"I'm guessing that this is the spot," Robin murmured, kneeling on a cliffside. Right beside him was Red Arrow who sat with a frown.
Below them sat the royal gardens of Esagila, numerous figures dressed in black body armour stationed at the entrances and exits to a temple.
Tanks and armoured vehicles drove around the entrance and Robin narrowed his eyes when he saw Mammoth circling around the entrance.
"That seems to be the case. What does Velocity say?" Red Arrow asked and Robin tapped a finger on his portable computer gauntlet, bringing up an underground map littered with a number of red dots.
"According to him, there appears to be about two or three hundred guys underground so we'll have to look out for them. Along with that, Queen Bee and Klarion are also there and Klarion has some sort of black book with him."
"So, they are going through with the ritual? What of the Justice League?"
"They're currently busy with Ra's Al Ghul and Brain as planned."
"What of the limitations?" Red Arrow asked, readying his arrows as Robin raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean 'limitations'?"
"Are they needed alive or dead?"
"Uh, dude. Kind of need to dial back the edgy persona a bit here. You're a hero, remember?" he replied and Red rolled his eyes, adjusting his bowstring with a nod
"Alive if possible, but dead if needed. Got it."
"Says who?"
"Me," Red replied, Robin staring at him before letting out a sigh.
"Not going to listen, are you?"
"Not in the slightest," Red Arrow replied, taking out a regular arrow and making Robin groan.
"Okay, fine. Aim for taking them alive, please. Charlie Team, in position."
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"Beta Team, in position," Arsenal sounded off, adjusting the crossbow on his robotic arm as Artemis took out an arrow and Rocket's body was enveloped in a violet aura.
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"Delta Team, in position," Zatanna replied, letting out a frustrated sigh as her teammate scoffed.
"I'm a grown man stuck with a bunch of kids. Why not just make me a regular Justice League member and get it over with?" Guy Gardner asked with a scoff before his head turned to Zatanna as she rolled her eyes.
"Because you're an overgrown man-child that needs to focus on the mission."
"Yeah, yeah, sweetheart."
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"Guy, play nice. Alpha Team in position," Aqualad replied, shaking his head as he heard Guy's grumbles across the line. Turning to his two teammates, he narrowed his eyes as he saw the spark in Velocity's eyes, the teen turning to him before shaking his head.
"Don't worry. No throwing people at Mach 5 through a wall, right?"
"Right. Aquagirl?"
"First mission on land so...I guess I'm ready?" she replied hesitantly, to which Aqualad smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You're going to do great, okay?"
"...Okay," she nodded and he turned before tapping a button on the device he had around his forearm, linking the communication devices of every team together.
"Go," With his declaration, a loud pitch shriek exploded at the corners of the area, disorienting those there before he gave a thumbs-up to Velocity.
The speedster in question snapped his goggles on before he lunged forward, the world blurring into streaks of colour as he raced down the side of the mountain.
To the guards below, it felt like the wind was just passing through as Velocity raced forward, ripping rifles away from hands and tearing their magazines free.
Arrows were still slowly flying through the air as Velocity raced towards Mammoth, pulling his fist back and making it blur at a blistering speed.
Sliding to a stop in front of him, he punched forward and caught Mammoth's body flexing ever so slightly as if to dampen the blow.
The moment his attack landed, the world sped up as Mammoth was sent blasting backwards, his body ripping through a tank and denting another.
"HEROE-ARGH!" One of the guards gasped as an arrow pierced his shoulder, falling to a knee as Velocity spun and delivered a snap kick to his jaw.
The other guards' weapons were on the sides and behind the Titans as they descended down the mountains, Artemis, Arsenal and Red Arrow letting their arrows sing.
Each one was a perfect shot at a non-fatal spot, making sure their targets stayed out of the fight. Robin himself threw a flurry of bird-a-rangs as he rolled to dampen his impact, his bo-staff snapping out before a guard's knee was turned inside out.
The guard fell and caught an uppercut to the jaw, Robin vaulting over them and delivering a harsh smack to the side of another guard's shoulder.
Twirling the staff to parry a guard coming in with a knife, he snapped the staff into the back of the guard's knee as Aqualad slammed a water hammer into their chest.
"Here's Guy, bitches!" Guy exclaimed as he flew through the air, enveloped in the green aura of the Green Lantern Ring.
Rocket herself held up a shield to block any attempts to attack them as Guy forged numerous gigantic fists, letting out a joyful laugh as he swung them down over and over again.
Glowing blue tattoos were shining on Aquagirl's skin as she flew down, Aqualad catching her with a burst of water before letting it explode outwards.
As it did, arcs of electricity shot from her body and coursed through the droplets, the guards screaming as the electricity ripped through their bodies and forced them to a knee.
"Velocity!" the speedster nodded as he took off, racing around and tying the guards up before sliding to a stop in front of Mammoth.
The beast in question was charging at Aqualad, but the Atlantean did not look fazed as Velocity appeared in his path. The world moved at a snail's pace as his fists blurred, each punch accompanied by a burst of wind that sent ripples across Mammoth's body.
When he delivered the final punch, Velocity turned and walked back to Aqualad, the world continuing as Mammoth paused.
Then, hundreds of blows impacted his body within the blink of an eye and the beast wheezed as he fell face first into the ground.
'He's gotten stronger since Chris left for Mars,' Robin thought, watching as Velocity rolled his shoulders with a pop before looking to Aqualad with a grin.
"Yo, one super-strong guy knocked out cold."
"Good work. Robin, any alarms?"
"None have been activated, but stay on guard just in case," Robin replied, scanning through the underground as Aqualad nodded before turning to the team.
"Alpha and Charlie, we shall descend down the temple to stop Klarion and Queen Bee from achieving their plans. Beta and Delta, you two teams are to stay out here and keep out anyone trying to enter."
"Right," Zatanna replied with a smile, Guy and Rocket hovering in the air while Artemis and Arsenal gave silent nods of agreement.
Turning to his own group, Red Arrow already had an arrow in hand as Aqualad turned to Velocity, who nodded and took off.
"Let's go."
"Wait!" Robin spoke, making everyone pause right as Velocity slid to a stop beside them.
"Why is everyone stopped?"
"Look up," he replied and everyone did before their eyes widened at the figures descending.
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"So, what's the plan?" Flash asked, standing with his arms crossed beside Gotham's protector. Along with them, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Zatara and Hal were also waiting for his response.
Batman himself narrowed his eyes as he stared at Ra's al Ghul's main island in front of them, the courtyard littered with the League of Shadows along with what appeared to be dozens of villains that they have faced before.
"I know that Ra's has a lot of connection, but how does he and Boomerang know each other?" Hal asked, to which Flash shrugged as Batman stood up.
"Canary, report."
"Arrow, Atom, Aqua, John, Fate, Red and I are awaiting your command. We're currently at entrance B," She replied across the communicator, Batman's gaze moving over to the eastern point to see Aquaman's trident flashing from under the sea for a brief moment.
"Understood. Flash, get ready to use the necessary methods to take care of the villains."
"Got it. What about Ra's and Brain?"
"Leave them alone. We still need a verbal confession from them that Klarion did influence Paragon's mind."
"Will d-Bats, look up," Flash replied, everyone looking up before Martian Manhunter gave a slow blink as everyone turned to him.
"Your doing?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Alright, Martians! Let it rip!" Match shouted with a smile and in the blink of an eye, hundreds of White and Green Martians set off a telepathic link.
The villains below all looked up before freezing in place, Match diving down with a smile right as the heroes followed after him.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Wonder Woman asked with a frown and Match grinned before pointing down.
"We're here to get our lick-back for Supes. Chris, they're done."
"Got it. Activating inter-planetary rail-guns."
"Inter-planetary what?!" Flash exclaimed and their eyes widened as the camouflage around the Warworld retracted just as hundreds of beams were fired in the blink of an eye.
Flash himself raced out of their path as they impacted the villains, but to his surprise, the beams exploded harmless against the heads of the villains and simply made them collapse in slow motion.
'Oh, no one's dying,' he thought, slowing back down and stopping beside Batman right as all of the villains dropped like flies.
"Why are you killing them?!"
"Not killing them. Those are stun blasts," Match replied, making Wonder Woman pause as everyone looked between him, the Martians and the Warworld hovering above.
Then, Batman stepped forward and Match gave a sheepish smile at the piercing stare behind the mask.
"You have a lot of explaining to do. Start."
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"Hello, friends!" Koriand'r waved with a happy smile, Raven and M'gann hovering beside her.
However, their gaze moved to the figure hovering above the trio, a soft smile on his face as he touched down right in front of Aqualad.
"Kaldur," Chris greeted with a smile, his hands folded behind his back as the Warworld's control shimmered around his head. Kaldur didn't say anything as he stared at his friend before Chris chuckled when he reached forward to place a hand on his shoulder.
"Y-You...you are actually here?"
"I am here and I am healed," he replied, Kaldur having a happy smile on his face as he pulled him in and hugged him tightly.
"It is good to see you, my friend," Kaldur replied, making Chris chuckle as he hugged him back.
"It's good to see you too, my friend."
"Chris!" Wally's voice echoed as he blurred forward, knocking them both head over heels as they slid across the ground. When they stopped, everyone smirked at the sight of Wally tightly hugging Chris.
The Kryptonian clone in question just floated to his feet while hugging his friend, chuckling as Wally pulled back with an excited grin.
"You look taller," Wally spoke and Chris rolled his eyes with a smirk.
"Mars' atmosphere does a lot with that."
"You couldn't have send a postcard or something?" Artemis asked, a smirk on her face as Chris shrugged.
"Mars doesn't do postage," he replied, the group giving weak laughs at his words as M'gann touched down beside him.
"Well, hello there~ I'm Wally West aka-"
"Hello!" Koriand'r spoke with a smile and a wave, cutting Wally off. "I am Koriand'r, a close friend to Match."
"...Close friend as in...?" Wally trailed off as he looked to Chris, who made a so-so gesture.
"Not sure yet, but we think so."
"Great, the Kryptonians get all the ladies," he grumbled, everyone watching the speedster leave before Chris turned to the group.
"Well, I am glad to see that nothing has changed."
"Of course, though I hope I can say the opposite about you?" Kaldur asked and Chris realized what he was saying as he nodded with a smile.
"I was being honest, Kaldur. Everything up here is okay. Martians are really good when it comes to healing the mind, but enough of that. I see you guys are busy with something?"
"Klarion and Queen Bee are trying to end the world by summoning a cosmic entity," Rocket replied with a shrug and Chris hummed as the device around his head glowed.
Then, they heard a loud groan and looked up to see the Unity Sphere's surface shifting.
"Okay, everyone. Let's get about twenty miles away from this spot."
"Wait, w-"
"Wally?"
"On it," Wally replied as he lunged forward, easily carrying the group one by one away from the temple and about thirty miles to the south.
When he placed Robin down as the final member, the group blinked as their surroundings changed, some of them stumbling around while Robin blinked slowly and turned to Chris.
"What did you mean by us need-"
"Unity Sphere, light it up."
A/N: And we'll end it off here~! I don't know why the hell I'm uploading this late these days. Might just be my laziness, but I'm going to force it out of me for next year.
Anyway, we're coming onto the next arc and the showcase of a strong opponent. Who that is, we'll find out.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!