Chapter 46

The week after their encounter with the pesky fifth-dimensional imp, the various members of the team decided to head to the Cave for a bit of bonding time. Namely, the two newest members of the Team, Sara Lance and Zatanna Zatara or White Canary and Zatanna. Most of the team just chilled and waited to see what would happen next.

There was a motive of them being here other than just hanging out. Batman hinted there would be a special mission for them, hence the entire team was there. The only four members who were up and about were Zatanna, Sara, Harry, and Donna. With Donna and Sara surrounding each other in a friendly sparring match, and Harry and Zatanna working on a rune crafting circle, trying to piece together something that would protect the members of the Team.

Sara threw hands with Donna. Donna held back just a little bit, but not enough. Still, Sara worked a little bit of a sweat up and she loved it. She fired some kicks at Donna, who dodged each and every one of them. She came back, knocking Sara back a few feet.

"Well, I can see that your skills run in the family," Sara said.

Donna's punch had been caught in an armbar. The strength of the Amazon made it very difficult for Sara to wrestle Donna to the ground. However, she managed to give a pretty good go at it all things considered. Donna twisted out of it.

"I was about to say the same about you."

The two fired punches with each other, Whitney, Helena, and Mareena pausing long enough from their leisure time to watch the show and it was a hell of a nice show.

The Amazon kept Sara on her toes, and she loved that. To be honest, there were times where Sara did not expect to be a part of this team, but she embraced it the moment that she joined said team.

"Careful."

Harry and Zatanna worked around the room, and created a rune circle. Harry talked to Mera, and she thought the idea would feasible. Although this particular clunky prototype left a whole lot to be desired. Harry pressed his finger against the barrier and a couple of sparks of light emitted from his finger when he traced patterns around it.

Each rune required Harry to drop it individually. With Zatanna tracing back over them to make sure they were solidified.

Zatanna carefully circled around to check Harry's runes. She could not help to be pleased at her handiwork. Zatanna stopped at the edge of the room.

"It should work," Zatanna said.

"It should," Harry agreed. "I thought about drawing the runes on my body, but I don't think that's going to work too well."

"No, I don't think that it would be a good idea," Zatanna grimly agreed. "Dad's told me so many horror stories about misapplied protective runes. Namely the protection being too snug and crushing a person's lungs. Best to do it on stones, much safer that way."

It would be ill-advisable to put the Runes on his body for so many reasons. Harry paused and looked it over. It would be difficult to move onto the field.

If they could only make the barrier portable. Harry supposed it would be the next step, to shrink it down, and test to see if the charms held themselves. They should in theory, but magic and theory, they tended to be very big problems.

"Well, I believe everything is in line for the first test," Zatanna said. "The main question is...should I stand in the middle of the circle or do you want to do it?"

The doors of the caves opened up. Batman, Superwoman, Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, and Caitlin Fairchild entered the lab. They were carrying several boxes between them all. The boxes caught the attention of the various team members, including the ones on the couch.

To be fair, Batman told them to be here, for this team meeting and there they were.

When the League was together in full force, The Team knew that it was big.

"So, what's in the boxes?" Whitney asked.

"In a moment," Batman said. "It may take your training to the next level.."

Batman would be more than ready to tell them all too soon. Although given the fact Caitlin was here, Harry had a pretty good idea. He was intrigued and also wondered if the Team would be quite ready for something like this.

"This state of the art training simulator is a project that I've been discussing with Fairchild, and she's agreed to help me duplicate it," Batman said. "It is to help work the team through several scenarios. One of these scenarios is how you would react, if all had been lost."

The worst case scenario, oh Harry hated the worst case scenario. The fact all of the Earth was doomed. No matter what they did, things got worse.

"Wait, how does something like that work?" Whitney asked.

"Your subconscious mind knows that you're in a simulation," Caitlin explained. "But your conscious mind plays out the scenario."

"And there aren't any problems with something like this, right?" Artemis asked. "Because, I don't want my brain to be trapped in a computer forever."

"Nothing like that," Caitlin said. "It is perfectly safe. There's a failsafe where if the simulation over stimulates your minds, you will be booted out."

Harry understand precisely what they were doing. Rumors were everywhere that the League were hitting up new recruits. This was the League's way of testing to see if the rest of the team was up to snuff. He really wished Batman had come out and said it, but Batman had never come out and said things like this.

"It's not too different from the simulations you underwent at Cadmus," Caitlin reminded Harry.

Harry had his misgivings, but nodded.

"The exercise is optional, but recommended," Batman chimed in.

"Do not make you think that we're pressuring you into it," J'onn said.

"Well, I say we go for it, if it's perfectly safe," Mareena said.

"I really want to see how this works," Helena said.

"It might be interesting," M'gann said.

Several nods followed, and they all turned to Harry, who offered his consent with a stiff nod of his own.

If the rest of the team was okay with it, then Harry was all in. If anything else, Harry knew what to do if the simulation took a turn for the ugly. And knew what he could do lead these ladies out of it.

Caitlin motioned for Harry to come with her over to the side. Harry followed, and Claire stood off, frowning at him.

"If you don't want to do this, everyone will understand," Claire told him.

"Actually, if the rest of the team does this, then it will be safer if Harry's inside," Caitlin said.

"What do you mean?" Claire asked.

Oh, it was a bit hard for Caitlin to explain this particular situation to Claire. Especially when she had the most misgivings of the League members here about putting the Team through this particular simulation. She really hoped to convey to Claire that everything was fine.

"Harry will be able to access the failsafe and get the team out of trouble should there be trouble," Caitlin said. "You will be in more control of the simulations than you were at Cadmus...when someone had to pull you out."

Harry responded with a nod, realizing he would have more control than the other stimulations. He gave Claire a reassuring smile.

"It will be fine," Harry said. "I know what I'm doing."

"I know," Claire said. "But, at the first sign of trouble, pull them out."

Harry clapped a hand on Claire's shoulder, indicating it's okay. Leading by example, Harry laid down on the table, where Diana gently hooked him into the simulation. The tingle of Harry's mind about ready to enter an entirely new world.

As long as this was not a magical school with a slight Dickens fetish, Harry had no problems in entering the virtual world yet again.

Claire watched them enter the simulation. The entire team hooked into the matrix, into the machine, with flashes of light emitting from them.

"They'll be fine," Batman said.

"Harry can pull them out," Caitlin said.

"Yes, and we'll be here to monitor them if everything goes wrong," J'onn said.

Caitlin hoped to appease them, but she did hope that the modifications would not be a problem.

"I tested it," Batman said. "On my own."

"No problems?" Wonder Woman asked.

"No," Batman responded. "It ran fine."

Regardless, the moment when full team hit a problem they would be pulled out. Every single life sign of the team member registered as clear.

All they could do was wait.

Harry joined Sara, Donna, Zatanna, Megan, Mareena, Whitney, Helena, and Artemis on the ground in the Cave, everything seemed like a normal day, as if they were awaiting their mission from Batman.

The image of Iris West-Allen popped on the television screen.

"The Earth is being invaded by hostile alien forces," Iris said. "We urge the public to stay indoors at all costs. Several governments around the world have deployed emergency measures to take down the hostile threats….but…."

On the sidewalk, a group full of civilians ended up being wiped out in a beam of light. They burned right before the horrified eyes of the team. Simulation or not, seeing people just get taken out like that, and being helpless to stop it was awful.

"Cat, Cat, what's the situation in Metropolis?" Iris asked.

"The Daily Planet has just been destroyed!" Cat yelled. "Members of the League are here, getting civilians out of harm's way."

The images of the alien ships bombarding Earth's surface faced on the screen . The people in there, did not have a chance.

Several members of the Justice League appeared on the scene to get civilians out of harm's way. Among them, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary. The screaming civilians got only louder as the danger increased.

"We have to do something," Mareena said.

"Stay in the cave," Batman said over the radio. "You are our last line of defense should the League fail."

Mareena's eyes shifted on instinct when the beam closed in on her father. Right before their very eyes, Aquaman had been destroyed. Mareena tried to remain calm over the face of certain fire. Helena put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry," Helena said.

More blasts vaporized the League members. The duo of Green Arrow and Green Lantern barely had a prayer against the attacks. Screams echoed, the more the various members of the League got blasted.

Black Canary jumped into battle and sent a Canary Cry at the bottom of the ship. The ship, only got knocked back a few seconds.

Bright red light emerged from the screen. We could hear the screams of the reporting Cat Grant. The bubbles hit Black Canary and ripped her apart in no time flat.

"Oh, please be a teleporter!" Sara screamed.

Harry put an arm around Sara to pull her in close. They could not watch it, Batman's orders telling them to stay put. Still, the more Harry's hands shook, the more that he had to be out there, although to do what, Harry could not be for sure.

"It's just like that...destroyed just like that," Artemis said.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Karen," Harry said.

"Supergirl, Superwoman, and I are heading towards the central ship," Power Girl said. "If we fail, we're the last line of defense for this world."

Harry nodded, reminding himself that this was only a training simulation. With the emotions of his team so raw, Harry found himself struggling to remember that particular point.

On the screen Supergirl, Superwoman, and Power Girl all flew at the bottom of the ship. Everyone in the team sat on pins and needles.

"If anyone can stop it, they can, right?" Zatanna asked.

"They should be able to," Helena said.

The trio of Kryptonians made their way to the ship to ramp up the tension with the entire group. The bubbles of the ship emitted, and launched directly at the Kryptonian trio, frying them the second they hit the underside of the ship.

Harry almost flew up to the air, but stopped.

"Batman?" Mareena asked.

"Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, and Captain Marvel are with me, we're going to attack one more time," Batman said. "Should we fail, it will be down to the team. You're our last hope."

"Plan B," Helena said.

Plan B, the worst place to be in the world. The feed swiped to Iris who continued to report. Suddenly, several more ships closed in. In a flash, Iris changed into her superhero identity, consequences be damned. The Fastest Woman Alive zipped across to engage the ships.

For a brief second, Iris appeared to put a dent to the ships. That moment of hope and that fleeting second faded in an instance from the ship bombarding Iris with everything that it had and sending her crashing down to the ground.

Everything hit them suddenly, with great horror. Whitney watched her aunt be burned to a crisp on the scene. Images of the previous Flash vaporizing before her eyes and Whitney being too fast to stop Barry from being destroyed.

Whitney was too shocked to even scream in response. She collapsed to the ground and breathed in, almost sobbing.

Harry helped Whitney up off of the ground, as she clutched Harry. Harry put his hand around her.

"Anyone out there?"

"I….I am," Overwatch said shakily. "But, I don't think no one out there is except you guys. And that means things are getting back."

Felicity seemed about ready to crack. Given that she lost several friends already, Harry could see why.

"If the rest of the League is out, then it's up to us," Harry said.

"Let's go," Helena said.

Mareena's head snapped up and she nodded. Her father dead, and that was not telling what the state of Atlantis would be after all of this

They all left the cave, businesslike despite the horrific visuals which still flashed through their eyes. Harry closed his eyes, being strong.

The minute Harry sensed the entire team get too affected by this, he was pulling them out. So far they held up, being strong as they were.

The Team moved out into the city. To say the situation had been dire would be an understatement. The cries of several children pulled them into the scene.

Mareena assisted two of the cowering children out of the hole. One of them looked absolutely terrified at the entire situation. Aliens invaded.

"I want my Mommy!" one of the girls yelled.

"It's going to be okay, we'll find her," Aquagirl said.

The smoking craters which lined across the ground painted an extremely grim picture of what they were dealing with. Harry took a few seconds study the scene, and he was not the only one. Whitney and Helena crouched down on the ground.

"Scorch marks here and here," Kid Flash said. "Like nothing that I've ever seen before."

"Well, those ships...they were awful," Miss Martian said finally speaking up. "The way they just took out the League."

"I haven't been able to get in touch with anyone," Overwatch said. "They're gone….all gone….the ships just blew up Happy Harbor."

"No," Miss Martian softly said.

"I know," Harry said.

It was lucky they got out of the cave when they did. Not so lucky because of the innocent people, potentially some of their school friends caught in the crossfire. Donna clutched onto Harry's arm.

"Let's move," Harry said.

Artemis and Sara covered the rest of the team when they looked around. In an attempt to find them, and stop the alien ship at the source.

"I don't be the one to bring this up," Whitney said. "How...how are we going to...stop ships when the strongest hitters in the League aren't going to put a dent in it?"

"Guys, I have more bad news," Overwatch said somberly.

Harry held up a hand to quiet the team.

"Yes, Overwatch…."

"Some of the ships they're heading to the Arctic," Overwatch said. "But, the only thing up there is...oh no…."

"Weapons that might be able to stop them," Harry said. "The Fortress...of course."

"Have you ever been inside?" Helena asked.

"No, but now's the best time," Harry said.

"Wait...no...they're right outside of my window….ahhhh!" Overwatch yelled.

The screams echoed which caused Harry and the rest of the team to tense up. Then the line went dead. M'gann's closed out and tried to reach out for a mind off in Overwatch's normal post in Star City. She snapped back, and broke out into a sigh.

No sound, no response, nothing at all.

"I'm heading to the Fortress myself," Harry said.

M'gann put her hand on Harry's shoulder to forestall that plan.

"No, we have to stick together," she said.

"M'gann's right," Mareena said. "There's strength in numbers."

"Stronger together," Harry muttered. "Yes, I know."

The entire team scrambled to the Bioship. So far, no outward signs that they were succumbing to the simulation. The failsafe was just in Harry's reach, all he had to do.

For some reason, an unsettling chill erupted over Harry's spine and he doubted that it had anything to do with the Arctic breeze.

The trip to the Fortress passed in completely silence. They had been in numb shot. M'gann landed the bioship. She walked out, with Harry following her. And then Artemis, Zatanna, Sara, Mareena, Helena, Whitney, and Donna all came behind her.

"How do you get in?" Donna asked.

"Anyone from the House of El can enter," Harry said. "But, this is not the circumstances that I expected to meet my…."

Harry created a protective shield around all of the Team just seconds before it blasted them. The firing grew more intense. Harry muttering something underneath his breath and teleported them.

"We didn't make it in time," Helena said.

"Yeah, that's for sure," Whitney said. "That big ship, it's sent down a lot of attack drones."

The alien attack drones surrounding the Fortress flashed beams of light. So far, the Fortress's defenses held up, but for how long?"

Harry heated up his hand and blasted the underside of the drones. Zatanna smashed them together and White Canary sent a Canary Cry. And then Artemis fired off several arrows, triggering the drones.

The attacks got the drones attention away from the Fortress.

"Hit it with everything you can!" Aquagirl yelled. "NOW!"

Robin, Aquagirl, Zatanna, and Kid Flash hit the ships from one side. The constant bombardment managed to back off the smaller drones. Giving them some hope that they might win this battle today.

White Canary, Superman, Miss Martian, Artemis, and Wondergirl took their best shot slamming the ship from the other side. Some pretty heavy hitters and strikes it it. Wondergirl jumped off of the drones and managed to trick one drone into firing at the other.

Everything just hit them all at once. Harry barely held up his shield and caused large blocks of ice to fly at the ships, smashing down on them. M'gann assisted him in redirecting the assaults. From the other end, Mareena rose up to pull the ships into the frozen armor.

Separated from the rest of her team, Artemis rapid-fired her arrows, pinging them across the surface.

The exploding arrows barely scratched the paint job. Suddenly, one of the drones dropped a large cylinder like object on the ground.

Artemis vaulted over to get a closer look.

"Artemis wait!" Whitney yelled.

She rushed at the speed of light to pull Artemis away from the egg. However, the beam of light was not enough, as it vaporized Artemis right before their very eyes.

M'gann screamed out to grab at Artemis. Only a pair of strong hands prevented M'gann from jumping onto it.

"Stick with the mission!" Harry yelled. "She's been sent to the void!"

Harry and Donna wrestled M'gann out of the way, too late to do anything. M'gann almost collapsed, breathing in heavily.

Well, thankfully the failsafe would have activated for Artemis at the very least. M'gann broke down and her subconscious mind struck Harry.

Wait, she should have realized deep down that Artemis's death was fake, right?

"Press forward," Harry grumbled.

The throbbing pain in the back of Harry's head distracted him for a moment. Something was wrong, something was not as it should be. Harry could not tell what this was, but he was pretty sure that something had gone wrong.

'Failsafe, failsafe,' Harry thought. 'Did someone move it?'

The faceless figures appeared from the shadows. The feeling of mortal dread Harry experienced earlier only increased. The figures were white, grotesque, and moved towards M'gann. More ships came from space, and if Harry had to guess, they had more of these creatures on them.

"NO!" M'gann yelled. "It can't be you!"

M'gann's eyes glowed with her smashing the ships together. M'gann slipped into her own world. Harry could not reach her at this point.

'M'gann, listen to me...this is a simulation, you're blocking the failsafe,' Harry thought.

However, a pulse of M'gann's mind knocked Harry out and caused him to get a nose bleed. The minute Harry tried harder, the harder M'gann pushed him out.

"Harry?" Zatanna asked.

"Zatanna, we're in a simulation you got to help me break into M'gann's mind to remind her of that," Harry said.

"Right, I'm on it," Zatanna said.

For a second, Harry thought sanity and clarity finally won the day.

"eirraB!" Zatanna yelled.

The barrier popped up, with Mareena reinforcing it. Harry realized that Zatanna heard something else other than what he consciously said. Which meant the rest of the team were deeper into the simulation.

"I don't know how long this is going to hold!" Zatanna yelled.

The ships and the figures just kept coming. With the team losing so much ground it was almost obscene.

Sara launched a Canary Cry at the ship. The ship came down onto her and Sara vanished in a rage.

"SARA!" Whitney yelled. "OH, GOD!"

"Whitney, calm down!" Harry yelled. "M'gann's blocking…."

No one was hearing Harry, which caused him to really lose his shit. Especially given the figures multiplied and came at them.

Zatanna's force bubble just barely blocks the bombardment. A loud blast of light almost smashed Zatanna, but she put up the shield at the last minute.

Something happened with M'gann losing the plot completely. Harry grabbed M'gann by the shoulders and started to shake her.

It was like Harry was not even there. M'gann's terror only increased, and the chill spread over them.

"M'Gann, luv, please, work with me," Harry said. "Artemis and Sara are in the void...but if we don't unblock the failsafe...they will die. Do you hear me, M'gann? Artemis and Sara will die!"

"I know they're dead and it's all my fault," M'gann said.

"No, they're not dead, but they will die!" Harry said. "We're in a simulation….something has gone really wrong!"

Harry attempted to snap her out of it, but she's paralyzed with fear.

"What are those things?" Donna asked.

"They're White Martians," Helena said grimly.

The demons from M'gann's past turn out to haunt her. And also prevent her from focusing and remembering on the fact that this was a simulation.

"They were not White Martians to begin with though," Harry said. "They were faceless enemies. We need to work together to get out of here. We need to get out of the simulation."

Harry's words fall completely on deaf ears as the entire team was fixated on the Martians who were coming after it.

Sara and Artemis, both gone in an instant, with M'gann trembling. Harry tried to think of another way to see here.

"WE SHOULD GO!" Harry yelled.

Harry could not rip down the walls of the simulation without killing Artemis and Sara. Not that they had much time left.

"M'gann, we have to….M'gann we have to regroup," Donna said.

"Harry, are you with us?" Helena asked.

"No, because we're in different pages," Harry said. "We need to get out of this simulation now!"

"Right, to the ship!" Helena said.

Donna dragged M'gann and Helena dragged Whitney. Zatanna and Mareena bombarded the White Martians.

"Harry, we could use a fire attack," Mareena said. "Martians hate fire, remember?"

An eruption of fire sent the White Martians scattering, and Harry hoped that seeing them destroyed would snap M'gann out of it. They made their way onto the Bioship, with Harry grabbing her.

"M'gann, M'gann, honey, you need to wake up!" Harry yelled. "This is Har...you need to wake up."

Harry hates to shake M'gann like this, but she needs to get her head back in the game. However, it was not going to work. M'gann was too deep into her funk and that funk caused the failsafe that Harry needed to be blocked.

"We have to get back to Washington," Helena said. "The Watchtower...the Hall of Justice, something."

"Hordes of these White Martians, invading Earth, and my daughters don't have the decency to respond to a simple phone call!" General Sam Lane barked. "Days like this I wish that I was taken out by that damn Amazon!"

Lane paced up and down, anger dancing in his eyes. Lois was right in the thick of the things, and Sam hoped his oldest daughter was not in the Daily Planet building.

"The President's last order, we're going to have to carry it out," Sam said. "May God have mercy on us all if we fail."

Everything about this invasion drove General Sam Lane up the wall. Aliens, everywhere. It would be a lot easier when they were fighting terrorists, who threatened this great country.

"General, look!"

Despite the grim situation, General Lane cannot help and feel relief at the team coming up around the corner. The young sidekicks of the Justice League, and Superman, appeared around the corner.

"Anything from the League?" Sam asked them.

"No, General, we're the last heroes out there,"

Mareena leans in to get the word from the General.

"Then, you better hear the latest from me, Aquagirl," Sam said. "Air Force One has been bombed down, and the President was on it. And now we were supposed to meet with Wade Eiling and his troop, but something happened."

Situation had gone from bad to worse, very worse as a matter of fact. Sam was not going to mince words.

"I think we're all fucked," Sam said. "Unless we can do something."

"We need to get out of this," Harry said. "I will get us out of this."

"Well, hopefully your as super as my daughter says you are," Sam said.

Washington burned thanks to the White Martian attack. Everything remained hopeless, and Mareena walked closer to the water, which bubbled.

Broken pieces of Atlantis came out of the water, and caused Mareena to break out into a fit of terror. Tula's body, along with the bodies of several other of her classmates floated.

"Mareena...stay strong," Harry said.

Harry's words kept falling on deaf ears, but if he could get through to one team mates, it might be worth it.

Mareena's eyes flashed onto the woman who rose out of the water. She resembled Mera, but only with Purple Hair, and a demonic look on her face.

"That's what happens when you grow up weak," she told Mareena. "You should have been strong...but you got your weakness from your pathetic father. But, that didn't get him anyway."

Whitney and Helena grabbed Mareena hard and Mareena's eyes shifted over. The image of her aunt disappeared, but the wreckage of Atlantis.

"Help, someone help me!"

A screaming child and that caused goosebumps to rise on the back of Kid Flash's neck.

Kid Flash rushed over to save the child. The blast of light incinerated the child in an instant.

Too slow, too late, much like her teammates, and that shook Whitney to the core. Much like Barry, much like Artemis, she was too fast.

"LISTEN UP EVERYONE! WHAT YOU'RE IN IS A SIMULATION! NONE OF THIS IS REAL! M'GANN BLOCKED THE FAILSAFE! IF YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO HELP ME GET OUT OF HERE! SARA AND ARTEMIS WILL BE DEAD FOR REAL IF YOU DON'T LISTEN!"

Nothing.

"HOW ARE AM I SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOU WHEN NONE OF YOU LISTEN TO A WORD I'M SAYING?"

Harry yelled himself hoarse at the team, but no one in the simulation appeared to be reacting. An image of green lights flying towards faceless figures popped up in Harry's head. Several people screamed, and others laid dead at Harry's feet.

He warned them, none of them listened. Harry almost broke down, no one in his team had been able to hear a damn word he said.

It hit Harry that something really powerful blocked him from reaching the failsafe. Or rather, blocked M'gann's subconscious mind.

Something was wrong, very wrong.

Someone was in the simulation. Someone who should not be in the simulation.

The spikes in the vitals made Caitlin think something had gone wrong. The fact Artemis and Sara had gone into such a state and did not spring out to the simulation.

"I don't understand this," Caitlin said. "Harry would have pulled them out at the first sign of danger."

J'onn slumped over, with Wonder Woman, Superwoman, and Batman pulling him up. The Martian's deep breathing got even more ragged.

"I'm okay, but M'gann is not," J'onn said. "None of them are...something's wrong with the simulation."

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Superwoman demanded. "HOW DID YOU DO THIS TO THEM?"

Despite Superman practically shaking her, Caitlin remained cool under the face of fire.

"I don't know, the simulation never reacted like this," Caitlin said. "Batman made his modifications, but he assured me that everything worked fine."

Superman's accusatory look fell on Batman.

"I ran every test I could," Batman offered.

"Well, you didn't test it good enough," Superwoman said.

"Everyone, just calm down, Artemis and Sara…."

"GET THEM OUT OF THERE!" Superwoman yelled.

"I can't" Caitlin said. "It's blocking me from accessing the failsafe from the outside and to unplug the machine...it will kill them all or worse."

"Worse?" Claire asked.

"Their minds will detach from their bodies," Caitlin said. "On the outside, they will all be a vegetable."

"I can't believe you thought this was a good idea!" Superwoman shouted at Batman.

"Calm down," Batman said.

"Don't you give me that look. You're not allowed to give me that look. Not now, Bruce!"

J'onn clears his throat, getting their attention.

"We should remain calm...for the sake of our young friends," J'onn said. "And someone is going to have to go in to save them."

"I'll do it," Batman said.

"No, I don't trust you to do it right," Superwoman said. "Given how much you messed up the simulation already."

"It's going to have to be me anyway," J'onn said. "This dangerous force...it's mentally strong and feeding off of M'gann by the moment, her fears. I might be able to break through, but we're going to have to hurry."

"Hera help us," Diana said.

"We're going to need more than that," J'onn grimly said.

As much as Diana's sentiments were appreciated, J'onn feared they were not enough. Batman and Fairchild hooked him up and J'onn slipped into his fictional avatar, hoping that he would not be too badly damaged to do any help.

The chill only increased when J'onn entered the simulation.