[Emissary] Chapter 13 - Dark Intentions (Patreon)

AN: One of my fics is close to ending, so I'm thinking about starting to write a new story once that happens. I have posted a poll with over ten story options on my FFN profile, so you can go vote there. It is a blind poll so that you do not get influenced by other voters. The poll will remain open for several good weeks.

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Chapter 13 - Dark Intentions

“This is unacceptable, Lex. What do you think you’re doing?” said an old, white-haired man. Despite his age, his back was straight, and he still appeared to be in good shape. If there was one other thing that stood out in his appearance, it was the fact that he was wearing an eye patch.

“That should be obvious, Mr. President,” Lex Luthor replied.

“We’re taking it to the bad guys, sir,” Flash piped in with a confident smirk.

“Well, you should be very proud,” the president said sarcastically before raising his voice at Luthor: “Have you given the slightest thought to the consequences of your actions?”

“Don’t talk to me like a child!” said Lex Luthor, frowning. “I was fighting this battle long before your administration decided to roll over for the Syndicate!”

“We didn’t roll over. We worked hard to achieve a delicate balance with the Crime Syndicate,” the president bit back. "It’s the only way the American people can live in relative safety.”

“Forgive me, Mr. President, but that’s a load of crap.”

“Be that as it may, I’ve already ordered the release of Ultraman and the rest of the Crime Syndicate members that you have captured.”

“You did what?!” Superman shouted, scandalised.

“You wanna watch your tone?” the president said in a warning tone.

“I’m sorry, Mr. President. I just don’t understand how could you let them go free!”

“You clearly don’t understand much of anything. Do you think anybody would testify against the Crime Syndicate? Do you think if anybody were willing, we could keep them alive until trial?”

“We can,” said Martian Manhunter.

“Oh? Are you going to protect their families too?” asked the president. “Are you going to stay here and watch over us forever?”

“Obviously not,” Superman replied instead of J’onn. “But we can stop them right now. Put an end to their hold over you.”

“Are you going to kill them?” Mr. President said hopefully.

“No. We don’t do that,” said Superman.

“Then I’ve got a better idea,” President Wilson said. “How about you go home and end all crime on your own planet?”

⁂

“Unbelievable!” Hawkgirl burst out in exasperation once the Justice League left the Oval Office. “All this work, for nothing!”

“What do we do now?” asked Superman.

They were in a conundrum. They had managed to defeat the leader of the Crime Syndicate, Ultraman (Superman’s counterpart), and a dozen more members of the villainous organisation rather easily.

However, the president of the United States had just told them that each and every one of those villains was going to be released from custody.

“I don’t know,” said Green Lantern. “No matter how many times we put a stop to their evil deeds, it’s for nothing since they won’t be prosecuted.”

“We can’t stay here forever either,” Hawkgirl said. “We are needed back in our homeworld.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to give up now!” Lex Luthor said. “You can’t do this! You’re my world’s only hope! I have no way of standing up against the entire Crime Syndicate all by myself!”

“I’m sorry, man,” Flash said crestfallen. “I just don’t see what we could do. We can’t give up on our home for this world.”

In spite of how desperate he was, Lex Luthor was an intelligent man. He understood the situation he was in, and he also understood the Justice League’s circumstances. In the first place, it was a miracle that he had managed to convince them to cross over considering that a villain had destroyed an entire city and killed over 1 million people back in their world.

At that moment, Superman’s earpiece suddenly activated, and Batman’s voice rang in his ears.

“Superman, do you copy?”

“Batman?! How-, wait, did you cross over into this dimension too?!”

There was no other explanation as to how radio communication would be possible between the two of them.

“Yes. We need to meet as soon as possible. I’m in front of the University in Gotham City.”

⁂

The first thing that Batman did once Lex and the Justice League met up with him was to roughly shove Luthor into a fence and scream at him.

“You asked for our help, but you couldn’t be honest with us from the start! Makes me wonder, what else are you hiding from us!”

“Whoa, easy there! What’s set you off like that?” Superman said as he stepped between the two of them to separate them.

“What set me off? How about you ask our new friend what he secretly hid in our Watchtower before you all left.”

“...How did you know about that?”

“About what?” asked Green Lantern, his face turning stern. “What is going on here?”

“Four members of the Crime Syndicate crossed over to our dimension after you left, trying to get their hands on this,” said Batman as he took out the flask with the quantum trigger from his utility belt.

“What’s that?” asked Hawkgirl. For some reason, it looked familiar to her.

“The quantum trigger!” Lex Luthor answered. “Thank God they didn’t get their hands on it.”

“Yeah, you can thank God again because they would have used it to destroy the world. Not just your dimension, but the whole world.”

It didn’t take long for Batman to bring them all up to speed. After learning of the QED bomb the Crime Syndicate was building and the consequences of detonating said bomb on Earth Prime, a tense mood was instilled.

All of a sudden, things escalated from a simple trip to another world to beat up some villains to the entire reality being in jeopardy.

“What about Emissary? Why did he not come with you?” asked Wonder Woman. “From what you told us, he’s much more powerful than we thought.”

“If he really defeated Superwoman and two of her three Made Men like you said, he’s a very powerful man. He is definitely someone we should have on our side now when we’re about to attack the Crime Syndicate’s Headquarters,” said Lex Luthor.

“He couldn’t come with me due to his magic. He was afraid of destroying this teleporting device. I still have the beacon he gave us, but I don’t know if it can summon him across the dimensions. Truth be told, I’d rather not have him with us. He can’t be trusted.”

“Look, Batman, at first, I was as suspicious of him as you were, but it’s getting tiresome how you bring it up every ten minutes when you have no proof whatsoever about-”

“I have proof this time,” Batman cut him off. “Once we are done destroying this QED bomb and we get back to our world, I will let you all know what I learned about him.”

“Let’s leave that aside for now,” said Wonder Woman, crossing her arms to her chest. “Let’s deal with ‘now’ and ‘here’. What’s the plan?”

“If Emissary’s words are to be trusted, the Crime Syndicate is keeping their QED bomb inside their Headquarters, on the moon,” Batman said.

“I don’t see what there is to plan about,” said Flash. “We fly to the moon, storm their base, and decommission the bomb. Simple. Also, you said it can’t be detonated without that quantum trigger, right?”

“Shouldn’t we hide that thing somewhere before we go? Or even better, destroy it?” asked Hawkgirl, her mace already in her hand and crackling with electricity.

“It’s pure energy; it can’t be destroyed,” Luthor said with a shake of his head.

“It can’t be hidden either. If they could find it in a different dimension, what makes you think they won’t find it here, in their own world? We have no choice but to take it with us,” Batman added.

“Maybe I should carry it,” said Superman.

“No, they’ll expect you to have it since you’re the strongest among us. I think it’s better if I keep it. Nobody will expect me to carry it,” said Batman, and he put the quantum trigger back in his utility belt, not leaving room for debate.

⁂

Twenty minutes later, Lex Luthor and the Justice League could be seen leaving the Earth’s atmosphere inside a green sphere of light. Green Lantern was carrying everyone with his power ring, flying towards the moon.

“Are we there yet?” asked Flash.

“That wasn’t funny the first 15 times you said it either,” Green Lantern said, the corner of his right eye starting to twitch in annoyance.

“If Emissary was with us, we could’ve teleported there straight away,” Flash said, bummed out at how long (for his standards) the trip was taking them.

“If I recall correctly, he can’t teleport to places where he hasn’t been before,” Wonder Woman said.

“I have a question. If it turns out that Batman was right to be suspicious of him all along, how are we to apprehend him?” Martian Manhunter asked.

That question left most of them at a loss for words momentarily.

“Just take away his magic wand,” said Flash with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I don’t think it would work. I saw him casting his spells without it too,” John Stewart said.

“Locking him up in prison wouldn’t work either. He can teleport out any time he wishes,” Wonder Woman added.

“Maybe we could keep him trapped with your Lasso of Truth?” asked Hawkgirl.

“We could, but someone would have to hold the other end of the Lasso 24/7. Any volunteers?”

When Diana asked that question, nobody replied.

“Maybe you could sedate him,” Lex Luthor suggested. “If there is anything I can help with, don’t hesitate to ask me once we finish dealing with the Crime Syndicate.”

“But would he not know if we were plotting something against him? If he can read your minds like I can, things won’t be simple,” the Martian said.

“Would you, guys, stop it?” Superman said in an authoritative voice. “He is our teammate. He is our friend. We don’t even know for sure if he’s guilty or if it’s just Batman’s usual paranoia, and you’re already talking about arresting him.”

Everyone quieted down at that, looking away guiltily. They didn't truly mean their words; they were mostly just making conversation. The Justice League spent the rest of the trip in silence.

Fortunately, the Green Lanterns’ flying speed in outer space was outstanding, so it didn’t take them that long to land on the moon’s surface.

“How are we supposed to get in again?” Flash asked when the large tower of the Crime Syndicate appeared in their line of sight.

“Multi-frequency band, encryption analyzer-replicator pack,” Luthor answered as he typed on a mini-computer stored in one of the gauntlets of his super suit.

“Some of us don’t speak Star Trek.”

“Think of it as a fancy garage door opener,” Lex Luthor dumbed it down for him.

A few moments later, the large blast doors of the hangar opened, allowing Green Lantern to slip in together with everyone.

“Is it just me, or does this seem a little too easy?” Wonder Woman asked.

She wasn’t the only one feeling that way. They had expected the Crime Syndicate to welcome them with robots, armed drones, or at least a dozen villains. After all, their numbers were far superior to the Justice League.

“Maybe they’ve just gotten out of jail and haven’t had the time to come back. Either way, I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Follow me,” said Luthor, and he walked ahead of everyone, all the while consulting the floor plans of the Crime Syndicate’s skyscraper on his gauntlet’s mini-computer.

The Justice League walked through the empty corridors unimpeded. No alarms, no robots, no armed drones, no patrolling villains; nothing stood in their way.

“It should be right about… here,” Luthor said as they arrived at the end of the corridor. The large room ahead of them was covered in darkness.

“I don’t like this-” muttered Superman, activating his X-ray vision.

However, his X-ray vision didn’t yield any new findings. The room truly appeared to be empty.

As they stepped into the room, heading towards the large silhouette that they had recognised as the QED bomb, unable to ignore his gut feeling, Superman stopped using his X-ray vision and focused on his Superhearing.

“Not good! This is a trap!” he suddenly shouted.

He didn’t understand how his X-ray could not detect anyone, but his Superhearing revealed the fact that there were dozens of people all around them.

Alas, his warning came a little too late. The very moment he spoke, the darkness in the room was sucked into an old man’s cane, revealing bright lighting and over 20 people wearing special suits waiting for them.

Their path of retreat was cut off as well when another 15 Villains blocked the entrance of the corridor that they had just come from.

The Crime Syndicate and their Made Men were all there.

“You’ve come a long way. It would be a shame for you to leave without us as much as giving you a warm welcome, don’t you think so?” Owlman said.

The Justice League and Lex Luthor were filled with tension and moved so that they were all with their backs to each other and with their faces at the over two dozen metahuman criminals surrounding them from all sides.

"This is bad,” said John, a worried look on his face.

“Oh, God, we’re so screwed!” said Flash too.

Ultraman flew down in front of Lex Luthor with his arms crossed at his chest.

“I told you that you’re going to regret this. You should’ve known what would happen if you chose to continue opposing me. Everyone who has ever stood in my way is dead. I’m going to rip your head off and hang it on my wall, in my office, in Metropolis. It will serve as a warning for anyone dumb enough in the future to rise against me.”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Give us the quantum trigger or-” Owlman began

“Or what? Whether we give it to you or not, you’re going to kill us anyway,” Flash said.

“You could have a painless death. Or we could keep you alive, make a small trip to your world, then bring over your family and make you watch as we kill them, right in front of your eyes,” the other-dimension Green Lantern said.

“Do you even know what he’s actually planning on doing with the bomb?” Batman spoke at that moment. “He’s going to use it to kill everyone.”

“What are you talking about?” Ultraman said, furrowing his brows.

“Owlman never had any intention of using the bomb to blackmail the government. He plans on detonating it. Superwoman told us the truth after we captured her.”

“Is that true? Were you two going to betray me?” Ultraman flew to Owlman and shouted.

“Don’t be naive. They’re surrounded and desperate. They’ll say anything to get out of their predicament. You can have the quantum trigger and arm the bomb yourself whenever you feel like doing it.”

Feeling as though Owlman’s reasoning was sound, Ultraman stopped doubting him and ordered all his underlings:

“Kill them all!”

A chaotic and messy battle erupted.

Superman managed to dodge Ultraman’s flying charge, but a Canary Cry caught him in full and slammed him back into the wall of the room. He got up right away, but a blast of lightning made him scream. He couldn’t even catch his breath before a tall, burly, and muscular grey-skinned man who looked like a member of the cartel punched him so hard that it sent him flying over 20 metres away.

Green Lantern wasn’t faring any better either. Sweat was pouring down his face like a river as he struggled with all his might to maintain the protective sphere of light around himself while nearly 10 metahumans were raining down punches and elemental attacks on it.

It was the same for the others too. Lex Luthor, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl were barely hanging on.

The one who was having it the easiest was Flash because he was so fast that only his other-world counterpart, who was also a speedster, could keep up with him. But he was still getting caught by stray attacks once in a while, nearly spelling his doom a few times.

The one faring the worst of them all was Batman. He was just a human caught in a fistfight against metahuman criminals. His peak human athleticism and martial arts meant next to nothing when he got ganged up by five criminals at once. Less than two minutes from the start of the fight, Batman was shot in the stomach by a villain and beaten to an inch of his life by the rest.

Severely beaten and bleeding all over, Batman could do nothing when Owlman pressed his knee hard on his chest, immobilising him, and then proceeded to quickly open the pockets of his utility belt as if it were his, bypassing all the security protocols he had put in place.

Owlman smiled when he found the quantum trigger.

“I knew I was going to find the quantum trigger on you!"

Knowing that the other dimension had people just like them, their good counterparts, Owlman chose to bet on the idea that his counterpart, Batman, would act and think just like he does. And his guess was spot-on.

Taking advantage of the fact that Ultraman was occupied with the still desperately resisting Superman, Owlman ignored Batman and broke into a run towards the QED.

Despite hating what he was about to do and the fact that he didn’t trust Emissary more than he could throw him, Batman had no other choice at that moment. He grabbed the beacon from the pocket of his utility belt (Owlman had not even given it a second glance) and smeared it with the blood flowing from his gunshot wound before throwing it towards the QED with all the strength he was capable of in his injured state.

⁂

The flash of blue light marking Harry’s teleportation into the room went unnoticed among the dozens of other elemental and energy attacks flying around.

When Harry was summoned by the beacon, his protective spells were already in place, having expected that the Justice League might need his help soon.

He was disoriented for a few seconds, unable to make sense of the situation. Looking around quickly, the first thing he noticed was the large QED bomb.

‘Not quite sure what’s going on, but I’m going to leave a marker on the bomb first.’

According to Superwoman’s memories, he knew that the Owlman was not going to detonate the bomb in his dimension; the psychopath’s plan was to take it to Earth Prime’s dimension. Therefore, the first thing he needed to do was to secure a way to get to the bomb in case things went south.

He Disapparated with a crack and Apparated with another crack right next to the bomb.

‘Since the bomb is still here, it means it’s not armed.’

Without the quantum trigger, it was harmless. Therefore, Harry wasn’t afraid to use his magic on it. It took him no more than four seconds to carve 7 small Runes into the outer plating of the QED.

Once he was done setting up the beacon, he turned his body into a wraith and flew towards the battling metahumans.

‘Bugger.’

Hawkgirl’s large, angel-like wings were the first to catch his eye. The Thanagarian woman was lying unconscious on the floor, her wings and clothes stained with her blood.

His wraith-like body passed through all the metahumans that tried to attack him on his way there, making them think that he was the same as the green-skinned alien who could phase out of the material world.

Once he arrived at Hawkgirl’s body, Harry raised his wand above his head and spoke the incantation of his spell out loud, pouring a large amount of his magic power into it:

“Depulso Maxima!”

An incredible repelling force burst from him as the centre. It wasn’t a fatal attack for metahumans, but it flung away every single one of them, ally and enemy alike, sending them flying into the walls of the room.

Then he aimed his wand in front of him and turned around, making a complete circle as he chanted:

“Protego Diabolica”

Bright blue flames rose from the floor in a circle around him and rose high up in the air, all the way to the ceiling. But strangely enough, their proximity didn’t feel hot, and the floor and the ceiling weren’t singed by them either.

Casting a nonverbal Sonorus, Harry’s magically-amplified voice rang over all the other noises in the room:

“Emissary is here. All allies run into the circle if you want to live. This spell won’t hurt anyone who does not wish me harm!”

Wonder Woman was the first to react to his words, and, with a loud cry of exertion, she disengaged from the criminals who were attacking her. An extremely loud bang rang as she slammed her Bracelets of Submission against each other, rendering everyone in close proximity dizzy from shock. Right away, her body became like a blur as she flew through the wall of blue flames, straight to Harry.

Two members of the Crime Syndicate who were confident in their toughness charged at the circle of fire fearlessly, intending to blast through it. However, the very moment that they touched the blue flames, they burst into howls of pain.

Heroes and criminals alike watched in horror how the two metahumans were burned alive and turned into cinders in less than three seconds.

Taking advantage of everyone’s stupor, Superman was the second among the members of the Justice League to come back to his senses. He flew as fast as he could towards the place where Lex Luthor lay on the floor, fatally wounded but still alive. Grabbing Luthor in his arms, Superman made a beeline towards the circle of fire.

Ultraman was quick to react, and he sped up to cut Superman’s way before he managed to escape. However, a tendril of fire suddenly broke out from the circle, attacking him.

Ultraman punched the tendril away, but it did nothing except make his arm catch fire. His eyes widened in disbelief, and he cried out in pain as the blue flames ignored his invulnerability and started eating his flesh. Terrified at the prospect of ending up like his two subordinates a moment ago, he instantly blew his Ice Breath at full power, encasing his entire arm into a thick block of ice. That quick thinking and swift action managed to save his arm, but he couldn’t prevent Superman and Lex Luthor from getting away.

At that moment, much to all the members of the Justice League’s despair, the QED glowed with a bright purple light and vanished.

While everyone had been distracted by Emissary’s sudden appearance and his deadly blue fire spell, Owlman slipped away unnoticed and teleported himself and the QED to another dimension. To Earth Prime.

“God damn it!” Harry swore. “J’onn, Flash, quick! Bring Batman with you inside the circle! Fast! It’s not over! I can still get to the bomb!”

Flash punched his speedster counterpart in the jaw, buying himself a split second to disengage from their battle, and rushed towards Batman, who was unable to even stand due to his injuries.

“Come on, J’onn, what the hell are you doing?!” Harry shouted when he saw the Martian stop in front of the circle, unable to take the last two steps.

“He’s terrified of fire,” Wonder Woman said.

For a moment, Harry thought she was joking. But Wonder Woman wasn’t the type to joke around often, and she would definitely not do it in a situation like that.

“Diana! Pull him in with your Lasso!” Superman said urgently.

Even before he finished his words, Wonder Woman twirled the Lasso of Truth above her head and threw it at Martian Manhunter. Before J’onn could react, Diana’s lasso wrapped around his midsection and pulled him through the wall of fire.

J’onn yelled in panic when he was pulled into the fire, but, much to his shock and confusion, it was as if he passed through a cool breeze instead of flames.

Two moments later, Flash also arrived at the circle with Batman in his arms.

Having watched how every single one of his friends passed through the circle of fire unharmed, Flash didn’t hesitate and ran through it unafraid.

“AAaargh!”

A hoarse scream of agony erupted from Batman’s chest as Flash passed with him through the fire. Flash watched, petrified with shock and horror, how Batman’s body was instantly engulfed by the blue flames.

Batman’s terrible screams of pain were cut short a moment later as his body was turned into ash.

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AN: I'm evil ending it on such a cliff, I know lol

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