Happy Harbor, 6:17 PM.
November 12th, 2010.
The sun was rapidly disappearing from the sky, and the shadows passed over them—like some kind of signal, they all moved.
Aiden flashed forward and met Wonder Woman’s elbow with his own. They connected with a crack that sent pain racing up to his shoulder. He was forced backward from her greater strength and barely pulled himself out of the way of the follow-up kick. The next move in the pattern was the same as it always was, and he managed to avoid the second kick that swiped past his head.
He pushed his Ki out and burst backward, away from the other fighters, and Wonder Woman followed without hesitation. His flight speed easily exceeded her own—probably one of the only things he had going for him in this fight—he made sure to let her catch up, and just as they reached the edge of the city, they met once more.
Wonder Woman’s punch was even stronger than before and sent him rocketing back towards a tree. He got his feet underneath him as he crashed into one, pushing off the shattered trunk to avoid the next attack that left it as nothing more than slivers and sawdust. His anger was rising the more he was forced back—even after all of that training, he still wasn’t able to match her.
Roshi’s technique washed over him, and his muscles surged outwards, the mass pushing his strength as high as it could go, and he caught her next punch with a furious snarl as he still went sliding backward from the force.
Wonder Woman’s face hadn’t changed from the expressionless state it had been locked into since she had arrived. He met her on the ground this time, sending her attack off course and getting his own blocked without effort.
They fought there for almost ten seconds, striking, deflecting, and blocking—she wasn’t fighting like she normally did, just a changing series of straightforward patterns and strikes. The fact that she was hampered and still winning tipped him over the edge.
His next palm strike stopped short—a Ki blast formed and exploded in under a second, from feet away. The shockwave of light and smoke washed over her, sending her tumbling backward across the ground—but she twisted and caught her footing within seconds, scuffed but mostly unharmed.
The second shot missed as she swerved under it on her way towards him, and the third one, almost directly in front of her face, missed as she deflected his arm upwards, sending it rocketing into the sky.
Aiden couldn’t dodge the fist that smashed downwards into his face, and he crashed back first into the ground. The momentum carried him back up into the air before her foot landed on his hip, sending him straight through the trunk of a tree.
The tree burst during his passing—he couldn’t even feel it, but the two hits had left his skin bleeding and bruised. He got his hands up in time for a solar flare, but she just came through it, eyes closed, and struck him again.
He stumbled to his feet, face bleeding, and bared his teeth at her in anger—she didn’t stop her approach as he raised his hand again. The city lay in the distance behind her, and the Ki-ball grew quickly before condensing down.
The light of the attack flickered dangerously, and he knew she wasn’t going to stop—Aiden snapped his hand down just as she reached him, and the attack exploded on the ground between them.
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He woke up some time unknown time later, partially buried in the dirt, staring up as Wonder Woman stood at the top of the crater, looking down at him—She was bleeding, burned, and dirty, but her face was a mixture of pain and guilt. The world grew fuzzy as he looked past her at the moon that hung high in the sky, round and a bright white.
He forgot about the moon…
The pain that was searing his body grew several magnitudes more painful—He felt like he was falling apart, even as the ground fell away from him. His fury grew hotter as the pain ravaged him, and an agonizing minute later, he stared at the small hairless creature that had stood below him.
It was the one who had been sure of its superiority over him.
He stamped down on it, smashing it into the ground with a roar of triumph. There was movement against his foot, the creature trying to push free—the ground shattered as he forced his foot deeper into the earth with a huff, and the movement stopped.
The world felt alive in a way it never had before, he could see so much, smell so many things, and the noises were crystal clear for miles. What was this strange place, with unnatural silver pillars stretching into the sky above, some of which towered over even him.
A challenge he couldn’t leave alone.
He stomped forward towards the towering things making sure the world trembled with his every step. Something crashed into his shin, the impact enough to give him pause, and he noticed the hairless creature from before struggling to hold his leg back. He roared down at it, but it just gave its own pitiful cry back this time, making strange and unnatural noises with its tiny mouth.
The small creature pushed back on his leg with some force—It was surprisingly powerful for such a tiny creature. He reached down and grabbed at it, but it managed to hold his fingers apart with its arms. He roared and pressed his hand down onto it, smashing the creature into the ground once more and loosening its hold.
It was still moving—and he felt his fury grow again as he gripped it tightly in his fist and lifted it up to his face. It challenged him again with its strange noises, trying to force his fingers free with its peculiar strength, and he roared in its face.
There was another noise coming towards him—he turned his head up towards it, and the tiny white covered figure crashed into his face. The force of the hit was immense, even to him, and he stumbled backward, wrecking the land with his steps.
Another challenge!
He stomped towards the new creature dropping the weaker one to the ground without a care. He swiped at it and missed as it slipped out of the way of his grasp. The thing dove forward and hit him in the chest with a painful strike that lacked the power of the first, and then a second harder hit pushed him back further away from the towering silver things behind it.
These greedy creatures sought to lay claim to his own greater challenge.
He felt the fury burning in his chest at the audacity, and he fed into it, the power inside him wrenched its way up to his throat. He roared his anger at the world in heat and light. The energy washed over the white-covered figure, and it exploded into a massive ball of fire covering the surrounding area.
Something struck him in the back of the knee, and he fell down onto it, shattering the ground around the impact zone. He reached down and grabbed at the source, but it managed to evade him, no doubt wary of his strength.
Two red streaks of light cut across the sky and crashed into his chest, painfully burning lines of agony into his skin in an arc up towards his shoulder. He roared in pain, the action alone sending wind washing over the area and dispelling the smoke from the sky. A third figure, blue and red, was revealed in the smoke strange material whipping around in the air behind him.
The white-covered creature returned, blackened and bleeding but still in the fight. They were multiplying as he fought them—the thrill of a worthy battle was coursing through him, and he roared out his challenge at the newcomers.
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“A towering ape-like creature has appeared outside of Metropolis!” Cat Grant said quickly, ducking down as the camera shook and a cascade of noise came over the video feed. “Numerous explosions have been seen in its vicinity! There are heroes on site—but they appear to be struggling against the enormous beast!”
The video flicked upwards to face the outskirts of the city, and the ape appeared, one hand raised in the air, eyes glowing red as it roared again, shattering the nearby buildings with the noise. Its body was crisscrossed with deep blackened lines dug into its flesh.
A pair of red lines cut through the air and across the thing’s chest again, leaving another mark, and the ape turned towards it. Energy burst forth from its mouth, slamming into the man of steel and detonating on contact. It erupted into a massive sphere of fire in the sky, and Superman was seen tumbling away from the attack, suit in tatters.
“Superman has been hit again! That’s the second time—they aren’t letting those attacks hit the city!” Cat Grant shouted, terrified as a heatwave washed over them, “He’s sacrificing his body to stop them—Captain Marvel and Superboy are back!”
The two heroes crashed into the Apes chest and forced it to slide backward almost a city block before it managed to dig its feet in deep enough to stop the momentum. It roared and struck out at the two, missing Superboy by scant meters but sending Captain Marvel back into the city again.
The ape opened its mouth, filled with the same burning energy, ready to unleash it upon the city—Power Girl slammed into its jaw, forcing its head upwards as another burst of light erupted into the sky—the hit powerful enough to send the beast staggering back a step.
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“Power Girl and the unknown woman with the black hair is back!” Cat Grant cried, “Is this another Kryptonian? She seems to have the same powers—”
Divine spun under the ape’s fist as it passed by her, soared up past its shoulder, and stuck it in the forehead—the unsteady beast stumbled back once more, outside of the city proper for the second time.
“This beast just keeps on fighting no matter how injured it becomes!” Cat Grant called out to the camera, and it tilted down toward her. “Idiot! Keep the camera on it!”
The camera zipped back up in time to catch three pairs of red lights cutting into the beast’s raised arm as it roared in pain. It managed to bring the arm up and get its palm in between the red light and itself.
Superboy appeared heading for the side with the free arm, and the ape reached out towards him, arm extended. The camera dipped down to the legs of the creature, showing Captain Marvel behind its back before a massive flash of lightning crashed down on his position kicking up a dust storm and obscuring Captain Marvel from view.
The ape’s colossal tail smashed into the ground, severed by the lightning, and for the first time since the battle began, it faltered. It felt to its knees, suddenly growing smaller in fits and spurts as it roared in anger—the three Kryptonians stopped their combined assault a moment later when it vanished into the rising dust and out of sight.
“They’ve done it!” Cat Grant called, “Let’s go! I want to get a closer look!”
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Aiden coughed violently; his fist clenched in the dirt to try and manage the pain. His vision blurred, and he was barely able to get into a sitting position. Another burst of coughs wracked him, and his hand was covered in blood when he removed it from his mouth.
“What..” Aiden mumbled, “What is this?”
He heard something in the dust and struggled to his feet, the movement stretched the skin on his chest, and the agony almost toppled him—He pulled himself mostly upright and faced the direction of the noise.
“What was I doing…” Aiden coughed again, “I..”
“Stay back,” A voice said gently. “He’s disorientated.”
The dust was starting to clear now—he found himself face to face with Superman, bleeding scratched and scuffed, and his suit was completely in tatters. It all came rushing back to him. The Justice League had been taken over.
Superman, Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman had appeared, and they fought. Aiden stumbled forward and tried to strike him, but the man caught his arm carefully—his Ki was gone, almost completely empty.
“It’s alright,” Superman said quietly, “They managed to free us. You don’t need to keep fighting.”
“How many did I kill… “ Aiden managed, legs giving out beneath him. “Did I… Is Diana alive?”
Everything was getting blurry again, and he felt so tired.
“She is alive,” Superman said gently, letting his arm go.
Aiden slipped down to the ground, entirely spent.
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Metropolis, 12:15 PM.
November 15th, 2010.
The next time Aiden woke, he was in a hospital bed and completely covered in bandages. The room was white, and blue curtains had been drawn around his bed, hiding the rest of the place from sight.
It took a few moments before he sat up, and it was a painful effort to do so.
His chest burned angrily as he used his arms to push himself up the bed. His tail was gone—the feeling of a missing limb obvious to him now that he’d grown used to its normal presence. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it now that it was gone, he’d hated the thing for revealing him as abnormal to the world, but the feeling of loss might have actually been worse.
He clenched his hand around his face gripping tightly.
The image of the full moon was burned into his mind—he fucking looked at it. He hadn’t even thought about it for a second, too focused on the threat in front of him to worry about his environment. The thought of danger hadn’t even registered until after it was too late, and by then, he wasn’t even sure what he had become.
The worst part of it was that he’d been in the pilot’s seat.
Those were his actions and his choices—Nothing had made sense, everything had been reduced to base concepts, and unnatural landmarks, size differences, competition, and anger. He couldn’t recognize Diana or Conner, none of them registered as anything other than something to conquer.
But it had been him—Such a loss of self, tied in with such a massive increase in destruction capability was profoundly useless to him.
Aiden had forgotten entirely why he’d been fighting, attacking the first thing that appeared before him. He had intended to wipe out the city because it had been larger than him, a threat, and a challenge. There hadn’t been any strategy or higher thought going on; he hadn’t even realized how injured he had become or that he’d been losing the fight almost the entire time, outmaneuvered by their greater numbers and ability to fly.
The thought of returning to that unstable mental state was terrifying, but it was also unlikely—he needed the tail to transform, and it was gone. He wouldn’t be getting that back any time soon.
The breathing from outside the curtain changed, and he swallowed as he investigated their signature for the first time.
“I know you’re there,” Aiden said quietly.
The curtain was dragged open gently, and Diana stepped through in civilian clothing, left arm in a sling.
“I wanted the one-hand handicap during the fight,” Aiden sighed, nodding at her arm. “Not after it.”
Diana snorted at the terrible joke.
“How are you feeling, Aiden?” Diana said gently.
The fact that it was her asking him just made him feel guiltier.
“Like absolute shit, if I’m being honest,” Aiden admitted, before pausing. “And my body hurts too.”
Diana shook her head in amusement.
“This was the reason you wished to have your tail removed,” Diana said steadily, taking the visitor’s chair beside his bed.
“That’s the reason,” Aiden said simply, “I intended to spend that night locked away in a room, just like the other times—I forgot entirely after the whole brainwashed Justice League thing happened. How did they break Superman, Captain Marvel, and you free?”
He waited for her to expand on that situation.
“Your other team managed to find their targets, Dr. Spence and Ms. Roquette,” Diana said, smiling.
“The plan went as expected then,” Aiden felt a flicker of satisfaction that something had gone right.
“Zatanna got the attention of the brainwashed Dr. Fate,” Diana said easily, “They managed to get the patch on him during the battle, and he was able to break through the magic component of the Starro-Tech himself.”
“They managed to make the full version with his help?” Aiden prompted. “Are the rest of the League free?”
“Yes,” Diana said easily, “The cure worked, and everyone has been freed.”
“Who was responsible?” Aiden said intently.
“It was a man called Vandal Savage.” Diana shook her head, watching him.
Aiden frowned at the name, narrowing his eyes.
“Who the fuck is that?” Aiden demanded, “Wasn’t Luthor involved? There’s no way some no-name guy did all of this, right?”
“Vandal Savage is far from a no-name, Aiden. There were several people involved, none of which have been caught,” Diana admitted. “Savage and Klarion attacked the Watchtower. There was also an attack on Cadmus that we think may have been related, the building is destroyed completely.”
Aiden’s felt that same fury build up inside him at the name. There had been nothing but memorials on the news after the monster’s attack. The entire world was in mourning at the sheer loss of life. Anyone who allied themselves with the ‘Lord of Chaos’ was just as bad as him.
Vandal Savage just joined Klarion at the top of his shit list.
“Batman attempted to recover the video feed, but all we could find was footage of an earlier attack on Cadmus on the 8th of September,” Diana said, frowning, “The reason I mention it at all is that the perpetrator went straight to the room where Match had been kept and took a different cryo-machine.”
“Couldn’t identify them?” Aiden said, prompted.
“No, the cameras were blanking out as the figure passed by, we found Guardian in the building and since discovered that he had been mentally conditioned in the same manner as Red Arrow,” Diana revealed before falling silent. “The occupant inside of the tank that was taken was likewise unlisted and unidentifiable from the feed.”
It was a lot to consider—so people who were potentially working with Savage and Klarion were after Match and knew where he was previously located in Cadmus. There was a separate person who also knew Match’s previous location but instead took something else from the same room, and they had Guardian under mental conditioning as well—whoever the heck that was.
“Everyone survived?” Aiden asked thoughtfully. “They didn’t take anything from the Watchtower? Wait, did they get my ship!?”
Diana was quiet for long enough that he started to worry.
“No, it’s still safe, and there were no deaths,” Diana said eventually, before hesitating.
There was a definite ‘but’ there that she wasn’t saying.
“What did they take?” Aiden frowned.
“Who,” Diana corrected quietly. “They took Project Match when they fled the Watchtower.”
Fuck.