Chapter 17 New Threat? New Ally?

In the upper atmosphere of Earth, a large space station, bigger than anything else within Earth's orbit, floated soundlessly in the vacuum of space. Unknown to the majority of people on Earth, the "Heroes" of today all sat on a Round Table, their gazes serious and their eyes stern.

Even the Team, consisting now over over a dozen members stood in the corners of the room waiting to be called upon. All of them excited to be called to this sacred space, but nervous about the topic of discussion that was being called upon.

All the major superheroes of the world sat at this Table. And none of them, even the easy going Flash had comedic expressions on their faces.

Batman's eyes darted around the room before nodding slightly.

"Thank you everyone for being here today. But lets get straight to the point".

The Dark Knight pressed a button on the table in front of him and a holographic projection of a small figure floating over the North Atlantic Ocean appeared in front of everyone, covered in a strange looking spiky armor and his right hand extended in a strange manner.

They watched as this figure gather in cosmic energies and congregate around his hand. The way the energy jutted out like spikes before crystallizing into a ten story tall sword and swinging upwards towards the stormy sky.

The contradictory beam of black light cut through the dark thunderstorm and revealed a perfect azure sky. Just watching the process gave all the humans in the room a sense of relief, but sent shivers up the spines of Superman and Martian Manhunter.

Batman rested his chin on his conjoined hands and spoke.

"The amount of energy behind that swing was equivalent to the amount of energy being produced in our sun. Theoretically speaking, this figure could destroy our entire planet if he so desired..... and we have absolutely no idea who this person is".

Hal Jordan, the first human Green Lantern leaned back into his chair, his mask vanishing as a deep sigh left his lips.

"Do we even know if this thing is human? Could it be an alien?".

The Flash nodded at the Green Lantern beside him and asked,

"He might even be from an alternate Earth. I haven't felt any breaches being opened from other dimensions, but I can ask around".

Batman nodded.

"The Watchtower did detect something leave Gotham City at an extremely fast speed, breaking Mach 5 in just few minutes. This "something" was also the thing that emitted that beam of black light".

He gestured to Superman and Martian Manhunter, the former nodded while the latter spoke for the two of them.

"The beam consists of cosmic energies. The energy has yet to be identified, yet I do believe some people may call it exotic material, or perhaps dark matter. Nevertheless, even with the Kryptonian and Martian archives we cannot identity this energy. However we do know one thing about it....".

Superman raised his hand, and every other member of the Justice League's eyes widened, and the younger generation; The Team, gasped at the Man of Steel's hand.

It was burnt, or blackened rather. The Kryptonian physique that many thought whose only weakness was Kryptonite, had been injured by this strange cosmic energy.

When Martian Manhunter raised his own hand, they also saw that it had been affected by this "blackening". It was as if the energy was poisonous or something.

"This energy only seems to affect those who are not human. Superman and myself are not human despite our humanoid appearance, and have been affected by this energy. It does not seem like it is harmful, but the two of us have have a strange urge to leave Earth after being affected".

Hawkman, also known Katar Hol, looked at the pairs hands and wondered.

"So humans are not affected by this energy..... what about plants and animals? Are they affected in the same way?".

Martian Manhunter nodded.

"This video was recorded by a whale that was patrolling the borders of Atlantis. Unfortunately, its entire body was effected by this energy".

They all sent a glance at Aquaman whose facial expression was pained for a moment before glancing over to Mareena who was leaning on Supergirl's shoulder. Her face was also marked by a bereaved expression.

Batman looked at the other members of the Justice League, specifically those non-human members.

"This persons code name will be "Black Knight". If a member of the Justice League encounters him, immediately call for backup. Try to wait for the others to get there and then engage. Try to reason with him first. The battle with Black Knight will be difficult without the entirety of the League to face him. If he can be reasoned with, try and get him to follow you to the Watchtower. If he can't.... you know what to do".

All the Heroes at this Round Table nodded, before Batman looked at the Team in the corner of the room.

All of them, even Superboy, straightened his back and looked at the masked billionaire playboy and gestured for them to step forward.

"All the members of the League have been informed about your encounter with Rider and three new members of the Team were added just a few weeks ago. You've all been given time to work together on some small time crooks and the integration of Supergirl, Wondergirl and Aquagirl have gone nicely".

The three teens blushed at the compliment from the Dark Knight, being proud and slightly embarrassed of themselves for being complimented in front of the entire Justice League.

"Aqualad, you've shown great leadership in your commanding of the Team as well as your martial prowess and we commend you".

The dark-skinned Atalantean nodded slightly before glancing at his King, who had an approving look on his face.

"Miss Martian, the telepathic bond you've created in the team has formed something just beyond communication. Your power to bring people together is astounding. Well done".

Batman's gaze moved from the happy martian to the yellow garbed speedster beside her.

"Kid Flash, from what I've seen you've greatly matured in the time that you've spent with the other members of the Team. I'm sure you've made Barry proud in this period of growth and I hope that this trend continues".

The ginger speedster scratched the back of his head and smiled at the raised thumb from his mentor beside Green Lantern.

"Artemis. Despite your.... late entry into the Team, you've shown excellent skill with the bow to which even the Green Arrow has complimented. Not letting your past hold you back is an excellent ability to have. Don't forget it".

The girl made no outward change in demeanor but averted her gaze from everybody else in the room.

"Zatanna. Although I don't know enough on the specifics of your abilities, I know that you've been invaluable towards taking down criminals and assisting with information extraction. I'm not sure about how permanent your status is on the Team, but I'm sure that you can discuss that with your father the near future".

Batman and several of the other members of the Team glanced at the current Doctor Fate, the latter group with hope present in their eyes.

"Batgirl. I originally didn't think you would want to leave Gotham City so I didn't initially think that you wanted to join the Team. However your presence and drive can motivate the rest of them into being better versions of themselves".

The sixteen year old blushed at the compliment from her mentor, and a smile was unconsciously brought to her lips.

"Superboy. Despite the.... differences in opinion about how to deal with you, you've exceeded our expectations and have shown us that one's origins don't matter when it comes to being a hero. It is only a matter of doing the right thing".

Superboy's ears while listening to the words of Batman, had his eyes set on the blackened hand of Superman. An unknown thought travelling through the clones mind.

"And Robin....", the Dark Knight almost wanted to hit the boy wonder after seeing the shit-eating grin on his face.

Bruce internally smiled.

"Keep up the good work. Your all dismissed".

The eye-twitched earned by his own protégé was entertaining to say the least. The other members of the Team tried to console the boy wonder after his "lack" of depth in his compliment, which only caused the Dark Knight to lean back in his chair, a pleased expression could be seen behind his mask.

Everyone else looked at their fellow League member, their eyes widened in shock and surprise.

The Flash couldn't help but ask,

"Aren't you just the biggest softy inside, aren't ya Bruce? Are you gonna give us compliments too?".

Batman paused for a moment before sending a glare that could kill over to the scarlet speedster.

"Don't even think about it".