Chapter 45: Leveling the game 7

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Spells" 

----------

Atlantis

Arthur and Edgar were completely decimating the large fleet they were sent to attack them. There you could see that Arthur, despite being in prison for so long, as Superman with the yellow sun, the sea completely rejuvenated him.

Moreover, when he was a king and when he was fighting were completely different men. He was always characterized by a royal bearing. Impeccable manners and well-behaved Atlantic customs, derived from his mother's training. But, when he fought, he was a pure fighting machine. It could only be described as such.

He didn't just move like a torpedo underwater. His strength was enhanced by his element and every blow he delivered, he completely destroyed Atlantean metal, which is stronger than many metals on earth.

Edgar was no better, as he also used his fire to destroy left and right every ship that attacked him. Practically, if Aquaman dented metal with his fists, Edgar melted them completely. Together, even though they didn't know each other, they were proving to be a great team.

After a few long minutes of combat. Finally, all enemy forces were completely wiped out. It pained Arthur to murder his people, but the rules were clear. If anyone dared to raise a hand against their king, death was the only thing that awaited them.

After the fight was over, they returned to the bubble so they could talk.

"Impressive, friend Ghost Rider, your power is impressive. I can see why the League succumbed to you. You are an opponent to be feared" Arthur said as he patted Edgar on the shoulder twice in congratulations.

"You're no slouch yourself, you're a beast in the water. And call me Edgar, please" Edgar said as he held out his hand in a handshake.

"Then you call me, Arthur"

With that they shook hands. A good friendship was beginning to emerge from all this. However, it wasn't time to make friends. They had a mission and it was time to accomplish it.

"Well, from the number of forces I saw, they were my brother's personal fleet. If they were the Atlantis fleet we wouldn't have had it so easy"

"Wait, but there were hundreds of them"

"Atlantis is the most powerful kingdom in the world, Edgar. I'm not lying when I say that if we invade the surface with all our power... perhaps we can destroy them all. Sure, considering some factors they might beat us. But I'm sure the world would be shattered if that were to happen. .... But that's good, if my brother sent his personal fleet, then it means they still consider me the king"

"Well, then let's try to sneak in, and hope that my team has achieved their task"

"Perfect"

With that they both set off. After swimming several miles they were finally able to reach the beautiful capital of Atlantis. However, there was one problem, the barrier was still standing. This only indicated that Constantine and the others, had failed to accomplish their mission.

'I guess they didn't make it-' Arthur thought, but his thought was interrupted when the special barrier flickered, and slowly cracked. 'Well, I guess they made it'

With that they began to swim slowly, as stealthily as possible. Or as stealthy as a flaming skull could be in the water. Eventually they reached a side entrance to the royal castle, one that Arthur knew well as that's where he would sneak through the first few times he didn't want to be king or when he needed to go think things over and leave his royal duties. And he knew it had no alarms or cameras of any kind to alert Central.

Arthur motioned for Edgar to follow him and after entering through several secret corridors, they entered the palace where they could talk. Edgar left his transformation and said to Arthur.

"Hey, do you hear that?"

"I don't hear anything"

"Exactly, it's too quiet. Even if we had snuck in stealthily, there should be noise from the servants, right?"

Edgar had enhanced senses. His hearing should be able to hear murmurs or noises despite the remoteness, and yet nothing could be heard. This only indicated one thing to him....

"...it's a trap" Arthur concluded. Finally, the realization hit Arthur.

This had all been so easy and convenient. The entrance, the lack of guards, the lack of movement. EVERYTHING. This smelled like a trap and it smelled a lot.

And just as they had assumed. When they reached the main hall, it was surrounded by all the soldiers stationed in the castle, who were Orm's loyal men, along with Orm, Black Manta and Nereus, waiting for them. Worst of all, they had every male member of The Outsiders captured.

"I repeat... it was a makeshift team" said Edgar a little embarrassed.

The truth was that, unlike the girls, most of the boys lacked discipline, except for Vulko and maybe young Jaime, who was eager to learn. But Constantine, Etrigan and the others... well, it was hard to get them to obey an order. Each had a style of doing things, and it was hard to group them together. Even so, they should have been able to pull it off.

What Edgar obviously didn't know was that the plan would have been achieved, but Mordru, with his external warning, changed things drastically. But hey, they couldn't cry over spilled milk.

Oblivious to Edgar's thoughts, there was Orm, carrying the very trident of Poseidon. It still did not fully recognize him, and felt that it was revealing itself against him, the longer he used it, but this did not matter to him. With the power he had it was enough for what he was going to do.

"Brother, it's good to see you. You should be in a prison, not here" Orm told him, with a smug smile.

"Brother, I am your own blood and you decide to betray it, why, by ruling a kingdom that doesn't belong to you"

"WAS MINE IN ITS OWN RIGHT. I am the elder. I am the pure Atlantean, you are only a half-breed derived from a night of horniness that our mother had"

At these words, Arthur's whole demeanor changed. The temperature of the place seemed to have suddenly dropped several degrees, as Arthur menacingly said to Orm.

"Brother...you can insult me all you want, but don't mess with our mother. I'm warning you"

"Unfortunately, you don't have the power here to ask me for things, little brother, not anymore. I have it," he said as he showed the golden trident that glowed in a sign of power. "And I will use just this power, to set an example to EVERYONE here, what will happen if they should ever go against me" 

This one approached the 8 prisoners, who were handcuffed with Atlantean handcuffs, and put the trident specifically on the neck of John Constantine who was first in line. However, John was not worried, he was just looking at Edgar. Edgar was 'looking' at him, too. An unspoken agreement was passing between them.

"Don't do it, brother. Here's me. Take it out on me, but let them go. They're innocent" Arthur tried to reason with Orm, but it was useless.

"Innocent, they invaded without authorization, that's already payable with jail, but, you see brother, in your absence I checked the rules of justice, and I saw that some were very flimsy, so I decided to change them, and now every fault... is payable with death"

Orm, raised the trident and was about to cut Constantine's head, when....

-----------

New York, USA

'Nightwing to Central. Active A, recovered. Mission was successful'

'Aqualad, to Central. Assets B, C and D, recovered. Mission successful'

With that heard on Batman's intercom, he finally requested.

"Batman to League. Mission successful. Terminate operation-"

"Don't get distracted"

However, he could say no more because he had to roll to avoid being impaled by Deathstroke's sword.

Batman stood up and launched a kick at Deathstroke's ribs, which he easily parried with his hand and bent into an upright position the leg holding it tightly. Batman, however, with momentum punched Deathstroke's face causing him to let go.

They both looked at each other, for a brief moment, and then moved. Deathstroke slashed diagonally with his sword, but Batman parried him with his forearms. These had such sharp spikes that they could draw sparks from Deathstroke's sword.

Deathstroke continued with the momentum and cut horizontally again, which Batman dodged by ducking, however, he had to take a quick step backwards to avoid being cut with the sword's spike, whose trajectory Deathstroke changed when he saw that Batman had dodged the first cut.

Batman walked back and landed a hard hook to Deathstroke's ribs, then landed another to the chin, and finished it off with a combo to the face. He then ducked down and gave Deathstroke a leg sweep that knocked him down. It didn't last long though as he quickly rolled to his feet. But Batman grabbed him by the mask and slammed him into a wall.

Deathstroke didn't sit idle and headbutted Batman, which made him let go, then grabbed him by the neck and put him horizontal, but Batman used the same wall as momentum to somersault out of his grip, then grabbed his arm and sent him flying away with a fighting move.

Deathstroke got up and wanted to continue attacking, but was unable to do so when a missile landed right where they were. Which caused the two of them, to have to run for their lives. When the missile hit, part of the roof was completely destroyed.

Batman was blown hard by the wind from the blast, but with his cape, he glided. Turning around he could see how Lex had destroyed his jet, and was now coming at full speed to chase him, but Batman wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

He quickly activated Cyborg's device and a portal materialized right in the sky where it was planned. Lex flew at sonic speeds with his thrusters, he even launched several bullets to wound the hero, but it was no use, Batman passed the portal unharmed and escaped.

"SHIT!" 

Landing right on the ground, Lex started screaming every curse in the book because he couldn't catch the damn bat.

Deathstroke, who had landed on the other side, approached Lex and said something that, if Lex had hair, would have fallen out just from anger alone

"Well, you may not like him, Lex, but you can't deny, Batman's got style"

'I hate you so much, Slade'

----------

Buenos Aires, Argentina

In Argentina, Grodd had been defeated by Cyborg, and lay there totally passed out. He was a formidable opponent, but Cyborg emerged victorious in the end. Vixen had already knocked out the gorilla forces. And now, she was helping Zatara with Poison Ivy.

Poison Ivy had grown several vines that produced poison from their mouths. But it was good that everyone was prepared and had their gas mask. Zatara had also summoned a portal that sucked out just that poison to clear the area.

However, the most difficult situation was Cyborg who just, after he fought Grodd, Ultra-Humanite, decided to move. And he...he was in another damn league.

"I don't like violence, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to fight. I'll show you why I became their king, and it wasn't because of my mind power"

With that he struck Cyborg. If Grodd's strength was great, Ultra-Humanite's felt like he was being hit by a speeding truck. Even Cyborg's security systems, told him.

<PIP, PIP, FORCE DETECTED BASE LEVEL SUPERMAN. AVOID DIRECT CONFLICT>

'Damn it'

"Don't get distracted, robot man"

Ultra-Humanite struck again, but harder. It even dented Cyborg's metal a little. Cyborg transformed his laser into a plasma cannon and started firing. However, it became clear that Ultra-Humanity was not only strong, but also fast. For, nimbly, hanging from buildings and other places, he began to dodge Cyborg's attacks.

"Love, I need a hand with the white ape" Cyborg required.

"Can't you see we're busy, here" Vixen said as she swatted at the various carnivorous plants trying to attack her.

"Let's make change, what do you say?"

"Alright"

With that Vixen used her totem and summoned 5 animals. A lion for its ferocity in fighting, a wolf for its powerful enhanced instincts, a cheetah for its superior speed, a rhino for its ramming power and an elephant for its superior strength.

She quickly arrived and collided with Ultra-Humanite, sending him away. Although the ape was superior. Vixen was not far behind. Ultra-Humanite, knew it would have a difficult opponent. This woman was attacking with the ferocity of the animal kingdom. However, the most curious thing was what his animal instincts made him feel with this woman.

'How strange' he thought. There was something odd about her. His instincts were telling him that she was the alpha and he should follow her. But, this feeling was weak and his higher mind quickly took away this desire.

In reality, this was because she was connected to the animal kingdom line. Like Ivy, with her power to command plants, Vixen had the power to command animals, but she had not yet unlocked that ability. It was only latent and that was why the animals felt comfortable in her presence.

(AN: since Animal Man is not going to appear in this fic, I'm going to play with Vixen's powers, and in the future give her more power. But it won't be in this arc)

While this was going on, Cyborg came to Zatara's aid and launched several projectiles that exploded all over the carnivorous plant's body, causing part of its vines to catch fire.

"Aghhh, you damn robot. I'll kill you"

She threw more vines to catch Cyborg, but he didn't stand idle and changed his hands into sharp blades that slashed at the incoming vines.

"I'm here too" said Zatara, as he summoned more power. "drazzilb etulosba" a snowstorm erupted from his wand that began to freeze every plant in the place. Even Ivy was starting to suffer because of this cold.

Cyborg was about to attack again, but a scream from Vixen stopped him.

"AGHHHHH" there he saw that she was holding her hands to her head in pain.

"You see, I am a supporter of gender equality. And we weren't getting anywhere in our fight, so, better end it with my mental attacks" said Ultra-Humanite who was back to his usual graceful demeanor. 

Vixen felt as if thousands of needles were embedding themselves in her brain. Her whole mind was starting to go numb. Cyborg threw powerful beams at Ultra-Humanitw, which made him stop attacking the beautiful brunette woman and dodge them.

But the damage was done. Vixen had passed out from the pain.

This was Cyborg's mistake. Since the Motherbox had given him artificial mental barriers, he had forgotten that this great ape was actually feared for his mental power. And he sent his girlfriend to fight him, who had no way of defending herself. He had been stupid and Vixen had paid the consequences.

<PIP, PIP. MASSIVE MENTAL EXHAUSTION DETECTED. REST AND SOME INJECTABLE ACETYLCOLINE ARE RECOMMENDED, DUE TO THE SLIGHT NERVE DAMAGE SUFFERED>

The good thing is just in that came the Batman broadcast.

'Batman to the League. Mission successful. Terminate operation'

Cyborg took Vixen by his arms and activated his power to open the portal. Before leaving, Zatara launched a rain of fire at the vines, which were slowly breaking free from the ice.

Finally, the heroes escaped from the place, leaving furious members of The Light who could not help themselves.

---------

Sydney, Australia

The Flash and Reverse Flash were practically all over the world running while attacking each other. Both were giving no quarter. They had already gone around the world more than 10 times, but they didn't stop. On the contrary, with each lap, their speed improved.

Finally, on the last lap, they stopped in the desert. They were both pretty beat up, but Flash looked the worse for wear. Clearly, Reverse Flash's speed experience had shown in the fight.

"You can't stop me, Flash. You're not fast enough" Eobard said to Barry, who was catching his breath.

"Why, why are you doing all this, I didn't do anything to you"

"Your mere existence is enough for me to do all this. You disgust me. However, killing you would be very easy, Barry, and also merciful of me. No, I will make your life miserable. I will kill everyone you love one by one, and you won't be able to do anything to stop it. You'll live knowing you weren't quick enough to save them...your mother, your father, Major Joe West...and next will be your wife, Iris"

That was enough for Barry, with renewed strength and hatred in his heart he pushed himself against Eobard. Which surprised the man from the future quite a lot. For, at this moment, Barry did not have his characteristic yellow rays, on the contrary, they were white. This meant only one thing to Eobard.

'His connection to the speedforce has improved'

When Barry Allen had his accident that day in his lab. This did not give him super speed as many might think. Rather, his accident caused him to connect to the Speedforce. A primordial force where time could not reach. This caused it to give him super powers derived from speed.

Each universe had at least one speedster. And each speedster had to a lesser or greater extent a connection to this speedforce. Barry had the yellow, almost orange rays when he started his powers. Wally, his nephew, also has them that color.

But as he trained and gained experience, those rays became light yellow. However, with training stemming from his defeat by Eobard and the death of Iris' father, Barry began to improve his connection to the speedforce to a point where his rays became lighter to an off-white hue.

Barry had not noticed this, he was only thinking about improving his speed. But at this moment, derived from his hatred, and his desire to protect his loved ones, Barry had reached his maximum connection with the speed force.

Barry had the white lightning.

With this power he moved. Eobard could barely dodge Barry's swift onslaughts with his speed.

"Ha, your speed improved. Do you think this is enough-"

However, he couldn't finish when he received a powerful combo to the face. Eobard couldn't even keep up when Barry landed two punches to his ribs knocking him out of the air. He also couldn't keep up when Barry grabbed him and ran him away crashing him hard into a post.

Barry was no longer thinking. He was just acting on pure instinct and his heart telling him he had to defeat this man if he wanted to save everyone.

Barry hit Eobard again. Eobard got up angrily and wanted to strike, but Barry easily dodged, then kicked him and tripped him.

Barry began to hit Eobard hard breaking his nose with his quick fist combos, while holding him down on the ground. Eobard was starting to be a bloody mess because of all this. However, every hard punch Barry gave him, made him smile more. Blood stains could be seen in that maniacal grin he was wearing.

Finally, Barry, after so many blows he had given, raised his hand and began to make it vibrate. He quickly brought it closer to Eobard's chest. However, Eobard only had a smile on his face at this.

"Come on, Flash, do it. Don't hesitate. Because if you do, I'll come back and kill everyone"

However, just as Barry was about to go through his chest, Barry hesitated. Eobard only gave a sneer when he saw Barry's hesitation.

"Too late. ..You hesitated" Eobard quickly punched Barry and released his grip, then ran and escaped quickly. Barry was about to follow him, but, just then, Batman's communicator went off.

'Batman to the League. Mission successful. Terminate operation'

"Damn it!"

Barry no longer followed. He was cursing himself for hesitating. He could have finished him off, but he hesitated. But what could he do. He had never killed anyone. He hoped this wouldn't make him regret it later.

Turning around, he ran towards Australia where Hal was fighting.

----------

While that chase of the two speedsters was going on. Carol and Hal were quite evenly matched with their constructions. It was a battle of wits driven by the woman's great love for this man and the man's great willpower and eagerness to keep her from doing something she would later regret.

Hal sent three fighter planes to crash into Carol, which she defended by projecting several fighter missiles that destroyed the planes.

She then countered with a giant hand, which wanted to grab Hal, but Hal made his own hand and they started fighting.

"Stop fighting, love. Can't you see you're damaging our relationship" Carol said as pleadingly as possible.

"Stop it, Carol. Your power is twisting your mind. Your definition of love is skewed. If you really loved me, you wouldn't hurt the people I love, or make all this mess in the world"

"Don't you understand, the world, the League, EVERYONE wants us NOT to be together. And I'll do whatever it takes to make sure we do"

'She's crazy' thought Hal. Carol had given into her power. She no longer had salvation. 'I'm sorry, Carol'

With that, Hal did his best. He wasn't considered one of the best Green Lanterns for nothing. Quickly, he used all the willpower he had and projected a giant army of green Spartans. But, contrary to his expectations, Carol did the same and matched his strength with a pink army of samurai.

This means one thing, Carol's love power was on par with his willpower. Finally, they both made their move. Each army rushed to face each other.

A 'massacre' between projections was in sight. Hal did not stand idle. He quickly fired a green beam at Carol. It was pure raw power. Carol did the same.

Both flew as the beams battled to see who would prevail. Both were very evenly matched. Sometimes the pink beam advanced further and sometimes it was the green beam that gained the upper hand. Sweat on the faces of both were beginning to form due to the heavy mental load they were using. Even a little blood was starting to seep out of their noses. But they both refused to give up.

They thought they would keep it up for a good while longer, but a green hand that wasn't Hal's interrupted the fight. The hand hit Carol hard sending her into the sea. All the projections were undone because of this.

The cause of all this, none other than John Stewart who had arrived... and with a green ring. His costume had even changed. He now wore a green trench coat adorning his wardrobe.

"John, you made it!"

John was all this time on Oa. He had three chances to succeed in creating a ring from scratch based on his own willpower, and it had been two that he had failed to do so. The guardians, knowing how strong John was, and that he was a very good soldier, gave him extensive training with the best instructors of the order.

In the end, John had succeeded. He now had his ring custom made for him.

"You doubted me?" John replied with a smile. What Hal replied, however, caused his smile to turn into a defeated grin.

"Ha, never. You're almost as good as I am with the ring"

"And I see you haven't changed in all that time. However, I think you need help against that woman"

The woman came flying out of the sea. Her hair was disheveled and an angry face was visible on her beautiful face.

"YOU, you damn Lantern, you had to come and ruin EVERYTHING" with that Carol departed and flew away. She knew she was no match for two Lanterns. Her love was powerful, and this other Lantern was also very good. Together they were a force that would defeat her in no time.

John was about to follow her, but Hal stopped him, who just happened to be hearing Batman's voice on his communicator.

"John, let her go"

"But-"

"The mission was a success. There will be another time where we fight"

"Understood...well, then what?"

"Now...home. But first, let's wait for Barry-"

However, he didn't have to wait too long as justly Barry arrived at full speed. However, by his face, Hal knew that what had happened had not been good.

"Let's go. I want to go home" Barry said in a serious tone unusual for him.

"I understand" Hal didn't ask or inquire. Barry would tell him later when the time was right.

Hal activated the portal and they entered. John went last, but just before he left he looked back to where Carol had flown off to. The last memory of his departure from Oa came into his head.

------

Oa (before John returned to Earth)

At the center of the planet Oa, the home of the Guardians, and main headquarters of the Green Lanterns, was a main structure where each Guardian sat in their chairs and watched from above all that was happening on their beloved planet.

Right in the center, knelt John Stewart, who was presenting the ring he forged completely from scratch. It was not a green ring. But a gray one, devoid of color. This was the base where the power of will would be imbued.

In the stands of this great place there were thousands of Lanterns anxiously awaiting the spectacle. Never had anyone forged a ring from scratch. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for every Lantern in the place. 

Ganthet, one of the guardians, began his speech.

"John Stewart. Despite failing in your purpose twice, you persevered and here is the fruit of your labor. Your ring. This is the work of all your effort. The final test, however, is the most difficult. It is time for you to imbue the ring with the power of the central battery. Then we will know if your effort was enough. Please recite the oath"

John put on his gray ring and walked over to the large central battery. Placing the ring on the battery, he began to recite the oath. As he recited the oath, the light from the central battery began to emerge and imbue his ring. If he could withstand the power of the central battery, he would be a Lantern again, otherwise... he would have failed.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might beware my power... Green Lantern's light!"

When he finished the oath the ring finally charged to 100 percent. A robotic voice came out of the ring.

<PIP, PIP, Acknowledging user. Green Lantern John Stewart. Sector 2814. In operation>

The guardians and all present applauded. Congratulations were in order.

"Thank you, guardians. I vow to remain an important asset and fight to follow the principles of this organization.To the Green Lanterns!"

"To the Green Lanterns!"

"Okay, you can all go. There will be time to celebrate later. But right now, we're having a tough time, with the mobilization of the New Gods and Darkseid, and the new warrior planet of the conqueror Mongul. Everyone has a job. Go!"

With that, all the Green Lanterns present left to go on their missions. Except for John who had been signaled by the guards to stay. Another one who stayed was the person who just happened to be standing in the corner with his arms behind his back.

His skin was pink and he wore a mustache on his neatly trimmed face. It was Sinestro, the head of the order and leader of the Green Lanterns. Beneath the guardians, his authority was absolute.

"John, our first mission, to you, is this. We need you to stop a potential war from coming"

"I need more details, Guardians, please"

"Sure, sure. Sinestro, please"

Sinestro turned to John, with his usual impeccable demeanor. Using his ring he projected a hologram of what he was talking about.

"This is sector 3387. A sector with nothing worth mentioning. Sun reaching red, few mineral resources and slightly difficult conditions to inhabit. The problem is, intelligence has proven that the Star Sappire group is hiding there. This group uses a new battery based on the power of love, similar to our ring. They have not caused any noteworthy havoc, but the order is growing larger and larger, with over 5000 recruits today. We believe they are preparing to take over a more... optimal space sector for their headquarters. And sector 2814 the one they are looking for them"

John was surprised by this conversation. He didn't know there were other batteries besides the Green Lantern battery. But the most surprising thing was that this group was looking for the sector where Earth was.

"I see. And why do you think they are looking for my sector?"

"Because of her" a projection came out showing Carol Ferris. "She is, if my intelligence does not fail us, part of a group called The Light. We are not interested in your internal Earth conflicts, Lantern Stewart, but Sector 2814 has very important resources for us, and, besides, it was the same sector that my master, Abin Sur, protected. I will not let the Star Sappires take it" Sinestro said almost threateningly. He had promised to protect this sector on the death of his mentor. He was still hesitant to leave Hal protecting it, but with John there he was more at ease.

Ganthet, the guardian, continued the conversation.

"John, perhaps what Sinestro says is more based on personal feelings, but he's right. Sector 2814 is fairly new. And, as such, it has very good resources. An important asset for us. We can't lose it. And a war isn't in our best interest either. Not with everything else going on. Darkseid is on the move, and we don't know why. Your task is to stop the war from coming. I've already sent representatives of the corps to talk in terms of an alliance with this Sappire group, we'll offer them a better sector than they have. And we hope that will be enough"

A sad face was reflected on the little guardian.

"But, if it's not enough and negotiations fail... then to avoid war, you have to do what it takes to take down that woman. Without a member of their order in Sector 2814, they have no right to claim anything. We can't ask Hal because we know his background with this woman. You are the only one capable of carrying out this mission"

"Are you asking me.... to kill her?"

"I'm saying, do what NEEDS to be done. Now go, and go patrol your sector"

With that, John departed. However, his mind was a mess about this request. It was a very logical request. They could claim sector 2814 by arguing that a member of theirs lived there, however, if there was no longer a member, they would have to find another sector, avoiding war.

But killing Carol, and then John knowing that she is the woman Hal loves....

John Stewart didn't know what to do.

---------

AN:

My P@treon 

TioIroh99 (10 chapters ahead)

Give me Power Stones if you want the next chapter to be released more soon