? One of the soldiers gave it to me.”

“I don’t like them much,” she refused, clinking her beer with his bottle of Coke as the press below ravenously shouted, “They are asking them if this team-up is going to be a permanent thing.”

“It should be. I would have been toast if the Green Lanterns and your cousin hadn’t been there,” he hummed, taking a bite of his dinner before moaning in what she assumed was relief, “Oh my god, you don’t know how hungry I was.”

“I can guess,” she chuckled, before patting him on his shoulder, “and hey, you saved our asses too. Don’t sell yourself short.”

“I don’t think the Green Lantern agrees with you.”

“Which one?” she laughed, remembering the two Lanterns, who had both shot off to Oa as soon as the relief work was deemed completed enough that the humans wouldn’t have any trouble.

“The one I beat black and blue while being controlled by the fucking Gorilla,” he winced, and she nodded, looking to their right and activating her X-ray vision to look past the buildings into teh cages, where Grodd and Snart both were being detained for now.

“Yeah, that sounds rough,” she nodded, swinging her legs as she looked down, eyes widening as she caught the latest question from the reporters, “Oh wow, they are asking if we are going to a be permanent team of superheroes from now on, considering we stopped two alien invasions in a span of a few months.”

“Do you think we should form a team?” he asked her, scarfing down the pizza at super-speed within moments, before flopping down on his back as he looked up at the dark sky.

“We did one today, and the time the Imperium came knocking,” Kara replied, watching her cousin, as well as Diana and Batman look at each other, before as one they turned towards the reporter and nodded—well Diana and Kal did, the Gotham Vigilante stood silent like a statue.

“Hmmm,” the Flash nodded, before yawning widely, ”I think I’ll retire for the night now, that pizza hit the spot nicely. Gotta go to work tomorrow, this suit isn’t going to repair itself.”

“Take care,” she waved, watching him nod and disappear in a crimson streak, shaking the dust around her from the backlash. “Now, what are you going to do,” she looked down, hearing the same reported ask for a name, and whether they were sure the President would sanction it.

Considering that Kal had already come under the Government’s fire for intervening in a hostage situation in the Middle East and going wherever he felt like, it was a valid question. Especially since she was sure they didn’t like his autonomy, and no sane government would pass up the chance of making Superman their personal brand and weapon.

Already, she had seen a dozen or so merchandises selling in his name, created by by both Luthorcorp and Queen Industries. Lately, Wayne Enterprises had also dipped its foot into the Hero merchandise industry, and she had seen the graph of the revenues generated by them in this sector.

Combined in all, it was a political and economical clusterfuck, especially when more heroes like her and the Green Lanterns and the Flash were going to be added to the mix. Already, she had heard the radio chatter from the General’s tent at the edge of the city, about being ready to detain the superheroes as soon as the media left them alone. Sighing quietly, she sipped her beer and looked at her cousin, watching him silently look at the reporter before sharing a glance with Batman and Diana.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Mr. Superman!” Hailey, one of GBS’ star reporters cried out, nearly thrusting the mic in their faces as she gave him what was supposed to be a demure, charming smile, “Are you and your friends considering keeping your teamups permanent? To form an elite unit of heroes for America’s defence as you have done twice in the last few months.”

“I grew up in America,” he began, knowing he had to nip this in bud before it became a problem—well more than it already was, “I believe in the ideals that our society, our country was founded on—Freedom and equality for all. No oppression, no slavery, no crime. I stand here for those ideals, to protect those unable to protect themselves. To fight for those who are unable to fight, to shield those who are being attacked unjustly. This symbol,” he pointed at the emblem of House of El on his chest, “It means “Hope” on my home world. That is what I want us to be for the people that need it, Hope.”

“And your views, Ms. Wonder Woman, are they in agreement with your fellow Hero?” Hailey looked at the Amazonian next to him, a light scowl coming on her face for a moment. Understandable he supposed. Hailey had always been a jealous type, even making snide comments about Lois once she had shown up to a business party in a backless dress.

With how beautiful Diana was, she was bound to be jealous of the Amazonian too.

“They are,” she answered, smiling easily in face of the dozens of cameras and mics—something he needed to learn, Clark realised with a mental grimace, “I was born and raised amongst the Amazons, a race created in ancient times when women were enslaved and auctioned for pleasure, treated as nothing more than cattle. The values of justice, freedom and fairness are something every Amazon fights for. It is my choice, and my duty to help those in need like my friends here, and I support them in forming a unified front, a team for this noble purpose.”

A polite applause greeted Diana at her passionate speech, and even Clark was impressed by the strength and emotions in her words. Public speaking it seemed, was one of the areas the Princess of Amazons was skilled at.

“What they said,” Batman growled before Hailey even opened mouth, her camera unable to even follow her turn as the Gotham city’s vigilante continued unimpeded, “the creation of a team geared towards protection of humanity and Earth from external as well as rapidly rising internal threats is a good idea. Thus, I support it.”

“Thanks…Batman,” the woman shakily nodded, and once again, Clark found himself sympathising with her. Even he was sometimes shaken by the Caped Crusader’s monotonic, unfeeling growling voice. Another round of flashes went by, and Clark cursed himself for keeping his vision enhanced as a click nearly blinded him with a headache. Keeping a smile on his face, he heard another reporter, from CNN if his guess was right, shout a question.

“Will this team be a part of the United States Armed Forces or operate seperate from them?”

Wait, hadn’t all three of them already answered that question already? Clark distinctly remembered saying they were going to defend the Earth and Humanity. Not a particular natio-

“Why would we submit to the authority of a particular government?” Diana asked, and he heard the frown she was carrying on her face as she crossed her arms, “We have said this already, this team is meant for the protection of the whole Earth. For serving humanity throughout the planet. It would not be ethical to be bound and beholden to a select country or countries.”

“Political oversight is dangerous,” Batman added as a wave of murmurs swept though the press, and Clark saw the way General Lane and General Moody both stood straighter at Diana’s and Batman’s words, “It is guided by agendas. Today’s one country is an ally, tomorrow a trade war turns them into an enemy. We can’t put the safety of humanity and Earth as a whole on such a scale. Agendas change with politicians, and politicians change with money and time. Tying ourselves to such bodies will be detrimental to our intentions, as well as humanity itself.”

“And Superman, do you agree with them?” Hailey asked as soon as Batman stopped, bringing everyone’s focus on him, “That your team or league should not be under the purview of the United States government?”

“I do,” he nodded, “We are here to serve humanity as a whole, without asking for anything in return. I think that is something everyone in this world should strive to do, irrespective of their country, religion or upbringing. We serve the Earth, its people directly, without limiting ourselves to borders. I saved people in Russia, India, Europe and the States, without thinking of their nationalities.”

There was a brief silence—one filled with flashes and murmurs and the quiet shifting of weight as the media digested the implications. And then—

“So… if not under the U.S. or any nation’s command,” Hailey spoke again, voice now slightly more measured, “then what about the United Nations? A neutral, international body—would you be willing to form this League under its oversight? As a peacekeeping and defense force, officially recognized, and operating transparently?”

Clark glanced sideways. Diana met his eyes and gave the slightest nod. Batman didn’t move, but he didn’t speak either—a sign, at least for them, of cautious agreement.

“We are open to collaboration,” Superman said slowly, careful with each word. “The UN represents the voices of the world, and if we’re going to represent and protect Earth, it makes sense to engage with a body that speaks for its nations—provided we remain free to act in service of all humanity, not just politics.”

Diana stepped in smoothly. “Oversight does not mean control. The Amazons were created to bring peace, not to bow to kings or councils. But if the United Nations can be a voice between us and the people, to help ensure trust and transparency, then we welcome that bridge.”

Batman’s gravel-like voice followed with finality. “Accountability is acceptable. Control is not. We’ll cooperate—but never submit.”

The murmurs this time were louder, rippling through the press like waves, as reporters rushed to file headlines. Clark exhaled, just slightly. It wasn’t over—not by a long shot—but for now, they had struck a balance. Behind the media, on the roof of an almost destroyed building, he saw Kara.

She was still in her suit, her hood still drawn over her face, but he knew she was watching them, a can of beer in her hand. Smiling slightly as he felt her eyes meet his, Clark saw her nod, before she disappeared into the darkness.

Looking down at the cameras once again, Clark smiled, standing united with both Wonder Woman and Batman. It was kind of awe inspiring for him too, for both of them had been heroes long before he had ventured past Smallville, some records of a Wonder Woman going as far back as the World Wars. Yet, they had stood in support with him, sharing his views on how they could be better, be stronger for the people that needed them.

The Flash had already said yes to teaming up, and he guessed the Green Lanterns wouldn’t object either. They were already a part of a peacekeeping force, one far more large and complicated than what they were creating here. He hadn’t talked with Aquaman, but Diana had told them that there was a chance the King of Atlantis might join them too, at least from a political and strategic viewpoint if nothing else. He had heard from them about a cyborg that had been trying to save them all from the Motherbox, but the stragner was noweher to be found, having retreated to wherver he had apepared from.

His eyes turned to the sky above, looking past the clouds and the ambient light into the cosmos, knowing that somewhere out there, Kalibak was waiting. Apokolips was gathering its armies again. And it was not just them, for he knew just how wide the Universe really was, and how many dangers plagued its dark corners. Yet the next time they came knocking, the Earth would be ready to face them.

A League was forming. And the world had just seen the first spark.