Year Eight Rework II

The new headquarters of the JL was made in the still in reconstruction S.T.A.R. labs of metropolis. We technically aren't officially known as the Justice League yet, proof being there's a dude fixing a 'Super Eight' on the main entrance. Originally, they would have been the Super Seven before being the Justice League.

The only people that answered Cyborg's call were me and Shazam, I feel sorry for him. When Flash arrived, he quickly went back to get Hal while Shazam and Cyborg went to get Wonder Woman and Superman. I didn't go, I was too tired to sleep yesterday so I took the opportunity to finally rest. I can't just kill myself and come back to avoid basic human needs anymore.

Not if there's a chance that another void creature will use me as a bridge to this world.

"Neo… Wake up!" Green Lantern yelled.

"Whaah?!" I screamed out of my sleep. "You bastard, can't you be more gentle?!"

"We started three minutes ago." Batman said.

Shazam laughed. "Yeah, we can't tell what you're thinking with that thing on your head. So we thought you were just being rude and silent today."

I gasp with a lot of exaggeration.

"I would never."

"Back on topic, please." Said Cyborg. "As I was saying, while exploring a submarine wreck we lost recently, I was attacked–"

"Alright. You can give us the details in the actual submarine." I said. I'm not dealing with this long ass cutscene. "You do have three dimensional projection, we talked about this last week. Show us what happened."

"... That's true. Let's go, the submarine has been brought in here. Follow me."

The thing was a real mess. These Atlantians really made that attack a personal one. It's only when we entered that I remembered the original plot of the movie. Normally we would have had Superman and Green Lantern analyze the outside of the wreck. I'm glad we avoided that part of the story.

Cyborg walked towards a terminal and then began the holographic reconstitution. When using a holo phone, a similar effect could be reproduced but, his had a lot more details. I guess Apocolyptan tech really is in the top ten of the verse. Though I don't know if it's because they have access to the Source.

Which would technically also be the presence. So yes, new gods use actual God's power to fuel their crazy mother and father boxes.

I think the Mobius chair in the comics does that too but it doesn't seem to work in the same way in the DCAMU. Though since now so many universes are fused together, who can tell?

It's not like I intend to let Superman lead us into a meaningless war against Darkseid to find out. We probably don't have to worry about anything for now though.

Except for the moon wanting to crash on earth like it's fricking Major's Mask. And Trigon… Shit. Forgot about that guy. And maybe Brainiac too… the Antimonitor… The Empty Hand? No, that's way too far ahead.

Alright, I admit that there is a lot more to worry about then I thought…

First, a shadow in the dark attacked Cyborg and knocked him down.

"Pause," Batman said. "Observations?"

But suddenly, some kind of alarm sounded, Cyborg's projection went off.

"We've got a problem guys! Neo… A building in Bludhaven was just blown up."

A holographic screen appeared before us. There was a crater seen from the air… and some humanoid floating right above it.

"By the gods!" Said Wonder Woman.

It was too dark to see any details. Except for the big white F glowing on his chest.

"Who the hell is that?" Asked Superman.

"More importantly, what should we do?" Flash wondered.

And then, the images changed, showing an army of robots attacking the streets, fighting against my own Vangelions, outnumbering them.

"Flash, Superman, get there and fast!" Batman said. "Whoever this man is, there's a whole army of machines with him, we have to act fast!"

And the two of them went off as fast as possible.

"We aren't staying idle. This man seems to be the leader. If he provoked me, he expected the whole of you to get involved too, so he's either crazy confident or just crazy…"

"... Both are equally worrying." Wonder Woman added.

Walking out of the sub and flying towards the exit, I tried my best to think, see who could possibly have the resources to attack me of all people.

Who the hell hates me enough to attack Bludhaven?! Or maybe I'm not even the cause of this attack… They meant nothing to me, neither the design of the armor or the robots… They were flying through boosters on their feets and backs but the armored man was clearly using gravity tech, something only I should have access to by this point.

It's impossible for anyone to steal from me a Vangelion without any among the triad to know!

Or maybe I just hadn't considered that… A lot more is different from the dc I know… Perhaps it's a character I've never even heard about!

"Guys!" Flash's voice came through our communications. "Those bastards are doing some serious damage! I can't save everyone, hurry!"

"Cyborg, I think you should work with Imaginator on this one, there's no guarantee defeating who we assume to be the leader will make them retreat. We don't even know if they are people or not!"

"Don't worry about that, I checked we're safe to yse as much forxe as possible, these are soulless machines." Reassured Superman.

These two were so much faster it was unfair. By the time the rest of us arrived, Batman didn't even wait, he started firing the batwing. "But Batman doesn't kill!" I hear you say. True. But, he wouldn't have shot if he thought it would work. The missiles were stopped in mid air by some kind of shield. Obviously gravitons. Then, they were sent flying right back at us. Luckily, Green Lantern was prepared and shielded us from the blast.

"Everyone, stand back!" Batman said. "If his armor is anything like Neo's, we'll need range. Wonder Woman, you have to go help the civilians, Shazam, Lantern, you can stay with us."

Anyone without means to manipulate gravity was screwed against graviton tech. Even with flight, this guy could simply absorb all the gravitons the others produce and leave them immobilized. Even then, the only thing that can escape gravity is energy and light. Even if Shazam and green lantern are stuck, they can still attack from great distances! With my armor, I should be able to counter this… knock off. And Batman? He still has the armor I gave him. He doesn't like to use it because it's dependent on the triad but, in dire situations, he can't allow his pride to get in the way of saving lives.

I stopped myself right in front of the stranger. His armor was all grey, the bright white F still didn't bring any sort of memory. No particular design on the face plates stood out. I've never seen this guy before.

"Stand down, whoever you are, call back your forces. We don't have to fight. Whatever are your demands, I'm sure no blood needs to be spilled."

I heard him chuckle. Like me, he was using a voice changer.

"Aren't you surprised? Someone shows up and attacks your home with technology only you should have access to… Not even a little worried?"

The others stood back a few meters, the max range of my graviton drain was ten meters… they were at twenty just to be sure. I have no doubt this guy is smarter than Genna, he'd probably have figured out how to do things better. That's how evil geniuses work.

And if he hasn't, then it's only to our advantage.

"I am unimpressed."

I stated calmly. And then he laughed.

"Oh, you are a worthy rival indeed! But this which you see before you is the culmination of my scientific genius! I doubt you could stand a chance! The Force Focus is to this day my greatest creation."

Wow, and I thought I was lame with names. Force Focus?

"As for my robotic minions, they outnumber yours nearly two to one. They call you the greatest scientific mind of the decade…"

The media doesn't hear when I tell them Marcus and Genna worked on this more than I. They genuinely think I'm being humble. And for some reason, when interviewed, the two have a tendency to oversell my intelligence. Have I managed to trick them too somehow?

No fucking way I'm a genius... unless bullshiting is a science.

"But It is not you that the people of tomorrow will remember!"

And finally, he struck. As I dodged his right fist, I heard thunder crackle and saw a green hammer throw Force through a nearby building.

"I said keep the damage LOW!"

I flew towards him and with my armored fist's weight multiplied thousands over, I struck Force, only for him to weave out of the way.

"Not so fast, Mr. F!" Yelled Shazam with a huge ball of lightning held up in his hands, but suddenly he began plummeting to the ground.

But Batman was quickly able to catch billy, Green Lantern at least had the decency to stay further away.

"This battle isn't theirs, Neo Mundus! This is a clash of geniuses, technology against technology!"

"I really am amazed at how you can't understand how little I care."

I can't use the environment at my leisure, but he sure could. The building around us suddenly trembled, in a moment, the five floors above us went up and came crashing down… On another building!

What the hell?!

"That was about five hundred thousand pounds! I wonder, can you even come close to that?"

This guy is just flexing, as if I couldn't do the same. But I'm not about to use the livelihood of dozens to fight. I don't need to.

"You inconsiderate bastard!"

Batman came from behind and with a swift kick, sent flying Force Focus into the sky. Shazam was already back in the air, throwing bolts after bolts.

This guy's armor is much more resilient than mine, it's crazy! Was that me, I'd be screwed!

"Stand back everyone!"

Green Lantern's creativity always disappointed me. With a huge giant green boot, He stomped Force Focus into the ground. How his that creative? I'd make a better lantern. Probably an orange one though.

The great thing about light constructs was that gravitons weren't an issue. Otherwise, that boot would have shattered on an Anti-Graviton shield.

Yet the bastard still wasn't defeated. I don't know how, but under him, the very earth began to melt. Concrete was turning into lava, more and more property damage was being done... This isn't gravity tech. He somehow manipulated the lava to throw it at Hal!

Naturally, his shield could easily resist. But what the hell?! How the fuck is that even possible? Is he a meta human?

"Wow, Neo can't do that..." Hal said. "Who is this guy?!"

"Who cares, let's beat his ass!" Shazam declared.

"This is what makes me superior, this is what makes me the greatest scientific mind EVER!" Force Focus laughed maniacally. "And that's far from everything!"

He flew towards Hal and froze him solid in an instant. Ice powers?!

To Shazam, he threw a lightning bolt, strong enough for him to feel it even… How?! That doesn't even make sense!

"Do you see the meaning of my name now? This armor can draw upon gravity, earth, Ice and thunder."

Man, how does that even physically make sense? Technology shouldn't be able to do that! It's like Amazo and his stuoid copying powers. It's so stupid! Only in comics you'd see that shit…

"Superman, how's the dealing with the drones going?" I heard Batman's voice resonate in my communications.

"We've got a huge problem… They use civilians as hostages… and they can blow themselves up"

I don't know who I'm dealing with, but I know that he isn't playing around… this guy is serious.

"Here is how it's going to go." Force Focus declared, floating towards me. "Two versus one. Your two armors against mine. Let the greatest scientific mind prevail!"

"And how do we know you'll just leave if they win?" Shazam asked.

"This is none of your concern, Mr. Shazam. That also goes for Green Lantern and every other member of your 'Super Eight'. Remain out of it."

This is a death sentence. And an execution. If we go, I know for a fact we can't survive. But he's got the whole city at his mercy. Neither Flash nor superman could save them. There's only cyborg left to find something, anything to defeat him.

"Cyborg, do you have a plan yet?"

"Working on it, I've got to identify and detect every single one of his drones… With boom tubes, I could send them far into space where they won't be any trouble."

"How much time do you need?" Batman asked.

"...Ten minutes?"

"You don't. We'll be dead by then. You've got five at best."

I flew down in front of Force Focus with Batman right behind. Sure, this won't be my last day on earth… But what about him? Who's gonna teach Damian to not be an edgelord? Dick? The Titans?

I sighed, mentally preparing. We might lose. But ife he's stupid enough to be arrogant, our chances of winning could be multipled.

"There. We're ready."

That seemed to satisfy him. In the silence of the night, the tension was high, screams and cries from far away echoed in the night. For a moment, closing my eyes, I felt myself back in the Deep Black, hoping that if I die and return, it won't be with unforseeen company.

"Good." Force declared. "Today is the day the future is made."

"Before this," Batman said, "Who are you?"

Force chuckled, purposefully rising a little above ys, so we wouldn't be looking down at him any more. Fire and uce began to dance in his palm. Four syllabs resonated and my hearth suddenly stopped.

"T. O. Morrow."

What. The. Fuck.

I stood no chance from the beginning. This guy made AMAZOA! Even if in DC he's not necessarily recognized as the smartest or even close to it… The writers are stupid considering he made AMAZO of all things, the only reason he isn't at the tip is because of had writing!

And I was wondering how he could just find ways to control lava and lightning. I'm surprised he didn't add wind too, considering he also made Red Tornado.

Now that I think about it, that armor does remind me of Red Tornado a little with its design. Only, it's gray and very modern looking.

When this is over, if we win, I'll have to steal that armor. All it's tech will be fascinating to study.

"Now, finally. It's you and me. Come at me with everything you've got!"

He launched himself at Batman. His armor was after all an older model with lesser capabilities. Even still, there's one thing he didn't take into consideration. Arkham Batman is merciless.

It was like in the game, Batman countered, grabbed Morrow's arm and kicked him in the chest, before dashing forward and absolutely decimating his opponent with hit after hit after hit, every single one of them gained more and more weight until finally, A burst of thunder sent him flying backwards.

I haven't talked about it but frankly, I'm more of a ranged fighter. So naturally, I've been working on a few weapons to reflect that about me.

I made a satellite recently, could you guess why?

"Actuator, activate the Heavenly Retribution."

And in a fraction of a second, a rod charged with fluctuating graviton charges came crashing down upon the armor, exploding in a glorious blaze of ice, freezing everything in five meters of the impact zone to sub zero temperatures, so fast one doesn't even have the time to die.

My ultimate weapon. Perfect for quickly eliminating heavy hitters.

Of course, that would have been too easy! Magma covered him as well. To be able to resist sub zero attacks required a theoretical technology I didn't know much about, proof of T. O. Morrows superiority over me.

Batman wasn't done yet, he had something else up his sleeve. Fear gas, to be specific, its latest iteration, can traverse through way too many stuff. Including most alloys.

I did research on the subject, any containers require a special atomic coating to keep the gas from leaking, which explains how it can even be contained. It's still sci-fi bullshit though.

Stupid sci-fi logic dictates that even Morrow's armor can't resist it. The fool's got fucking holes in the armor. Whit luck, some of them lead to a surface that the gas can pass through.

The dark knight threw the grenade and it fell on the floor harmlessly.

"What is this? You realize no amount of kinetic energy can pierce through a gravitational shielding, right?"

Ah, the arrogant always fails to notice danger before it's too late.

"Who says this is meant to blow you up?"

Batman charged the gas that suddenly leaked out with Anti Gravitons. Realizing what was happening, Morrow quickly tried to push them back but… We were two against one forcing the gas towards him.

"No…! Stop! Get away from me! Noooo!" He scramed, coughing and seemingly crying... Until he started laughing. "Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Of course. He came prepared. 

"Fools! Fighting against Batman without protection against fear gas isnot a mistake I would ever make."

"Was worth the shot!"

I dashed forward to attack Morrow, Batman was already behind him and sent the man flying towards me, I kicked him upwards and blasted him with gravitational pull, forcing him back down to the ground.

Morrow managed to stop himself right before impact and the air crackled with electricity, from the F on his chest, a huge blast sent us both back… An emp. He immobilized us.

"And so… This is how it ends. T. O. Morrow stands supreme above his rivals. As always. The future belongs to me."

You absolute dumbass. You just doomed yourself. You think it's gonna be that easy? Ha! I've got emps too. Set to activate if they stop receiving a constant supply of electricity.

And as they went off, his armor stood there, paralyzed.

Shazam isn't stupid. In the DCAMU, he was. Thank god, this version isn't exactly that.

Shazam took the opportunity to fly down and grab Morrow, pulling off the plates of his armor slowly. Whatever alloy that was, I need to steal that too...

"It's over for you, Force."

"Is it? I still have my drones ready to blow up this city!" He laughed.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

God bless! Cyborg flew down and landed beside my paralyzed armor.

"I'd tell you to look up but, you can't really do that right now."

Neither could I but I could already guess.

"All I needed was a bit of time. I managed to teleport instantaneously every single one of your killer bots on the darkseid of the moon. Before blowing them up."

"Ah! Good call, Cyborg… Did it… do anything?"

Green Lantern flew down beside us.

"You're talking about that thing? One of the Guardians came in person too take a look, forgot to tell you guys, The should be able to come up with a solution if we can't."

"Hum… What are we talking about?" Shazam asked. "I'm always the one left in the dark."

"Don't worry about it, Cyborg said that… Wait, we haven't tried magic on it yet."

Thats... true.

"Thoughts for later." I decided. "Get us back on our feet, I'll be sending this monster to prison myself."

The motherfuker had the audacity to destroy what I've been working to improve! We don't even know yet how many died because of his desire to become the greatest. I'll ensure he never ever gets out of prison.

Perhaps I should start working on improving the prisons of Bludhaven. Gotham's too, to be honest. It would be to my advantage if villains actually stayed locked up.

"And what about the submarine?" 

"Don't worry about it. The triad has been working on it. They've got a few leads, I'll send them to Batman."

"I'll get working on it right now." Batman said. Exactly what I wanted to hear. We've wasted a whole hour on this, we have to find Arthur and stop his stupid brother.

Cyborg 'reanimated' my armor. I grabbed T. O. Morrow by the arm, out of his armor and flew into the air. The city was still mostly intact, but there was a lot of smoke and multiple fires. I saw a red blur run through a few buildings. Superman was going around and using his freeze breath to cool the flames up above asw well

Morrow deserves to suffer for what he's done… But there are certain laws I won't go against. Plus, I am confident I can keep him in prison. A custom one if need be. I can't kill him.

"You… cheated." Morrow said. "Had that Cyborg not been involved, I would have won!"

"Friends are like swords, Morrow. You can't fault a swordsman for not being as competent without his sword." Friendship is a powerful thing. It can be a strength and a weakness.

"I am still the best. You don't even realize how much superior my technology is… but soon, the world will know…"

I heard a beeping.

"I am the greatest scientific mind ever and my genius is unmatched, soon, my name won't be unsung but praised and glorified! The future belongs to T. O. MORROW!"

A massive explosion ensued, there was nothing I could do about it. It burned. I thought it'd be over in an instant and yet, I lived.

I wish I had died. Now it's too late, I can't just take the risk and kill myself. Not if there's even a chance for another Lovecraftian abomination to follow me back here.

When I first woke up, I felt atrocious pain. I was being carried through a white corridor on a mobile bed, the lights of the ceiling blinding me periodically. That's when I noticed only one of my eyes was working. The other was... Gone.

I couldn't move a single muscle but the pain I felt… Like something was pressing upon a recent burn, all over my body, I realized that it was tye steel of my armor that had melted unto me...

My survival would be a miracle if not for S. T. A. R. Labs' incredible resources. An explosion shouldn't have affected me… but clearly, this… fake body that Morrow made was loaded with a lot. Whatever compound he use was designed to generate so much heat that even my armor wouldn't resist. The concysive force in it's self had been enough to sharter many of my bones and knock me out cold.

Worse, the effect it had on my technology. Dye to my armor blowing up in most part, a lot of the technology involving gravitons melded into me, bombarding me with a cocktail so powerful that I'm no longer even affected by gravity.

They use straps to keep me from floating away.

Cyborg was the one to operate on me. Using a similar procedure to what made him… him. So now my left lung, my heart, my stomach and intestines, my eye… are all synthetic.

But that's not why I hate T. O. What ye did to me is inly so terrible... Because I lost something that no man should ever lose, I lost the single tool I wanted to make use of most… 

All of it had to be taken away. I don't want to talk about how I have to use the toilet.

Everyone in the Verus Ordo came to visit at some point. Even Luthor. The news of my state spread fast. Most people showed sympathy for my 'sacrifice' or whatever they called it. Others weren't shying away from their hate for me and how glad they were that I was suffering.

It's a shame, Lazarus can't fix me in this state. With all the stuff inside of me now, I think it would at best act like pain killers. It can't regenerate anything if there are metal chunks in the way.

Naturally, many questions arose among the other leaguers who had access to much more information about the full state of my condition. The Most prominent being, with 80% of my brain destroyed, how am I still even alive?

You heard that right. I don't know if it's always been a thing or if its an upgrade of my odd immortality but, even with more than half of my brain gone, my mental capacity hasn't been affected at all.

I can't move my body or do a lot of things but eventually, cyborg will fix that too. The weirdest thing is, my lack of movement isn't due to the severe damage to my spinal cord. I still feel my whole body, I still feel the pain. To this moment, I still don't have an explanation.

But I'm not the only one acting differently from what expected. I've been in a coma for two weeks and been awake for one, yet the Atlantians have yet to attack. Arthur was found by Batman a long while ago now and still, basically no one knows where Altantis is located or why they attacked a random submarine. I've only got one explanation.

The storyline changed because so many elements of the world are different. Probably that Orm isn't as utterly moronic as in the DCAMU. Or maybe the queen beat the shit out of him instead of the other way around.

Mera has yet to come into contact with Arthur either...

In the meantime, things on the side of Bludhaven have been getting better. Though one hundred and fifty people died in the attack of T. O. Morrow. And a hundred more were wounded, the Vangelions have been helping in reconstruction under the primary control of the triad, though publicly, people assumed it to be the mayor.

Even after the attack, with all the people that were saved by them, some people thought it would be a great idea to protest in the streets against their use in cleaning up the city. "They take away our jobs!" They say. I say: "And save more lives than we could as well." A minority, yes, but a very loud one. I just hope they don't do anything too drastic.

On other political topics, people really are confused about how Themyscira works. Having to come to terms with a race of women created by the Greek goddess has had some… serious effects on the societies of the world.

Religion has never been more complicated ever since, they are all in shambles and the bullshit some of them are coming up with to reconcile this truth with their own... Its hilarious.

Buildings in Vatican have been set on fire and churches across America and Europe have been vandalized. I bet the Specter must be watching. Though I'm not sure how... Talking about the Specter makes me think of Eclipso and the Phantom Stranger. I'm surprised the latter hasn't taken any interest in a being like me. In the end, maybe I'm not so special. I've only met with two of the Endless after all. To be honest, I don't want to meet with the others. Desire and Despair definitely frighten me.

Raphael Vinicci is a fool. One morning, he came to me and asked if I would consider magic to do what science could not. He said he was willing to pay whatever price was needed for my recovery, even his own soul!

Hell no.

There ain't no way I'm letting you sell your soul for someone that's likely to fix itself in time.

But he's really been delving deep into the occult. He showed me his progress… it was scary. Magic really is one of the forces I fear most.  He could summon a fireball and also use hair to track someone on a map. At first, I felt magic was way too easy to learn… turns out he only learned what he did from a book that cost his mom five hundred thousand. For his birthday. What the hell is his sister getting for hers?

Being rich really is… something. 

As for Aria Germane, she is one of those people you love to have as a friend. She and Raphael are the ones that visit me the most. Many heroes after a while get some kind of female 'copycat'. Batman, Batgirl. Superman, Supergirl. Spider man, Spider woman, etc.

While I've been gone, with my blessing of course, she's been using a modified Vangelion MK1 to go around and do what I currently cannot. What does she call herself? Silver Angel. They even added wings and everything… To be honest, it really does look cool.

Raphael wants one as well, it's work in progress for his though. He wants to go with Crimson Devil as a name. I guess it's not too bad either.

As for Batman's suit, he couldn't really modify it, lacking understanding of its inner workings. He needed the plans. When he finally decided to ask, I just gave them away. A few days later, the Space Batsuit was born. Now that is something that looks badass! He'll probably only use it on big league missions. Using that against street thugs would be overkill. To control it, we created a fourth lesser brain box. A very basic AI with crazy memory storage. It's also in use in the Batmobile and the Batwing and every member of the Bat family has access to it.

On the topic of the space abomination taking over and moving the moon, Green Lantern decided to ask for help from the guardians.

After a while, Green Lantern came back to me with their verdict. They were very worried. As I expected, they had never seen something like what we've dubbed the Cosmic Cancer. They are planning on trying a variety of different weapons. Worst case scenario, we'll have to send the moon to somewhere like the phantom zone or fully destroy it. 

We've started working with S.T.A.R. Labs a while ago for the planetary shields, let's hope we can all work together to figure something out. As Wonder woman said, magic is an option we have to consider aswell. Maybe that can hurt it. All of this really reminds me of Majora's mask.

Other observations we've made by studying the thing is that it's got a will and specific way of working. It halted it spread on the surface long ago, probably to focus on consuming the inside of the moon. It doesn't give a shit how much we attack it, like it's oblivious to the damage. Superman is hard to hurt but that thing? Not even Darkseid was that resilient. Literally nothing seems to work.

To be honest, I'm not that worried. There are gods on earth who could maybe finally decide to do something with their lives and step in if push comes to shove... Actually, no. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't. The only times they cared in any DC universe was in the Injustice storyline. Online because their egos were bruised that evil Superman acted like a god in their stead. Even then, it was a plot from Darkseid that got them to act, if I remember well.

Anyways, we have more pressing issues. Atlantis and its potential attack, Trigon's messing with the bodies of the league and trying to take over this dimension at some point in time… Things might only get worse before they get better.