Independence Day 2

Blackhawk roared out with a battle hungry voice as he brought his mace down at another one of these grotesque creatures. He had been at this for roughly ten minutes, maybe even more. He was now battling one of the bigger gray skinned creatures as he flapped his wings to move back from a hammer fist. Then he rushed in and put all his weight into bashing the monstrosity square in the face. He let out a cry of effort as he smashed his mace into the creature's face. The blow sent the creature reeling before he ignited his mace. Cracking energy erupted around the mace's tip similar to his mother's. Then he came at it and finished it off with one more blow to it's temple, sending it sideways and into the wall out cold. When the Thanagarian turned, he backhanded one of the lean creatures who had lunged at him from behind.

With that final hit, it sent the creature away and beaten. Surrounding Blackhawk were more than thirty of these strange grotesque creatures. Each having bruises, cute, broken limps, and a at least five or more with blood escaping their mouths. The young Thanagarian was littered with cuts, bruises, and damaged pieces of his armor. With only his mace and shield showing no damage due to their properties. He panted deeply, catching his breathe as the hand that held his mace trembled. His parents taught him how to deal with pain, having beaten that into him already. His body was sore, aching from the amount of punishment that he had received. The alarm that had gone off long ago, letting him know that they were most likely going to send more. Taking a knee, Blackhawk allowed himself a few moments of rest. His wings twitched with each breathe that he took in to fill in his lungs.

He hadn't gone this long against more than twenty enemies before, after all he was use to the occasional thug or armed PMC who had the brains to show up in his city. Then again, he could use the practice, he wasn't particularly good at fighting anything other than human. Unless he was with his mother and father whenever they went on patrol outside the city. Sucking in a hefty breathe, he let it out before rising to his full height once more. With a turn, he began bolting down the hall trying to find a way to reach his friends. They were obviously still here somewhere, since of course he hadn't found them at any point in time. Of course he tried interrogating the creatures but all he got were roars and screeches...and more roars.

Bounding a corner, the young Thanagarian came across a doorway for stairs leading up and down. Quickly, he entered and found that the way down was far and wide. It gave him enough leg room to use his wings to slow his descent. Jumping over the railing, Blackhawk fell downwards, heading down to the bottom of the stairs. Blackhawk felt the air rush past him and flutter against his feathers as he drew nearer and nearer to the bottom. Until eventually, he flapped his wings to slow his descent. As soon as his feet hit the floor, he nearly stumbled over. His injuries making sure that he would be at a disadvantage if he came across a group of these creatures again. As soon as he went for the door, he opened it to find red Xenomorph like hallways. The young Thanagarian frowned, unsure as to what he was looking at. As well as quite sure that he was experiencing something from a movie.

Taking one step forward, he immediately saw the walls begin to glow. It showed more of those grotesque creatures, making him realize that this was most likely where they all came from. Gritting his teeth, Blackhawk flapped his wings and flew forward. He moved through the organic halls with haste, not even sure if his friends were even down here. That ended when he finally saw familiar faces rushing down the hall. Only to be stopped by the larger grotesque creatures as well as others. Not long after they were surrounded, the young Thanagarian let out a battle cry and came over to do battle. Coming in with a downward strike from his energized mace, he smacked the nearest large creature. The blow sent their head down and into the red organic floor. Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and a new face watched wide eyed at the Thanagarian's sudden arrival. "Finally, have you any idea what all I had to go through to find you lot?" Blackhawk commented.

Before anyone could say a word, the young Thanagarian turned and swung his energized mace upwards. It collided with an incoming fist from one of the creatures. "What are these things?" Blackhawk asked, then finished off with a spin and swiped his mace into the creature's chest. No sooner that he did that, his fellow proteges including the plus one followed his move.

"Geonomorphs!" Robin quickly answered before doing a front flip to evade and dodge different Geonomorphs. Aqualad and Kid Flash followed suit, while Blackhawk and the new guy took their time.

"Move new guy, I've got the rear!" The Thanagarian ordered.

"Don't give me-" Just as the white costumed boy was about to finish that sentence, an energized Nth Metal mace was aimed at his face.

"Move or you will be moved..."

At that threat and the glare being sent his way, the white costumed boy shut his mouth and returned the glare back to the Thanagarian. Even so, he did as he was told just as Blackhawk moved his mace to strike two Geonomorphs who had lunged at them. He then followed after the new guy, using his wings to fly above the other Geonomorphs who had circled around him. Now arriving with the others, Blackhawk pointed down a hall. "This way, I took the stairs." He stated, then lead the group down the red organic hall. Just as they had bounded a corner, several Genomorphs came charging at them. Instead of halting, Blackhawk charged forth while letting out a a shout. Forcing his body to keep moving, to continue onwards, to push through the pain.

The Thanagarian shield bashed one of the incoming Geonomorphs with his shield, busting the face almost inwards. Just when he was about to be hit at his hip, a water hammer came in from Aqualad to take out the Geonomorph that was about to get the drop on him. Robin soon came in hurtling Birdarangs that exploded upon impact. Then in came the white costumed boy who used his super strength to finish the rest of them off. Together, the young heroes entered the stairway and began rushing upwards. Blackhawk flapped his wings and soared upwards, he spun around a bit as he flew up. He heard the sound of the floor being crushed, then a gasp. Looking down, the young Thanagarian saw that their new ally was falling downwards. Quickly, Blackhawk dove down and caught the boy by his forearm and held him up.

"Superman can fly...why can't I fly?" The boy uttered which didn't go unheard by the others as they continued to run up the stairs. Blackhawk set the boy down on the stairs, then landed beside him while wincing.

"Well at least you can jump up a building in one go." Kid Flash commented before beginning to dash off.

"Superboy!" Aqualad called, gaining the boy's attention. Blackhawk looked to see the now named Superboy rush in and punch the stairwell behind them. His super strength made sure that it was disconnected from the upper stairs and fell down. With their pursers halted and slowed down, the group of young heroes continued their escape. "I must ask Blackhawk, where were you?" The Atlantean questioned.

"Yeah man, like we could have used you way earlier!" Kid Flash spouted.

"If you want to know, then take the next door right here." The Thanagarian answered, finding the door that he ran through in this stairwell still hanging open. The group quickly ran through the door, with Blackhawk taking up the rear once again. As soon as Kid Flash rushed off and bounded a corner, he skidded to a halt and looked with shocked and widened eyes. Next was Robin, Aqualad, then Superboy. The four boys looked at the handiwork of Blackhawk, seeing firsthand what he was doing before he had arrived.

"Dude!", Kid Flash called, "What the hell happened!?"

"How about we talk about this after we escape?", Blackhawk reminded, "That means MOVE!"

At that order the boys continued to run, finding the Geonomorphs that Blackhawk fought either out cold or unable to move. Depending on what injury they suffered, they may never move again. What surprised them was that he hadn't killed a single one of them, and yet he was still moving after besting all of them. Superboy was impressed, so much so that it made him wary of Blackhawk. He knew that he was a Thanagarian due to what the Geonomorphs were teaching him mentally. That said, he wasn't aware of what a Thanagarian was capable of. So for now, he would tread carefully around the young man. For Superboy didn't think that Blackhawk could back up the threat earlier, now he felt like he could actually make due on it.

"Left!" Superboy suddenly called, causing the group to look at the Thanagarian for a moment. He simply looked at Superboy suspiciously, but reluctantly agreed. He nodded and together the young heroes followed their new ally. The Thanagarian didn't exactly know how far down they currently were. Nor did he know how long that it would take to escape. All that he knew was that they were being timed, and depending on how long that this would take, they could end up being captured. Just as they bounded another corner per Superboy's instructions, they found a small army of Geonomorphs waiting for them.

Blackhawk prepared to fight despite being on his last legs, but that was when he felt a mental intrusion. Smaller Geonomorphs that he hadn't seen before had horns that gave off a bright red glow. He along with his friends and Superboy fell to the floor. Though for the Thanagarian, his shoulder hit the wall as his body slump against it. It felt as if he was being forced to sleep, and no matter how much that he tried to fight it off, nothing worked. For several moments, Blackhawk felt something that he hadn't felt in ten years. A feeling that he had thought that he had discarded when he was that young, Fear. He was afraid. Afraid that his friends were all going to die, afraid that he wouldn't be able to see his parents again, afraid of his own mortality.

Fortunately, death would be denied when the intrusion in his mind had left. Groaning, he had a small headache from the mental attack. Though rather quickly, he rose to his feet and prepared to battle. He was stopped by Superboy who stood in his way. "Stop, they're on our side." He stated, causing the Thanagarian to give him an odd look. Before Blackhawk could argue, he noticed a hero who was mostly outside of the Justice League standing amongst the Genomorphs. Said hero was called Guardian, and the man had a determined look on his face.

"Go, I'll take care of Desmond." Guardian ordered.

"No, I don't think that you will..." A rather calm and odd voice said. All eyes turned towards a brown haired man wearing a labcoat. He had on a pair of bifocals and looked skittish in the Thanagarian's eyes. Then again, all scientists to him looked skittish in his eyes. Desmond held up a vial of green liquid with a dark look on his face. "Project Blockbuster will give me the power to bring order in Cadmus." As soon as Desmond said that, he downed the entire contents of the vial.

The man's body began to contort and grow, his bones snapping and growing as well. His skin shedded as if he were a snake, to the point that he was looking lesser than human. Desmond's skin became dark violet, he grew to being easily above seven feet tall, and his body more muscular than most of the League's members. "Right then...anyone want to give me context?" Blackhawk asked, and found Robin to be the only one capable of answering.

"His name is Desmond Miles", the Boy Wonder replied, "He's head of Cadmus, works for a shady organization, made a clone of Superman, was about to clone us, and now is not feeling whelmed..."

The Thanagarian sent a looked at Robing at that last sentence, particularly on the word "whelmed". Unfortunately, Desmond had finished transforming and was now gritting his teeth and growling at them. Guardian was the first to attack, charging at the transformed Desmond and getting swatted to the side like a ragdoll. Next was Superboy, who sent a wild punch into the monstrosity's face. Desmond stumbled back, but quickly recovered and decided to respond. He sent his own punch at Superboy and sent the boy flying backwards with a chest sized fist. Not staying idle, Blackhawk was next as his mace crackled with energy. He charged forth at Desmond and used his wings to give him some momentum. As he neared the man, he swung his mace to counter a punch coming his way. Desmond snarled from feeling the sting of an Nth Metal mace, but before the Thanagarian could capitalize on this, the monstrosity sent a backfist into Blackhawk's hip.

Blackhawk felt weightless for roughly three seconds before his body skidded across the floor. He was on his last legs, all of his energy taken out of him from all the fighting, bloodlost, and adrenaline that had left him. He could tell from that hit alone, he most likely had a broken rib. With a groan, he rose to his feet to find Superboy being tackled through the upper floor. Running over came Aqualad who came to Blackhawk's side with a concerned look. "You have done enough my friend, let us handle this." The Atlantean said, but found a scoff leave from the Thanagarian's lips.

"Just because I may look unwell, does not mean that I'm incapable of fighting", Blackhawk replied, "Besides...can't let you lot have all the glory, especially where I get to bash someone's face in."

Aqualad stared at Blackhawk for a moment and simply smiled at him. Then he gave the young man a nod before turning to go aid Robin, Kid Flash, and Superboy. As soon as the Atlantean jumped through the hole in the ceiling, Blackhawk fell down onto one knee. He started to take in deep breathes as he used his mace to keep him from falling. His vision was blurry, his body feeling heavy, even his consciousness was beginning to leave him. For a moment Blackhawk stayed like that, trying to catch his breathe. Closing his eyes slowly, he felt his heart thumping in his ears. The body part thumping slowly, beating as it normally should. Then it started to beat fast as he breathed in through his nose, then out of his mouth. With a groan, he rose to his feet rather slowly then looked up to where he could hear his friends fighting. The floor above him shook as he stretched his wings. With a flap, he dashed forth then flew upwards and through of the hole.

The young Thanagarian found himself seeing Superboy being bear hugged, Kid Flash on the floor with a bloody nose, Aqualad holding his arm, and Robin cold. Narrowing his eyes, he soared at Desmond, and with a cocked back arm, he swung his mace down and into the monstrosity's head. The blow caused Desmond to stumble backwards dazed, dropping Superboy in the process. Blackhawk struck again, spinning in the air and smacking Desmond in the right cheek with his mace. The Nth Metal weapon clearly giving him an advantage, for when Blackhawk hit him this time, Desmond flew off his feet and to the floor. Even so the Thanagarian was not yet down, for he jumped up and came down intending to end the battle. Desmond however caught Blackhawk and let out a growl, then he hurled the young man across the lobby room that they were in. Blackhawk's back collided with a nearby pillar, just as Robin had finished placing a device on it.

Blackhawk looked up, finding a bruise on the boy's face. Then he noticed the device, recognizing it as an explosive. He then turned his gaze to find similar explosives on a few pillars. "BH, I need you to take out this one, and this one." Robin quickly ordered, then showed him a hologram of two red marked pillars. Looking over the layout, the Thanagarian soon realized the Boy Wonder's plan. Despite knowing how idiotic it was, he simply nodded then rose to his feet once more. With a flap of the wings, he flew off towards one of the pillars. With one swing, he destroyed the pillar, then soared off to the next one. In his peripheral vision, he could see Kid Flash being chased by Desmond. The speedster was making the transformed man destroy pillars in his mindless state. As soon as Blackhawk destroyed the second pillar, he turned to find his friends hitting Desmond one last time.

Superboy came rocketing in and delivered a haymaker into Desmond's face. There was water beneath his feet so when the clone hit him, Desmond fell onto his back and slid across the floor. Aqualad was next as he used his Atlantean magics to electrocute the transformed man. That was when Blackhawk used his wings to push him into the air, then came diving down. Right as Aqualad had stopped, Blackhawk came in with a shout and bashed his mace down square into Desmond's face. The force behind the Thanagarian's blow made the floor beneath Desmond's head crack. Unfortunately he was still conscious and was about to rise to his feet. At that moment was when Robin's explosives went off, allowing the top half of Cadmus to crumble. Blackhawk was just about to turn, but instinctually dodged an incoming fist from Desmond. Turning to face the transformed man, he gritted his teeth and felt angry.

The young Thanagarian wasn't particularly angry with Desmond, but he was about to let out his frustration against the man. Pushing through his pain, he could faintly hear Aqualad calling out to him by name. Raising his shield, Blackhawk blocked another punch that came his way just as rubble came came all around them. Then as if something had possessed him, the Thanagarian sprung forth, and deliver a devastating uppercut with his mace. He then continued with a backhanded shield bash that sent Desmond off his feet once more. When the transformed man went to stand once again, he found Blackhawk's mace coming in downwards and into his face. Then Blackhawk hit him again, and again, and again. To the point that energy sparks sputtered off from the Nth Metal. Desmond's hand grabbed Blackhawk's shoulder, but the young Thanagarian would not be denied. He raised his mace one last time then let out a terrifying cry of anguish before finishing Desmond off with a final blow. This time the force behind Blackhawk's blow was energy to make Desmond's head make a crater on the floor.

Blackhawk turned and raised his shield up, just as rubble fell down upon them. He gritted his teeth and let out a cry of effort as he fell to his knees. When the weight of the rubble above him became too much, Blackhawk fell to his back and cried out in pain as he felt a piece of rubble fall onto his left wing. Blood began to pour out as he found himself buried, with only his shield making sure that he doesn't get crushed. Blackhawk had dropped his mace when the rubble came down on him. He was worried about losing it, after all it was something that he so adored having. A groan left him as his arm was starting to give out. Then came the sounds of frantic moving, as if someone or something was digging. Low and behold, the rubble above him was quickly removed to reveal Superboy, Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad. The boys quickly moved the rubble that had hit his wing and helped him up. "Dude, I thought that you were a gonner!" Kid Flash commented.

Blackhawk sported a tired smile as Aqualad had him leaning on his shoulder as he held him up. "You'll need to do better than dropping a building on me if you're gonna kill me, Kid." The Thanagarian replied, and had Aqualad prop him up against a random shard of rubble that would allow him to lay his back against. Finally sitting down for the first time since this fiasco started, a sigh of relief left him. Leaning his head back, Blackhawk closed his eyes, oblivious at the approaching members of the Justice League. He was actually about to doze off, exhaustion was about to take him. Until he heard a voice that he didn't expect to hear.

"Son!?" His mother called.

Opening his eyes, Blackhawk's hazel irises locked onto his shocked and concerned mother who was dashing over towards him. As soon as she reached his side, he felt her hand land on his cheek and inspecting his injuries. "What happened to you?", she questioned worriedly, "Who did this to you? Tell me now so that I can have their head!"

Instead of responding, Blackhawk simply sent a look to the out cold and bruised faced Desmond Miles. His mother followed his look, found the out cold transformed scientist, and nodded her head slowly. She only said one small sentence with a hint of dissatisfaction, due in part that she wasn't the one to beat him.

"Lucky bastard..."

[Ten Minuted Later]

"If this is about how you were the four of you were treated at the Hall-" Flash began, trying to play negotiator.

"The five of us", Kid Flash interrupted, "We're sticking together on this one."

"Let us use the skills that you have taught us, to do the good work that you trained us for." Aqualad added.

"Kaldur'rahm, stand down." Aquaman ordered.

"Forgive me my king....but no." Kaldur denied.

"Batman you taught us to do this, why teach us at all if you're just going to have us walking around like tin soldiers?" Robing questioned.

"Why do we need to wait for their permission?", Superboy asked, "It's simple, get with the program, or get out of the way.."

The young heroes were at an impasse with their mentors. Batman narrowed his eyes at the group, giving them his iconic glare. Though a hiss of pain was heard that made all eyes land on Blackhawk. The young man was being tended to by his mother who acted like a mother hen now. When he saw that everyone was looking at him, the Thanagarian simply raised a brow at them. Then looked to his mother who returned his look. It seemed as if the both of them had had a conversation with just their eyes being locked onto one another. Hawkwoman stared at her son for what seemed like an eternity, gazing upon him before letting out a deep breathe of reluctance. "Very well...I cannot stop you." She relented.

This caused all but Superboy and Batman to stare at Hawkwoman surprised. The first to speak was Flash, not quite sure that the Thanagarian woman had spoken right. "You'd willingly let your son do as he pleases!?" He exclaimed, causing Hawkwoman to send a glare to the seasoned speedster's way.

"My son can take care of himself, despite having been raised on Earth he is a far more capable warrior than I was at his age", Hawkwoman replied, "My son is fully cable of standing on his own two feet. My husband and I made sure of that, so if he chooses to stand alone...then I will do as a mother should do. Support him."

Blackhawk couldn't help but feel that he had just seen Batman smile for just a second. The thought of the Dark Knight himself doing it made him shiver with fright. Though, he never would have known that the Caped Crusader had planned this all for years to come...

[One Week Later]

<Blackhawk, B-02>, Came the computer's voice as the Thanagarian arrived at the location that he would be sent to. As soon as he stepped away from the Zeta Tube, he found himself looking upwards at the environment that he was in. It was a carved out caving system, most likely underneath the base of a mountain. Then he deduced that he was at Mount Justice, the original base of operations for the Justice League. While looking around with a blank look, Hector had a black tank top that had the Hawkman's symbol on his chest. He had on a pair of lean dark blue jeans, and steel tipped boots. On his right hand was his G-Shock watch, and around his neck was a Thanagarian necklace that a beautiful dove as the center piece.

"Hey Hawky!" Called the voice of Wally West, Kid Flash. Turning to see the speedster rush over with a beaming smile as well as the others walking over. Alongside them was a new face that he hadn't seen before, one that reminded him of a certain green man. "So glad that you could make it, you need to really start showing up early if you're always going to be late." Wally taunted, then got jabbed by Robin's elbow.

"Besides Wally's verbal jabs, how are you doing?", Robing asked, "You got banged up worse than the rest of us at Cadmus."

"Don't worry friends, it'll take dropping a building on me to put me out of commission." Hector assured, and found his three fellow proteges giving him a smile. The Thanagarian then locked eyes with Superboy and raised a brow at him. For a moment, the two stared at each other in a tense silence. Then a smirk came to Superboy's as he finally spoke to break the tension.

"You could do away with the shirt, those sticks you call muscles don't look like much." The clone mocked.

"You can do without the hairline, everything else about you looks to be your only redeeming quality." Hector retorted.

The group looked between the two alpha males, staring wide eyed and nervous before the two smirked at one another. That was when Hector finally laid eyes on the new face, the female green skinned girl who had been silent up until now.

"Um, Hi I'm Megan." The girl greeted and gave Hector a soft wave.

Hector gave her a charming smile before turning to her. "A pleasure Megan, my name is Hector and I hope that besides looking cute you can do more than attract men like me." Hector replied, and found the girl's cheeks redden.

"Well i um, I'm Martian so uh..."

"Dude, I said that I called dibs!" Wally complained.

"And now you see the perks of arriving at the right time, you call it being late, I call it arriving just in time." Hector stated, before giving Wally a playful smirk.