Previously in Justice League…

They are the world’s greatest superheroes, united by fate in a battle no one of them can fight alone.

But the gathering of powers, no matter their intentions, is not without consequence…

LOOSE ENDS

By Miranda Sparks

Washington, DC
Today

Many clandestine meetings had taken place before the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. This was simply the latest. If those waters could talk, oh, the secrets they could share; secrets that could upend the landscape, and shift the tides of global power.

Power was the currency Amanda Waller traded in, whether it be political, financial – usually from Uncle Sam’s bank account – even blackmail and extortion should the need arise. There was little she wouldn’t do to serve her country. However, when it came to the kind of brute power that could alter the course of rivers…

A gust of wind cut by her. She tensed. The Superman of Metropolis landed and shot her a disarming smile. If he’d intended it as a comfort, then it was a failed mission.

“How good of you to deign this mere mortal with your presence,” she said, dryly.

Superman deflated. So much for the friendly face. “The pleasure is mine, Ms Waller. But I assure you, the snipers won’t be necessary.”

“Call it ‘peace of mind’,” she said.

The Man of Steel raised his hands. It was a lesson he’d learned time and again, that diplomacy required more than reaching out in good faith. Perhaps she was right to be suspicious. Every other force in the world had given her reason.

“Fair enough. Just know that myself and the Justice League have nothing but good intentions for-”

“Good intentioned or not, a woman in my position has to pay attention when persons of mass-destruction congregate,” she said.

Superman faltered. “I… suppose when you put it that way…”

Amanda Waller, director of several departments with no names, whose movements were so classified only the President could know them, stared him down. “Let me cut to the quick,” she said. “Seven of the world’s most prominent metahumans come together to stifle an alien invasion. Then add four more to their ranks to deflect a planetoid.”

“We’re not an army, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Superman said.

Her gaze narrowed. “Then what are you?”

Justice League HQ
Mount Justice, Rhode Island
Three days ago

“An ad hoc support network of civic minded citizens,” said Batman. “No more, no less.”

Gathered around a large table at the heart of a martian lair sat six of a new wave of costume champions and one empty chair. Most of them appeared stupefied, folding arms or raising brows.

“Can somebody say that in English please?” asked Green Lantern.

“It means that we’re not the police,” Aquaman said, leaning back.

“We’re people,” said Superman, “doing our part for the community. For all communities.”

“On a strictly volunteer basis,” said Batman, emphasizing every word, perhaps expecting the assembly to acquiesce to his will.

A sharp silence filled the cavern, and with it the realization that there were no ‘friends’ in this room – not in the strictest sense. They were barely teammates, brought together by circumstance, with space to gather at the behest of an absent ally.

The Flash cleared his throat. “Shouldn’t the Martian Manhunter be here?”

Superman frowned. “I’ve reached out to him, but this discussion can’t wait. The public are on our side, but there are just as many who are scared.”

“The right people should be scared,” said Batman.

“That’s exactly my concern,” said Wonder Woman, leaning forward. “The virtue of a Justice League invites opposition. We have the potential for good, but many great horrors are born of fear.”

 Green Lantern laughed without humor. “There are armies in space with less power than this room!”

“Regardless, we don’t want to be disorganized when that power is needed,” said Aquaman.

Superman nodded. “Which is why we gather only in the event of emergencies.”

“Agreed,” said Wonder Woman. “We don’t need to assemble in order to share intel, and most threats only require only two or three of us.”

San Antonio, Texas
Two days ago

The invisible jet – a gift from Hawkwoman – shot over the landscape at unfathomable speed. At her three o’clock was an emerald streak in the shape of a man. Wonder Woman gripped the control with muted glee. Her dear friend Steve had opined about his days as a pilot, and she could see the appeal.

“I don’t like where this is headed,” said Green Lantern over the comm. “I accepted the ring so I could help people, not so I could become an authority.”

Diana mulled the thought. “My understanding was that Green Lanterns were the universe’s police.”

“More like sheriffs,” said Green Lantern. “Peacekeepers. Not following the law, per se, but the spirit of the law. Very loose, highly contextual, with a lot of wiggle room.”

“I don’t understand,” said Wonder Woman. “You’re as committed to justice as the rest of us.”

Green Lantern sighed. “It’s not a question of commitment. It’s about rigidity. Look, it’s one thing to have ideals to fight for. That’s great. No arguing there. But codes, charters, bureaucracy? That becomes a distraction from the real work.”

Their conversation was cut short by the appearance of their target. There, on the horizon, towered a monumental construct – perhaps a machine, perhaps something else – made up of cubes shifting into new configurations. Each component varied in color and size, and unleashed a thousand laser points of destruction from its corners. The streets were filled with panic as concrete crumbled and asphalt boiled. Soon all of Texas would burn.

“You want to take the first shot?” asked Green Lantern.

The amazon shifted gears and guided the craft into a long arc. “I believe the phrase is ‘ladies first’,” she teased, and climbed out of the cockpit.

She stood on the wing of the jet, fighting the resistance of the wind, and swirled the Golden Perfect above her head. With deft movement she cast it toward her foe, and by extension of her will the rope encircled the abstract, building-sized behemoth. Though her line failed to pull taut as the cubes shifted around it.

One of the machine’s heads, of which there seemed many, turned its attention to Wonder Woman, and set upon her with fiery hot energy. Diana braced, shielding her eyes, barely able to withstand the assault. It was only by the grace of a green wall of light that the beam was cut short, as Green Lantern scooped her in his free arm. The emerald force field carried her as it did him.

“You okay?” he asked.

Wonder Woman nodded. The only thing wounded was her pride. “We need to contain the beast if we’re going to disable it.”

Green Lantern smirked. ‘Beast,’ she said, like it was alive.

“I could shrink wrap it in hard light,” he said. “Then you can go to town.”

A wild twinkle shone behind her eyes. “Then set me down, Green Lantern. You do your part, and I’ll do mine.”

He dropped Wonder Woman onto the street where she landed on two feet. Neither of them slowed in their race toward their foe.

Green Lantern cast his ring ahead, and with every ounce of will projected an emerald sphere into the world. The shape closed on the enemy from all sides, and progressively shrank. Under the mask it took all Kyle Rayner had to hold the form together, like flexing a mental muscle that wasn’t built to hold.

The enemy was contained. Wonder Woman bound from the street, and with momentum that carried her across the skyline she flew into the middle section of the enemy. She landed her fist with all the force of a comet, as though Zeus himself had cast his bolts from on high.

Metal whined and gears screamed. The hundreds of cubes rattled and blinked with every color there was. With each consecutive blow its resistance waned until at long last they turned pale and fell to the earth in impotent, disparate pieces.

The two heroes collected themselves to inspect the damage. Wonder Woman beamed and locked arms with her teammate.

“Whatever the course,” she told him, “I’m glad to share it with you, my friend.”

The young hero blushed under his mask. Before they were allies. Maybe they could be friends as well.

Justice League HQ
Three days ago

The Flash twiddled his thumbs, then bounced his knee, and tapped his fingers on his leg – countless tics for a man out of sync with the world, desperate to spend energy. Waiting his turn to speak was hell, as he had something on my mind.

“We should become an official organization,” he said.

“No,” said Batman.

Superman waved him down. “Let him speak.”

Wonder Woman leaned across the table with diplomatic curiosity. “I’m not certain that I agree, but what benefits would come from organizing, Flash?”

“Oversight for one,” said the Flash. “We commit pen to paper, show our hand to the right authorities-”

“That would leave us open to government or corporate exploitation,” Batman said. His tone dripped with acid. If anyone knew corruption, it was a guy from Gotham.

“The seas have been damaged enough by the current powers that be,” said Aquaman.

“Maybe,” said the Flash, “but it’d be nice to get a paycheck, you know? Some of us have to pay rent.” How many of them had bills to pay, he wondered. Probably Green Lantern. The others? Not so much.

“This can’t be about money. Not now, not ever,” said Batman.

The table looks at him, meaningfully. If the Flash’s eyes were daggers they would have shredded that heavy black cape to ribbons.

“Yes, I recognise the irony of that statement,” Batman said, “but the fact remains that money is a corrupting influence. We need to be above that.”

“He’s right, of course,” said Superman. “The Justice League is not a job. It’s more pure than that. We didn’t put on capes and masks to make a profit, or even to earn a wage, and it needs to stay that way.”

Hoover Dam, Nevada
Two days ago

“Look, all I’m saying is that it’d be nice to not have to bust my ass saving the world, then worry about feeding a wife and kids,” the Flash said.

“You don’t have a wife and kids,” said Aquaman over the comms.

The speedster rolled his eyes. “How do you know?”

“I don’t,” he said, “but I have my doubts.”

If anyone could multitask, it was the Flash. Not only could he move at inhuman speed, but think just as fast. They weren’t necessarily world-changing thoughts; they were mostly tedious snippets of this and that while waiting for the next moment.

It was no wonder then that he found room to talk about organizing while racing across the water. Liquid pillars as hard as steel jumped into the speedsters path, inviting him to crash at organ-obliterating velocity.

“Okay! Hypothetically! If I did have a brood of my own. What am I supposed to do?”

Aquaman grunted. Maybe the fastest man alive had time for talk, but he had his hands full – namely with the mechanical octopod whose intersecting limbs appeared to move in defiance of physics. All around the water was heavy, enough to slow even the hardiest of mariners. And yet there were no solubles or other pollutants to alter the dam – only the strange energy that emanated from the machine. He pressed forward, determined to wring the limbs from the thing if it was the last thing he ever did.

“It’s using the water against us,” Aquaman growled. “Altering its- argh! Density! Like trying to move through concrete!”

“What do you need me to do?” asked the Flash.

With a strength hardened by the tides, Aquaman neared the mechanical menace, but choked on the water. He could plunge into the deepest trenches, yet even this was too much for him. Brute force wouldn’t see him through this. They had to be smart.

“We need to take it off its feet,” he said. 

“I thought you said it didn’t have feet.”

“Focus!” Aquaman snapped. “We need to get the waters moving! Flash, do you think you can whip up a hurricane?”

“Aye aye, Captain!”

He grunted again and beat back the invisible wall. “Don’t call me ‘captain’!”

Finally, a reason to cut loose! Wally West beamed under the mask, all too eager to move from a jog to a light sprint. His steps skipped along the surface of the dam before he kicked into high gear. Now his movements cut the air, whipping the waters around him, churning them with an excess of kinetic energy.

The Flash rounded the edge of the dam, circling the walls and the shore in a matter of seconds. Faster and faster, he pulled the waters with him, and with it the new currents. The surface shifted from its former stillness to something out of a disaster movie, just like the man wanted.

“How’s that?” he asked.

“Keep doing what you’re doing!” roared Aquaman.

With another surge of adrenaline, the speedster picked up the pace. Light sprint? More like hell-bent for leather!

Mud, muck and algae flew across Aquaman’s vision, but not for a moment did it deter his focus. With a deftness honed over a lifetime he moved through the violent waters. They were less of a challenge than the foul element conjured by the machine.

It flailed, struggling to calibrate without an anchor point. Its tendrils lashed like those of a wild beast, sharpening the water into invisible daggers. For most they would be an instant death – but they were a simple matter for the protector of the deep.

Aquaman closed on the monstrosity and plunged his fist into whatever passed for its heart. With a cry of fury he rended the central processor clean of the body, leaving the rest to short out and plummet to a watery grave.

The heroes sat upon the shore to collect their breath. The waters were still again. The Hoover Dam was at peace, and their work was done.

“Become a cop,” Aquaman said.

The Flash shook from his daydreaming. “What?”

“You said you’d like a paycheck,” he said. “So become a cop, or join the army. They’d be glad to have a man of your talents.”

“You know I can’t do that,” said Flash.

“Why not?”

Flash ignored the question, probably because he didn’t have an answer. Hypothetically he could join the army. A man as fast as lightning could save a lot of lives, but he could also rain down hell if given the order. He drew a sharp breath. No, that wasn’t something he could live with.

“What if one of us gets hurt?” he pressed. “Doing what we do, our health insurance premiums would be through the roof!”

“I wish I had better answers for you,” Aquaman said, “but until we can think of a better way, this is how it has to be. That’s the cost of remaining anonymous and independent.”

The Flash frowned. “To be continued,” he said.

Washington, DC
Today

“May I remind you that Wonder Woman stormed the White House,” Waller snapped, “and you, Superman, invaded the nation of Bialya.”

By all accounts there was no reason that Superman should have been afraid. After all, she would have been the first to point out that he was a Man of Steel and she was a Woman of Tissue Paper. Yet he held his words, considered them with care, then thought better of saying anything at all.

“I suppose you felt you had no choice,” Waller said.

“And if I had to choose again, I’d choose the same,” Superman told her. No hesitancy. No doubt. Just a fact.

Waller scowled. “Leaving the rest of us to pick up the pieces,” she said.

Superman furrowed his brow. He’d spent too many nights thinking on the finer details of his exploits; of the people it impacted, and the mountains of paperwork even he would struggle with. Then he remembered those who’d almost lost their loved ones, almost lost their homes. If he or some other hero hadn’t been there…

“People matter more than politics,” he said. “They have to, or else what’s the point?”

Justice League HQ
Three days ago

Wonder Woman laid her hands on the table and nursed her words. If the stories were to be believed she was raised in a royal court in the circle of a great leader. When she spoke, all were wise to listen.

“We’re here, in part, because the law is not always enough.” 

“So we become a law unto ourselves?” asked Green Lantern incredulously.

“I mean that we are a part of an ongoing negotiation between power and those we fight to protect,” she continued. “If we do need to hold power to account, it would merely be to facilitate those better suited to it.”

“While excluding ourselves,” said Aquaman.

“Of course,” she said.

“We’re not a police force,” said Green Lantern.

“We’re overlooking that it was the United States Government that unleashed Captain Atom on a civilian population,” said Batman. “If we hadn’t acted as we did there would be thousands dead.”

The Flash nursed his brow. “I don’t know if I want to make a habit of overstepping like that.”

“Which is why we ease off the gas and take it slow, build trust,” Superman said. “We come when we’re called upon, and not before. We have the luxury of moving without red tape. It’s not one we can afford to take lightly.”

STAR Labs
Yesterday

Michael Holt had never intended to become a ‘super-hero’. That was the stuff of comic books – Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Hulk, all that. His focus had always been on science, the discovery of knowledge, and the betterment of self and others. His intent was to save the world, not by punching the right people, but through ideas and innovation. That he became a superhero was merely serendipitous, and as the saying goes ‘you are the company you keep.’

From behind a blast shield several feet from the walls of a faraday cage, Dr Holt – Mr Terrific – prepped a control panel. The readings spiked in time with the Flash’s movements, who on the other side of the barrier raced like a lightning-fast hamster on the inside of a great wheel. The superhuman momentum, and the unique energies that came with it, vibrated beyond the safety panels, agitating the onlookers on an atomic level.

His better nature might have been perturbed by this development, but circumstance spurned his inner mad scientist on. Radical dangers required radical solutions, of which this certainly qualified.

At his side, Wonder Woman braced herself, as though at any moment something she could strike would come bursting into existence. “Tell me again what’s happening here.”

Dr Holt doted on the controls while his floating T-spheres assisted. They flew back and forth, exchanging knowledge faster than words could convey, before moving onto the next task.

“Our ‘killer robots’ artificially resonate on a molecular level with our plane of reality, suggesting they’re not of this universe,” he said. “Using the Flash’s vibrational abilities, I’m attempting to chart a reverse course to their point of origin.”

“Which will lead us into their realm,” she said.

He grinned without humor. “The resonance is more akin to a future timeline that’s splintered from our own, but yes, another realm.” He slowed, fine tuning the process as they approached parity.

“How’re you feeling, Flash?”

“A little nauseous,” came the reply over the comms.

“That’s great,” he said, married to the panel. “We’re almost there. Just need you to hold on a minute longer.”

Michael was too set on his work to see the shimmering in space between the cage and the blast shield. Were he to look up, he would have seen the dozen or so human shapes distorted through a window between universes. Had he time to dwell on it, he might have marveled at what had only been theory days before.

The voices of another universe rippled through the gateway as though spoken underwater.

“-the QX-Leviathan model, which as you’ve seen proved a challenge for the legendary Justice League.”

“But fell, regardless,” said another voice.

“One, sure,” the first continued, “but a dozen? More? Not even the most capable metahuman can withstand a swarm. And with a few tweaks, this model will prove more than adequate in-”

It was more than Wonder Woman could stand. Despite protest from Mr Terrific, the amazon stepped from behind the blast shield and cast a line across the cosmic divide. Length by length it plummeted into the inevitable reach in search of a foe. Perhaps it was by the Perfect’s divine nature that it found something to pull.

With a single heave, Wonder Woman drew one of the figures from the other realm. He was a handsome man, perhaps in his early thirties, with trimmed facial hair and a piece of ocular technology over one eye. His purple suit was something akin to plastic, though held another quality not of her time. 

“You!” Terror flushed the man, who would have been tall were he not crawling. “Listen, lady. I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. Not really. I’m just a guy trying to make a buck.”

Wonder Woman seethed. “You’re a… a merchant?”

He nodded feverishly. “Yeah, and you should be flattered. My robots against the Justice League? There’s no finer acid test. And you passed with flying colors!”

She picked him up by the scruff of his shirt with all the ease of lifting a rag doll. “There’s no honor in what you’ve done.”

The salesman smiled the facsimile of an apologetic smile “I’m sorry you feel that way. Really, I-I-I’ll make it up to you! Even cut you in at five percent. But you really must excuse me, I was in a meeting with a client.”

Diana tightened the lasso, prompting a squeal. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Okay, ten percent. Fifteen! That’s my final offer.”

Dr Holt roared from behind the blast shield, still utterly focused on the panel. “Flash! Hold the frequency! We don’t want to lose him!”

The salesman sighed. “Oh, honey. I was ready to strike a deal, but I see you want to do this the hard way.”

Suddenly the refuse of one of his great machines sprung to life. Cubes that had been annihilated by blunt force re-inflated like metal balloons, and blinked with hues of every color. They flew at Wonder Woman, drawing her attention and lashing her blindspots with burning lasers. With the salesman still bound she lifted him to use as a shield, knowing they wouldn’t fire on their master. On the other side she swatted them away three or more at a time, but even at diminished capacity a swarm stood every chance of overwhelming her.

In a blink the scientist was a superhero again. In the end it would be ideas that saved the world, but that didn’t mean precluding fisticuffs. With a wry grin he pressed a button on the sleeve of his jacket.

“Two can play that game.”

A swarm of spheres flew from the wings in equal numbers to the swarm of cubes. The air was filled with mechanical shapes battling for supremacy, blasting and ramming and clanking. It was a war in miniature extending from the wills of two rival geniuses.

Devoid of her usual patience, Wonder Woman slammed the salesman against the wall. She bore down on him with a warrior’s fury; the kind stoked and tempered in all amazon hearts from a young age. 

“You don’t belong in this time, and neither do your machines,” she said. “Stay in your own backyard, or else we’ll be forced to pay a visit. Do we understand each other?”

Though many had fallen, Mr Terrific’s T-spheres outlasted the cubes. A small number remained, and were already at work cleaning the remaining mess.

The salesman groaned feebly. “It’s a shame. I would have cut you in on the profits. You would have been richer than gods!”

“That’s not what we’re about,” Wonder Woman said, then dropped him on his ass.

The salesman faded from existence. The shimmering wall dissipated. Mr Terrific turned the dials down and the hum of the generators fell into silence. Behind the bars of the Faraday cage the Flash started to slow. At last he could catch his breath.

“Did we get ‘im?” he asked.

Mount Justice
Yesterday

The Martian Manhunter’s lair was not the only wonder in Happy Harbor. There was another, more terrestrial beauty topside. It didn’t take a Superman to admire the horizon, where ocean waves twinkled during sunset. He closed his eyes and offered his senses to the world. The salty air soothed even his nigh-impenetrable skin as it blew against him, while the hungry cry of seagulls reminded him that all was well in this corner of the world.

“I can hear you, you know, so you may as well come out,” he says.

He didn’t turn back to address the man behind him; not while his myriad other senses were at play. The other man’s heartbeat, his gait, along with the smell of leather and aftershave were like a bell tolling from the middle of town.

Batman emerged onto the balcony. “Even without the cameras you’re posing. I’m not sure if you’re the real deal or committed to the gimmick.”

“Wanting to help people isn’t a gimmick,” he said.

Batman hummed. Strange that a right answer should be so unsatisfying.

“You’ve been watching me like a hawk since Starro,” Superman said. “Threat assessment?”

“Protecting my interests,” Batman said.

“You wanted to make sure the Man of Steel is also a vault. Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. We’re allies, remember?”

“Uh huh.”

The Dark Knight joined him on the ledge to look over the water. There was no railing, nothing to stop someone from leaping into the abyss; one into the sky, the other to their doom.

Superman considered him with a sideways glance. The reporter in him couldn’t help wondering what drove an ordinary boy to become a Batman. Tragedy was a part of it, and determination, both enabled by privilege and wealth. Those ingredients rarely made a healthy cocktail, but so far his cohort seemed on the level. He let go of the thought. There were other, more pressing matters at hand.

“I do wonder if we’re making a mistake,” said Superman. “That’s a lot of power at one table.”

“It is.”

“Nobody asked us to save the world,” he said.

“No.”

“But not everyone can save themselves.”

“Which is why we take the initiative to do what others can’t,” Batman said.

Superman paused. The other man’s heartbeat was steady. In anyone else he might have read it as earnest, but the Batman wouldn’t be so easy a read. Maybe, he thought, Batman was trying to goad him.

“And if we take things too far? Who keeps us in check?”

The Dark Knight grunted. “We keep each other in check… Clark.”

That name! Superman started. He’d been so careful! And yet Batman had spoken it with certainty, not as an act of trust, but as a warning. Now they both knew the men behind the capes. Where for some that might have forged a bond, for others it spelled destruction.

Washington, DC
Today

“We didn’t ask for this power,” he told Waller. “We wouldn’t be who we are if we did. But we do have it, and the best we can do is share it.”

“It’s who you’re sharing it with that concerns me,” she said.

Superman looked up to the stars. How strange it was that people spoke about him like some sort of a god, yet when looking to the cosmos he was only too aware of how small he was. In the grand scheme of things his power was next to nothing, but good deeds are rarely performed on so great a scale.

“You know I can’t help but think when I’m up there, just how alike we are,” he said. “People, I mean. No matter your status or creed; we want to protect the things we care about, and the people closest to us. All of us. Maybe if you could see things my way you’d know the truth.”

Waller interrogated him with a glance. “And what truth is that?”

“That humankind is a community,” he said. “All we have in this world is each other.”

She folded her arms and scoffed. “You should write Hallmark cards.”

“I know it’s cheesy, but it’s true,” he said. “The Justice League exists to help the community, because we’re a part of the community. We help ourselves by helping others. Isn’t that what we all want?” 

Waller said nothing. Her desires required a level of clearance the Man of Steel had yet to earn.

Superman lifted from the ground, starting for the sky. “Goodnight, Ms Waller. I hope we’re still friends the next time we see each other.”

Justice League HQ

Three days ago

Superman stood. “And now that’s out of the way, we can talk about expanding our circle.”

“Discussing new members,” Flash said. “Sounds official, almost like a society, or even an organization.”

“Geez, enough,” Green Lantern said, slapping him on the arm.

“J’onn drew us together,” Aquaman said. “He chose us for a reason.”

“I only wish he were here to add his thoughts,” said Wonder Woman.

“Small numbers are good for optics,” Batman said, “but if the Chronos incident has taught us anything it’s that we six-”

“Seven,” added Wonder Woman.

“Seven,” Batman continued, “can’t do it alone.”

Superman grinned. “Well we have four amazing people who were there when we needed them. Besides, you can never have too many friends.”

Batman grunted. The others ignored him,

“I vouch for Mr Terrific,” said Superman.

“And I for Hawkwoman,” said Diana.

“The Firestorm guys fought for us when we couldn’t fight for ourselves,” said Green Lantern, “so yeah, whatever it’s worth, I vouch for them.”

“We’re all equals here,” said Aquaman. “Your word is more than enough.”

“Should we vote on this?” asked Flash.

The table answered with mirthful silence.

Flash leaned back, laughed and kicked up his feet. “Alrighty then. Let’s say hello to the all-new Justice League!”

NEXT ISSUE: It’s a new world and a new team. Meanwhile, J’onn J’onzz sees signs of life from his old home. What could be in store? Join us for our next exciting story, ‘Remnants of Mars.’