Chapter 11

At the Fortress, Harry ran a search to see whether or not he would locate Grace. One would think that a walking plague would leave a bigger trail. However, other than the guards she got away from, there was no evidence she was there.

"Perhaps, she's being a bit careful now that she's known."

Alura stepped into the picture at the Fortress. She had hung around and Harry had been very glad about her being there.

"We need to broaden the search for her, find her," Harry said. "She's a danger, especially if she is who you say she might be."

"Well, it's...likely that some of them might have made it to Earth, if what Galatea and Lyta are saying, is true," Alura said. "And Galatea comes from a future where they were a threat."

"Mmm, yes she does," Harry said. "But, I get the sense there's a whole lot she's not telling me. I don't know why, just call it a hunch."

"And while we're here, there's something else I need to talk to you about," Alura said. "It has to do with the progress of the extracted Kandorians."

"Yes," Harry said. "Hippolyta's offered them sanctuary until they find out their purpose on Earth. I'm not about to make that decision for them, it's all up to them."

"I agree," Alura said. "Not all of them are warriors or soldiers. They need to find a way to cope with their abilities, as extraordinary as they may be. Paradise would be the best place for them. It's out of the way, and let's face it, it can be a bit unsettling to deal with these powers."

Harry agreed and got back to work. He could hear a beep which only increased the more. Upon his scan, he picked up a distress signal.

"Hmm, this is very odd," Harry murmured to himself.

"What?" Alura asked.

"This distress signal is coming from the Moon. It's only picked up in passing. I'm going to see if I can lock onto it and get it right here, bring it back in so I can figure out the source of it."

"The Distress Signal comes from Doctor Susan Storm. Who was part of an expedition with the rest of the Fantastic Four. They were here to try and find a cure for Aresia's plague, and they thought it would be on the outskirts of space. But, the problem is, none of them have been heard for years."

Harry joined M'gann, Kara, and Genesis on their trip. The quartet decided to take a field trip to the Moon to see what they could find. The Bioship got closer to their intended destination.

"Why the Moon?" Kara asked.

"I don't know, hoping to find out," Harry said. "We should get a little bit closer. The signals are getting stronger, even though she stopped actively sending it a while ago."

Suddenly, surprisingly, M'gann collapsed on the dashboard of the bioship. Kara and Harry looked in shock as M'gann started to murmur and shake underneath her breath. The ship was going to hurtle into the surface of the Moon, if they did not get a chance.

"No!" M'gann muttered.

Harry shook her by the shoulder, but she was still screaming in agony.

"M'gann!" Harry yelled. "Snap out of it."

"I've got it!" Genesis yelled.

Genesis took the ship, and Harry and Kara spent the next couple of minutes trying to snap M'gann out of her stupor. They moved closer. The entire group came very close to crashing straight onto the surface of the moon, but Genesis pulled back at the last second and landed the ship at the edge.

A deep breath followed, as the entire group scrambled back out of the ship. Harry managed to steer M'gann out of whatever PTSD she was having. The group left the ship and came across a shocking sight. It jarred them to their very core as they approached a smoldering wreckage.

Charred buildings of a city, and what appeared to be several human-looking bodies strewed the street. No one knew why, or how, but they existed and there were more questions than answers in a situation like this. M'gann's mouth hung open as she looked down at the grisly remains of this city.

"Something's here!" M'gann shouted, snapping back out of her stupor. "Something's here, that shouldn't be."

She took a second to calm down, although her hands still shook painfully.

Across the hallway, a dark haired gentleman dressed in the finest garments appeared. He paced back and forth outside of the glass prison which contained Queen Medusa of the Inhumans. Maximus the Mad of the Inhuman Royal Family, the black sheep, the brother of Black Bolt, staged this coup. And he imprisoned the Queen, to use her as leverage.

"Everything you've done, you make me sick," Medusa said.

"No, I've done everything for the future of my people, and now….I warned them," Maximus said. "I warned them."

Some called him Maximus the Mad. He did do a very good job in showcasing that particular aspect of himself with wide eyes, which furiously blinked back and forth. His eyes darted from one side to the other and then turned around to focus on Medusa. His breathing grew even more heavy.

"For years, I warned them of the danger of the Justice League having an orbiting space station so near the moon. I told everyone, I wanted them how it posed a danger to our people. And they would target us. And now, six of their charter members have left Earth to be on trial for acts of aggression. But the rest of them are there, and the space station is there. With weapons which can be pointed directly at the moon."

"You didn't do anything for our people, you did it for yourself," Medusa fired back.

"I WAS RIGHT!" Maximus yelled. "I told you the League was violent, but our people said they were heroes. Some heroes, going on a sixteen hour rampage of the universe. It's only thanks to sheer luck they did not blow us off of the surface of the moon for giggles."

Several cloaked figures appeared right next to Maximus. The allies which made this take over possible.

"We are very concerned about the two rebels not being imprisoned," one of the cloaked figures commented in a low and grisp voice. "The Invisible Woman and Princess Crystal are disrupting our operations. The Imperium cannot move forward in the next stage of our plan."

Medusa just smiled. She enjoyed the fact that Crystal was not only loose, but causing the terrorists fits.

"And she's here!" one of them snapped. "She has nerve showing her disgusting traitor face."

This statement caused a strong negative wave of emotion which almost forced Maximus's skull to ring.

"I beg your pardon?" Maximus asked.

"M'gann M'orzz, she's arrived here on the Moon," the hooded figure snarled.

"That seems like a problem you're going to have to deal with," Maximus dismissively replied. "Take care of her, do what you need to do. We need to enact the final plan."

"Yes, we have everything, except for one final component the one called the Invisible Woman tracked down."

"Find her and end her," Maximus said.

Medusa knew Susan would be able to withstand everything. Sadly, she had been through so much already, but she did show a great strength. Medusa could emphasize with the loss she suffered now more than ever.

"I don't believe it, I don't believe it," M'gann murmured. "The Imperium are here."

Finally, several minutes of intense and rather frantic mumbling later, M'gann shook herself out of mental stupor. She turned to Harry, Genesis, and Kara.

"Sorry, them being so close on the moon has just unnerved me."

"Okay, I'll bite," Kara said. "What's the Imperium?"

"They are a fanatic group of White Martians," Genesis said.

"Particularly fanatic, as they would rather burn Mars to ash them to coexist with any Green Martians," M'gann said with a sigh. "The Greens are not without their extremist factions, but the Imperium will slaughter anyone who is not a White Martian. They consider themselves to be crusaders of peace."

"One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter," Kara grimly concluded.

Sadly, it was true no matter what the world.

"Wait," Harry muttered. "There's someone coming."

Everyone stood straight up, a bit unnerved by it. A trio of White Martians came out. Genesis converted into sphere mode and fired some warning shots at them, but they backed off.

"For the Imperium!"

One of them turned into a hideous looking tiger-like creature and pounced at Harry. Harry knocked it out of the air. Another one phased through the ground. Harry avoided being pulled back underneath the Earth. He jumped back up and slammed his feet into the back of the head of the creature to drive him back under ground.

The trio of White Martians backed up and engaged their enemies. Supergirl, Miss Martian, and Superman were ready for the attack, but they did not need to engage.

A figure swiped down and hit them with a barrage of vicious attacks. A blade made of solid fire backed off the creatures and slashed them across the chest.

A very attractive red-haired woman, dressed in black dropped down to the ground. She grabbed one of the White Martians and slammed him down to the ground. Two of them dropped down, succumbing to their wounds, while a third left.

"Come with me, if you want to live."

Genesis, Harry, M'gann, and Kara silently had a conference. It appeared the best way to deal with this situation is to follow their savior off.

The group of White Martians, the Imperium ,surrounded a large device, set up and ready to go. It was only missing one component before it was ready.

"This will give me ultimate control," he whispered. "This will strengthen my army and allow me to eradicate anyone who stands against our cause. All of the lessers of all of the parasites which plague Mars will be eradicated."

"She is here though!" one of the Imperium members yelled. "And you might be blinded."

"Blinded?" the hooded leader asked.

"Yes, we fear you might be blinded by blood and have lost sight of the cau….ARGH!"

A hand stabbed through the heart of the questioning Martian. Blood sprayed all over the place. The leader of the Imperium got it all over him, and an uncaring gaze followed with the blood spurting all over the place. They all backed off in fear of what their leader could do.

"Do any of you others wish to question me?"

They all shook their heads and fell back into line. Not a single one of them had the nerve to question him. The White Martian in front of them broke into a small smile as he locked his gaze onto them.

"No."

"No, what?"

""No, Ma'alefa'ak."

They bowed before him. They feared him. They all descended to their knees in fear and in awe at his power.

As it should be.

"So, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" Kara asked.

The woman just smiled.

"I'm so used to being known by all, that I forget an introduction may be necessary to some people. My name is Princess Crystal of the Inhuman Royal family. Welcome to Attilan, the capital city of the Inhumans. But, we're not in control as we want to."

"So, it's because of the Imperium, that you're in trouble," Harry said.

"Well, they've joined forces with Maximus, the brother in law of our slain king Black Bolt, who bravely tried to fight the invaders, but they used him as an example of what happens to those who oppose them."

Crystal took a couple of moments to get herself composed before she returned to the conversation, a deep breath following in the process.

"They imprisoned my sister. Thankfully, I was able to join up with Susan Storm. The sole surviving member of the Fantastic Four. We've...encountered them in the past."

"They're dead too," Harry muttered.

"Yes, unfortunately," Crystal said. "It's sad, but in spite of our hardship, Susan and I are going to have to move forward. And Maximus has always been a problem, but Black Bolt has given him a lot of room to be a better person. Which ended up fatally causing a problem when he joined forces with the Imperium. He's the black sheep of the family."

M'gann decided to sigh. She had a look of someone who had a tremendous weight about them, which she was about ready to expel.

"You're not the only one who has a bad seed in the family. My...my brother….M'comm, I sensed him on Earth's moon. We linked minds, briefly, but the hate, it was too much. He joined up with the Imperium and he's going down a dark road."

Harry's hand looped into M'gann's and he squeezed it. She appreciated the support, something she was going to need with the coming frustration.

"Well, your brother's not only with the Imperium but I'm afraid he's leading them," Crystal said. "Under the name Ma'alefa'ak."

This entire statement jarred M'gann something fierce. She had hoped that M'comm would not be beyond hope. Still, a stirring in her heart showed this not to be the case. Would she have to do the unthinkable to stop him? Could she eve have the nerve?

The door opened and the entire group tensed. Crystal smiled.

"I'm back."

A gorgeous blonde woman dressed in black appeared. The skin tight uniform fit every inch of her body. She was stunning and Harry recognized her, although this was the first time he met her in person.

"We have some help," Crystal said. "Members of the Justice League."

"Actually, technically, that's not a thing anymore," Kara said. "Long story."

"Well, it's one you can fill us in later, for the Imperium is on the move," Susan said. "Doctor Susan Storm, and you are….."

"Harry Kent, Kara Kent, M'gann M'orzz, and Genesis," Harry said, introducing them all around. "A pleasure to meet you, Doctor Storm."

The two shook hands, with Harry smiling.

"I just wish it was under more ideal circumstances," Harry said.

"I do as well," Susan said. "But...we can get to know each other far better later. They're going to make their move."

Harry's lips curled into a grimace.

"Not if I make mine first."