A sigh escaped my lips as the last of the Injustice League were put in their stasis cells, my gaze then moving to where Martian Manhunter and M'gann were busy reading through the memories of Vandal who was in his own cell.
I wanted to speak, but I also didn't want to disturb them so with a step back, I decided to just watch the two of them work.
For a minute or so, I stood with my arms crossed, observing as uncle and niece stared at Vandal's still form before M'gann blinked.
I was beside her as she stumbled back, her gaze meeting mine as I gave a concerned glance.
"You doing okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Just...Uncle J'onn said I had to pull back lest we wake him up. His mind is awake even with the stasis field keeping him frozen," she murmured, making me frown as I turned my gaze to the cell.
So, he's in frozen time and he still has countermeasures in his mind strong enough to ward off an adept mind reader? I'm starting to think this might be the prep time demon of this world.
"I see. Should we leave him alone?"
"For now, yes. He appeared to have it under control," she replied and I nodded, the circlet around my head lighting up. A few drones nearby turned and marched towards the cell, aiming their weapons at the cell as they stood next to Martian Manhunter.
"There, that should be enough," I spoke, drawing a giggle from M'gann. "Now, let's you and I go talk about what you wanted to talk about earlier."
"Right now?"
"No time like the present," I replied with a shrug and she stared at me before nodding.
The two of us left Martian Manhunter and the drones on their own as we left the stasis prison chambers, making our way through the intricate hallways of the Unity Sphere.
"So, what was so urgent that you wanted to talk about?" I asked, raising an eyebrow when she looked a bit hesitant.
"Um, let's wait until we reached the main control room," she replied, to which I gave a shrug before I noticed her eyes turning white.
I don't know who she was communicating with, but I decided not to ask as she ended the transmission just as soon as she started it. Grasping my hand, I smiled as I interlocked our fingers and we walked into the elevator.
"I'm not going to ask what we're going to talk about, but on a scale of one to ten, how bad is it going to be for me?"
"I'd say...a six or a seven depending on how favourable you are of polygamy."
"I'm sorry, favourable of what?" I asked as my head snapped to her, but M'gann just smiled as the elevator opened and she continued walking.
"You'll find out."
"No, no, don't act mysterious now," I replied, rushing after her as we walked to the control room. "Who or what is talking about poly-polygamy?"
"Like I said, you'll find out," she repeated and I let out a soft sigh, the two of us entering the control room. My gaze met Raven's as she stood beside the command chair and realization hit when I saw the anxious look in her eyes.
'Oh, great. So that's what's going on here,' I thought as I looked at M'gann, who stood on the opposite of the chair while looking at me.
"So..." I was a bit hesitant to speak as I looked between the two, M'gann herself glancing at Raven who didn't want to look at either of us.
"Yes. So..."
"God, all three of us need to talk about it so stop being so awkward."
"Well, that's harder to do now when you bring attention to it," I replied, making M'gann roll her eyes as Raven cleared her throat.
"M'gann is right. Let's just say that I had a crush and I moved on."
"No, because that's going to make me feel bad."
"I'm not even sure what's going on here...but I'm too afraid that speaking may result in something bad for me so I'm just gonna shut up," I responded, making M'gann sigh as Raven rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Basically, we're in a relationship, but she has a crush on you."
"...Is this from the time we used to hung out?"
"Before that. When you were the only one who convinced your team to help me get Cycle back," she corrected and I paused, crossing my arms with a frown.
"I...I see. Well, that's tough, but at the same time, I already have a girlfriend and I don't want to hurt her."
"And I don't want to hurt her."
"It feels like we're just going in circles here," Raven spoke up, M'gann and I looking at each other.
"She's not wrong/ Yeah," She and I replied respectively, an awkward silence settling in the room as the three of us looked at each other.
"Well, how about this? Chris, what do you want?"
"Why does this have to be on me?" I asked and Raven gave a slight smirk as M'gann shrugged.
"I don't want to lose her friendship, but it's hard for me to accept another girl. As for Raven, she likes you, but she doesn't want to get in between us two. We've not heard your true thoughts on this," she replied with a knowing look, making me sigh.
Truthfully, two girlfriends sounds exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. That being said, this was not an anime nor a cartoon where polygamy was easy.
This would require work from all three of us, mostly from me to ensure I didn't neglect either one too much. However, I think...yeah, I think I can do it.
Now, how would I...Actually, I think I got a way.
"I see that you look like you want to accept this," M'gann spoke and I gave a slight nod while scratching my head.
"Honestly, I'm still wary of this, but what if we have a trial run where we treat it like a schedule?"
"And how would that work?"
"Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays are M'gann's while Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are Raven's. That way, M'gann gets more days as she is my first girlfriend while I still pay a lot of attention to Raven. Would that...would that work?"
'Please work or don't work. I don't know what I want,' I thought with a wary look as I looked between the two, both of whom stared at each other. I didn't miss their pupils vanishing from time to time, the two of them communicating telepathically before they turned to me.
"We agree to the trial run, but if it does not work-"
"-we end it immediately," Raven finished and a sigh of relief escaped my lips as I nodded.
"I fought Lobo today and that's still the most terrifying thing I've had to do."
"Don't look so relieved, mister. Today's Saturday, which means you need to knock Raven's socks off," I blinked at how easily M'gann was accepting the change as she spoke, glancing at Raven only to smile as she immediately teleported away. Of course, that was not before leaving a message behind.
"Later today. I'll try and cook."
"...Are you sure you're okay with this?" I asked once M'gann and I was alone, noticing the crinkle at the corners of her eyes as she smiled at me.
"I'm...I'm not. This is going to take a while for me to get used to if the trial run does work out, but even if it doesn't, I always knew that there would be other women looking at you."
"Yeah. We...should probably not tell Artemis about this," I muttered as I wrapped my arms around her, making M'gann giggle as she hugged me back.
"Don't worry. We'll keep it secret until everything is done."
"Goo-" I paused as I felt a flicker in the back of my mind, the circlet lighting up as I connected to the Unity Sphere.
The next moment, my eyes widened and I activated all shields on the ship, M'gann letting out a squeal as I spun and held myself in between her and the hundreds of energy blasts impacting the shields.
We stumbled before I caught us, turning my head to stare at our attackers.
"...The fuck?" I whispered with wide eyes at the army of various coloured Scarab-wielding warriors hovering outside the Unity Sphere and Watchtower.
They were relentless as they unleashed blast after blast upon both structures and I grimaced as I immediately disconnected the pipeline connecting the two.
"Paragon, I am going to steer the Watchtower away! You go the opposite direction!" Batman's voice rang over the communication line and I moved, letting go of M'gann to sit down in the command chair.
Shifting some of the weaponry around, I turned the ship and flew to the west as the Watchtower went ease. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to care for the tower as only a few dozen went after it, the hundreds that were left immediately turning and following after the Unity Sphere.
"They're after us! Keep going with the Watchtower and when you've dealt with the ones with you, come and help!"
"Understood! See you shortly!" Batman responded before the line ended, M'gann herself looking concerned as the Unity Sphere drifted closer to the sun.
"Uh, Chris?"
"All Martians! This is King Chris! We are under attack by an unknown army! For the next minute, all systems except for the stasis prisons and ventilation system will be shut down! Please, stay where you are and do not panic!"
"I'll go make sure they stay calm," M'gann whispered and I gave a thankful smile, the Martian leaning down to give me a quick kiss before she rushed out the door.
Now alone, I finally focused on the various Beetles that flew after us and frowned as I noticed a few of them continuing their barrage to try and slow us down.
'Last I remember, the scarabs are only weak to the technology from the New Gods or Magic, neither of which the Unity Sphere has...but I know someone who has both.'
"Raven! This is Chris! Is the Cycle on board?!"
"Yes, I'll send it to the throne room!" Raven's voice echoed over a telepathic link and I blinked as I heard the loud revving of an engine, looking behind my seat just as the door opened and a large orb rolled into the room.
"She's here! You don't mind if I temporarily let her disassemble for a minute or two?"
"No, but if anything happens to her, I'm throwing you into space!" she responded before the link ended, a smile spreading across my face as Cycle rolled to a stop at my side.
With a thought, a slight hatch opened and let the Cycle sink into the floor, my eyes widening as I felt it rumble and a surge of information rippling through my mind.
"Name is Sphere, not Cycle," A robotic voice echoed in my mind as I looked at Sphere, whose form melded with the floor until I found myself staring at a new flooring made out of the same metal as Sphere with a singular 'eye' staring back at me.
"Right, Sphere. These things are weak to New God technology and that's what you are. Think I could harness your specific energy to attack them?"
"I do not see why not. Should the necessary quantity be for lethal or non-lethal takedowns?"
"The halfway point between the two."
"Understood," Sphere replied and I watched as several of the frontal shields shifted, a layer of reddish-orange energy appearing behind the blue energy shields already present.
It was not just the shields as some of the satellite's body shifted around, several dish-like satellites protruding from the surface. The tip of each glowed with a sparking orange hue and the shields dropped right as Sphere and I turned the shields.
Space was brightened by a bright orange array of beams firing from the satellites, each splitting off into more until dozens of beams obscured the Scarab wielders from view.
Explosions lit up the space between the Unity Sphere and the invaders before I activated the shields once more, taking control of the Unity Sphere to steer closer to Venus.
"Twenty entities have been eliminated," Sphere's voice spoke up and I gave a nod, slowly drifting around Venus and turning us back towards the Earth.
"How many are left?'
"Six hundred and twenty-seven."
"How many blasts are you capable of emitting?"
"Six more," Sphere replied and I grimaced before an idea came to mind.
"Okay, Sphere. On my call, adjust flight speed to maximum and alter flight pattern by 38 degrees."
"Understood."
"Rae! When I give the signal, cast your most powerful nullification spell!"
"For what?"
"Anything pertaining that you believe would work on their foreign technology."
"...I don't have one, but I'll figure something out."
"That's all I ask. Thanks!" she ended the connection once more and I frowned, taking a deep breath before letting my mind sink into the Unity Sphere itself.
Its scanners became my senses, its body my own as I twisted my skin and adjusted the shields. Each one flickered on and off, deflecting and parrying blasts at the moment of impact instead of perpetually staying active.
My own orbital cannons formed and fired rapidly, each of their targets like gnats as the Scarab-wielding army weaved and rolled around the attacks.
However, none dared to approach as I activated the second layer of defence, redirecting some of the first defence layer's power to the satellite's thrusters.
"Alright, Rae! In three, two, one, now!"
"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" Space itself distorted as a shockwave of pure magic erupted from the centre of the Unity Sphere. The shimmering purple-black pulse of energy rippled outwards, the Scarab-wielding army too slow to avoid the blast washing over them.
"Now! Open it!" The Unity Sphere did a slow spiral on its axis as several hooks were fired by the hundreds of cannons on the ship, each pulling a Scarab-wielder directly into a stasis cell.
At the same time, Sphere activated the full boost of the thrusters and I grunted as we lurched back towards Earth.
A groan escaped my lips as the ship began to slow down, approaching the blue planet only for my eyes to widen at the figure that floated outside of its atmosphere.
Behind him, the Watchtower laid in ruins, the Green Lanterns' unconscious forms floating behind the behemoth that stood with his arms crossed.
"Sphere, full power to thrusters now!!" I shouted, staring in horror at the sight of Darkseid's eyes lighting up.
The next moment, reality cried red.
A/N: And we end it off here~!!! The Scarab-army is gone, but Chris now has his own little problem to deal with!
What happens next, find out next time.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!!