Wonder Woman caught up to Superman and Manhunter as they were about to enter through the mouth of a crack that led to the intricate tunnels of the Martian cities. Superman turned to Wonder Woman with a furrowed brow.
"Don't you need to protect them?" he questioned, nodding towards the people they had left behind.
"Steve would be safe," Wonder Woman replied as she equipped her shield while keeping her sword sheathed. "I am here for a fight, and fight I would get."
"Then don't mind me taking you up on that offer," Manhunter said, turning to the duo with a hardened face. "The enemies have reached the capital. The Martians are surrounded; we need to hurry."
Manhunter took off at full speed, traversing the tunnels with natural ease. Superman and Wonder Woman followed Manhunter without lagging behind. They traveled deeper into the earth, and the light dimmed, but it didn't hinder their movements.
Superman finally understood why the humans never discovered the Martians. They were hiding deep within the crust, on a planet inhabitable to humans.
'Hide,' Martian Manhunter came to a sudden halt at an intersection, morphing to be invisible.
Superman and Wonder Woman halted next to Manhunter, hiding in the shadows and looked out at the tunnels to notice a parade of black humanoids with green circuitry lines.
Manhunter connected his mind to the psychic cloud and contacted a M'hontrr near him. 'This is M''hontrr J'onn J'onzz, report the situation.'
'Huh! M'hontrr J'onzz, you have returned,' The Martian was relieved to hear that the war hero had returned to save them. 'Sir, we are surrounded on all sides. The priests are stalling the enemies at the east caves. The other sides are losing grounds.'
'What of the enemies' powers?' The Martian quickly relayed the information he knew. Digesting the information, Martian Manhunter relayed it to Superman and Wonder Woman. 'Their energy blasters disintegrate substance, invulnerable to damage, vulnerable to electric attack and their psychic is protected.'
'We need to avoid the blasters and use the enemy as our shield,' Wonder Woman suggested as she drew her sword.
'Or we can just blast through them,' Superman smirked, his eyes glowing red.
The trio exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. The trio's bodies blurred as they used their full speed and attacked the unsuspecting enemies before they could realize. The Mechmorphs were ripped, sliced, and burned as they pushed through with full force. The Mechmorphs could only fire their blasters in hope to catch the enemy, but the trio evaded the energy blasts with ease.
Martian Manhunter used his telekinesis to split the Mechmorphs like the red sea. Superman and Wonder Woman took the unarmed Mechmorphs with force. Superman just decimated them with his Heat-vision, while Wonder Woman sliced and diced the Mechmorphs as she moved.
They quickly destroyed the Mechmorphs army as they moved forward, cutting down their numbers in seconds, while the Martians faced difficulties.
Superman with his heat-vision was doing more damage than both Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman together. The Mechmorphs that were damaged by heat-vision were cubed by other Mechmorphs, while the others kept pushing forward; they needed to keep the pressure.
...
~BAM~
J'emm pushed into the War room with force, his emotion controlled and determination oozing from his psychic signature. He had barged in after not finding his mother at the throne room where she was giving instruction for cities maintenance in time of war.
"J'emm, what are you doing here?" King J'axx asked his son, angered at his son for barging in without permission. But he noticed the G'arrunn girl he was holding hands with, "And who is that girl?"
J'emm took a step forward confidently, "Father, let me introduce you to the girl I love, S'yraa S'mitt."
"J'emm, it is not the time," King J'axx said with gritted teeth. His anger was boiling at the thought of his son marrying a G'arrunn, an impure Martian.
"I think it's as good as any time," J'emm replied.
"You!!" The king was enraged.
"Majesty, I think it is not wise to make decisions in this tense time," The Queen regent stopped her husband.
She could feel the changes in J'emm, the war and guilt had changed him/ She could see that her child had grown, and his eyes showed his determination in this decision.
"Majesty, the assault team has been assembled," General X'araa X'elthar walked in, bringing with him a few known M'hontrr. "They will lead the others and are ready to sacrifice."
"Are we sending a team to fight Zion?" J'emm questioned the General.
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General X'araa X'elthar bowed and answered, "Yes, Prince J'emm. We would lose a battle of attrition, so we should strike the enemy head to gain an advantage." The General explained.
"Then let me go with you," J'emm asked the General.
"What!"
"No!"
"You will not be going anywhere!"
The General, the Queen, and S'yraa exclaimed at J'emm.
"J'emm, why do you want to go too? It's dangerous," The queen said.
"Yes," S'yraa agreed.
"Listen to your mother, Prince J'emm," The General advised, "This mission is too dangerous, and we might never make it whole."
"But—"
"Sir, M'hontrr J'onn J'onzz has returned," A Martian relayed the news, "And he brought help. They are pushing the enemies back."
With the message, a short memory was shared, showcasing Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman beating the hell out of the Mechmorphs. The increasing numbers of Mechmorphs dwindled in seconds.
"J'onn J'onzz brought more of them," King commented. "That man wears the same symbol as the girl."
"But she helped us," J'emm commented. "They could be of help. I will guide you to the destination, and we will take back our land."
"Prince J'emm," General X'araa X'elthar said in a soft voice.
J'emm turned and looked him in the eyes, "Let me do it, I want to wash the guilt of running like a coward."
...
-Cyberverse-
In the midst of floating programs, each signifying a representation of a different part of this universe, these ones and zeros create a new world with more abstract laws than the original. These laws fully function in only on and off. This was the space where code resided in the cyberverse, the world wide web.
In this insentient world was the only sentient program, swimming in the sea of algorithms, catching fishes of code. He felt joy as he dug out secrets that were hidden deep within the system; it was his fun activity. He had already dug so much dirt on the government; he could flip it like a table. So much darkness hidden within the confines of privacy. The whole place was filled with the sins of mankind, the ones that were forgotten and hidden.
Z.A.I was now in control of all available networks. If you buy a new phone, he would be there. If you buy a new camera, he would be there; he is in your submarine, he is in your car. Where there is tech, he is there—even in the smart toilet.
So basically, he had full control on human civilization.
But at the moment, he was not digging dirt on people. He was observing the feed from Mars while analyzing all the information, predicting the next best action. His eyes scanned the screens of zeros and ones, showing images that he received from all around the system.
One such picture showed the image of Manhunter and Wonder Woman decimating the Mechmorph army, transmitted from the re-breather Superman was wearing. He knew that the Mechmorph army wouldn't be of much help in defeating this trio. Another image showed Lex Luthor's team marching through the red desert of Mars, and Steve Trevor in turmoil, clearly due to Diana's departure. Lex probably wanted to check the infected ground, but Steve wanted to follow Diana, their conflicting motives creating sparks.
The third came from the Mechmorphs. It showed a guy wearing bright green tights fighting Mechmorphs using hard-light based constructs. He was getting surrounded, but his rings' power kept him from getting cubed. Since the green constructs were energy-based, the dehydration gun was not effective as it was on Matter.
He then shifted to the other screens, turning from the Mars feed to Earth's. He had full access to Gotham's CCTV, his eyes scanning, collecting, and filing evidence of crimes in real-time. He would send those to Bats later.
At the same time, he was deploying Metallo to keep Metropolis safe while hunting down a little demon. With Superman's absence not prominent yet, the criminals were still guarded, but a visit from the Death Knight would keep them in check if they ever tried. Metallo with his upgrades would prove a very hard opponent since he doesn't mind dividing people with his kryptonite sword.
But those were his secondary purposes; his primary mission was to be a hunting dog.
But this was of no significance, as the players have already arrived at their positions. Only a bit more time before the match begins and the world turns over.
...
-Gotham-
Batman hunting tonight, a report of a suspicious presence at the docks planting some kind of bomb, and it didn't take much for him to find the prey. The big guy draped in a cloak ran the minute he noticed Batman's presence. Their chase led them through Gotham's darkest.—dirty alleys, abandoned buildings, and to the spacious roofs. Batman used his arsenal to trap the giant, but his opponent bulldozed like a bull through them like a bull. And it didn't take long for Gotham's P.D to get on their tails.
Three helicopters circled Gotham's crime alley hunting the elusive Batman, and they found him chasing another, jumping across roofs.
~TUTUTUUTUTUTUUT~ (Helicopter noise)
['We have Batman on sight']
['He's running after someone.']
['Man? Woman? What?']
['I can't tell. Face is covered.']
['Is it one of them?']
['The way they leap twenty feet at a time? I'd say yes.']
['Then bring them down.']
The orders were relayed, and the soldiers rained fire on Batman and his friend, whom he was chasing after. Batman quickly pulled his cape and rolled away from the range, avoid getting shot. The giant used Batman's distraction to jump across easily landing on the other side.
Batman used his wrist launcher to shoot some smoke missiles at the choppers to distract them.
"Idiots!" He grunted. The giant saw that Batman was busy dealing with the choppers and took his chance to escape. But Batman, the unrelenting, used his grappling gun to shoot his target, piercing his calves and used the grappling gun's pulling momentum to tackle his opponent.
Batman's tackle sent them tumbling down the roof, destroying public properties. Batman in the midst of the roll managed to grab his opponent's collar and slammed him to the guardrail, his eyes staring into the otherworldly creature.
"What were you doing at the docks? What are you guys planning? Talk before—
Before Batman could finish, the creature exploded with power, successfully pushing back Batman. Batman grunted in pain, his bones cracked, and when he got up, a metallic fist punched down. Batman rolled with the punched, evading the combo. He stood back up, ready to throw hands with this metallic creature.
He analyzed the creature's moments while noting its appearance. Humanoid grotesque creature with greenish skin infused with bronze cybernetics, big red eyes, sharp teeth, and deadly claws. Totally looks like a demon from hell.
The description matched that of one he received from the Flash. Another had attacked Central City and was taken down by Flash. He had informed Batman of this otherworldly creature's presence since he was expecting an invasion. The creature was sent to Star Labs for analysis but nothing of note yet. The demon moved, its claws outstretched to tear Batman to ribbons.
~Clank~
A birdarang lodged itself on the demon's head, beeping.
~BOOOM~