Returning back to the Academy was very uneventful. An extra pep in Corben's step was enough to cause Max to laugh internally at times. But Corben was happy for what he learned and was determined to make a positive mark on the World. Including making sure his relationship with Lois Lane goes better.
Incidentally causing trouble for Superman was a bonus. For who, was not shown yet.
General Sera did a small ceremony welcoming everyone back. The instructors did a presentation of every military branch. Showing history and why it was important to stay armed and vigilant. A shocking announcement was made at the end.
A new instructor with some private students would be joining.
The government program was called Chess. The man in charge was an Operative of Max's. Specifically of the Watcher persona. Mr.Bones was running it.
Recruiting early it seemed. Something Max told him would be a good idea considering how far south things go with the agents not trusting one another in the future. As well as currently in some aspects.
A few government agencies already started causing a few international problems. Mr.Bones stepped up interaction with Star Labs as well as a few other departments.
Another surprise arrived in the mentioning of several cadets would be transferred under the control of Mr.Bones leadership. With some of his students going under the other instructors.
'Atlas.. what the hell is going on?' Max thought to the A.I. Both he, and Corben were moved. Much to the enjoyment of Lawton and Lt.Puckett. But not Commander Cain. The orders from up top were to much for General Sera to mess with. General Sera had an amused look on her face. As if what was happening benefitted her more. 'How many troubles am I about to have?'
'I do not know.' Atlas thought back to him. 'A strange scenario is forming up. I suggest extreme caution.'
As they headed off, Max sent a message out through Atlas. Straight to Mr.Bones about why he was at an Academy. The spy's words were not good to hear at all.
.
New Squad-
.
The cadets were told to introduce themselves. The mix of males and females was the least on Max's minds considering who all was present. Siblings of members that Max was very aware of from different comics. A good bit of them were from introductions from the Earth-One series. With slight changes.
"Tom Harkness." A young Caucasian male with a straight face said. His dark brown hair contrast to his piercing green eyes. The half younger brother to George Harkness. Also known as Captain Boomerang. "Heres to getting along well enough to graduate." He stepped back into place. Perfect military stance. Atlas started helping with information on small details.
Tom was the actual son of Elizabeth Harkness and Ian Harkness. George Harkness was the result of Elizabeth having an affair with Walt Wiggins. A very immoral man during the time and later on. Walt visited Australia on duty and had an affair. Left and came back later as a toy maker. Eventually getting Betty pregnant. He did not take kindly to the news. The woman was forced to stay in Australia. Relationship with her husband soured of course. Enough that George took the brunt of it.
"Amanda Waller." A young African American female said. She stared at Max a little to long for Corbin's liking. He knew animosity when he saw it. Considering Max had a.. small problem with recruiting Waller as the Watcher but success as Maxmillion Wayne might have something to do with it. "Keep personal, personal, and business the same." She stepped back earning an eyebrow raise from Mr.Bones. Which still looked weird on his regular face that was restored.
"Luna Nurblin." A young Caucasian female spoke up. Her blond hair was quite lovely. She stepped back out of shyness or just not wanting to say more really.
Luna was another one tied to the history of Captain Boomerang. Specifically with his biological father Walt Wiggins. Her father gets screwed, or already has been screwed over by the man for his invention. Her father Basil Nurblin, was the reason for the Boomerang weapon and several inventive tech that advance the mind at early stages.
Creating means for high mental functioning. From the mental energy that Luna exuded, she might have messed with it some.
"Jimmy Rook. If you have nothing good to say, then just remain quiet." A young Caucasian male had a bit of chip on his shoulder. Max and Corben looked at each other and shrugged. The others from their side just frowned at the New Yorker. His accent gave it away. Rook looked at Max questioningly. 'Something is really off about this one. Will have to speak with Commander Bones later about this.'
Jimmy was the son of Jim Rook. A hero from way back and the day. His father experienced a change in dimensions where he found all sorts of info out about himself. Such as being the descendant of a mythical warrior. With a weapon called the Sword of Night which gave an assortment of powers, his father saved a damsel in distress and a few other noteworthy things.
*Thrum!* Max felt the Sword of Sin and Salvation stir a little inside his spirit sea. Reacting to the presence of someone such as Jimmy was interesting.
Jimmy did not have the Sword of Night. Just some of its energies. A tempting meal Max thought. But he wouldn't kill the young man without reason. It would be better to find the Sword of Night. Then use it to find a lead to the Dimension of Myrra. A crack door way was as bad as an open one. Considering it was hard to locate it and could be leaking all sorts of things out currently.
"This is one is new to the group." Mr.Bones said. He was looking at the male on the end with a super chip on his shoulder it looked like. "Cadet Hal Jordan, any words?"
"I rather not be here." Hal said. The teenage eye role he gave was pretty something. "That is all sir."
"Haaa, you are here, make the best of it." Mr.Bones sighed. He turned to look at the others on the other side. "Alright introduce yourselves."
"Ok." Vicki stepped forward. "Vicki Vale, one of the top female cadets here. Working hard to be better than rest." She gave Max a side look. "On all sides." She stepped back into place.
"Tanya Gleeson." The other female cadet from their side stepped up. "She cut her hair short over the break for some reason. "Good meeting new people." She did not look at any of the others.
"John Corben former squad leader... actually how does that work now?" He looked at Mr.Bones questioningly. Received the message that would be dealt with later. "Enjoyed my break and looking forward to finishing up with the small stuff." He stepped back as eyes focused on Max.
"Maxmillion Wayne here because of legal stuff." Max said simply. "Give me no crap.. and things go find. Give me crap and well... I guess I get to breaking till you learn."
"Heh!" Hal scoffed. He gave Max a once over. "I doubt you can barely even fight."
Several members just grinned at that. Very aware of his fighting from watching the spar before the break. For Waller, she knew first hand Max had them hands. She would not come to Hal's aide. To much of a prick to stress over.
"Alright just familiarize yourself with the accommodations." Mr.Bones said simply. He really wanted to smoke a cigar but that was just bad conduct. Especially inside a building. "As for who is in charge... Cadet Wayne and Vale have the top scores. However..." he looked over to Vale. ".. rather not bog you down with certain things. So Gleeson you are up. Waller to high strung for this."
"I will do the squad proud." Gleeson said happily. The shit-eating grin on her face was more than enough to let people know she was more than happy about the situation. 'That should show that overachiever.' Staring at Vicki the joy faded a little.
"You really need to gain some perspective about yourself." Max said simply. "You will learn the hard way at this. It is lonely on your own. Or you end up like Waller and Jordan with no friends."
"Screw you!" Hal yelled at him. Mr.Bones left chuckling. The cadets would be quite a task for future developments. His phone went off as he received a encryptic message. How about me and you right now?!"
"Heh, sure. We will make this really quick." Max put one hand in his pocket as he stepped into the opening. Hal coming right at him. A sidestep, Hal went to the side but bounded around like a wild tiger. "Slow."
*Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!* Hal turned around sending a few jabs quickly. Each missed with ease. Another extend punch that went to far, Max grabbed and flipped him over. Delivering a kick to the gut as he launched him.
"Waaah!" Hal howled as he was thrown into the air landing on a rack. Having the air knocked out of him was enough to deter him for a bit. "Dammit!"
"That all you got?" Max questioned bored as can be. 'Kind of a small good thing that his father didn't die due to all the changes. At least I do not have to face any tribulation for it. But then again..' He was pulled from his thoughts as someone came at him from behind. "Pathetic."
Jimmy felt a bad sensation pass when Max kicked him in the gut. The kick was dangerous and contained a small bit of magical energy. But it was meant to mark Hal for later.
*Fwip!* Max moved from the grab and struck back. Very forcefully. The punch he gave Jimmy dropped him awkwardly.
"Man you suck..." Tom said simply towards Jimmy. Amanda and Luna just stared. Not caring either way really. "..gonna sneak up and still fail. You ok down there?"
"Ughhhh it hurts." Jimmy felt his internal magic was having trouble keeping the damage at bay. 'I detected magic when he hit Hal, but just now was all physical. Felt like a bowling ball hit me. He barely moved.' Eyeing Max slightly he did not expect what happened next. "Waaah!"
"Sorry, not sorry. Just want you to understand I am top dog here. So.. do I need to break your arm to make it clear." Max whispered into his ear. Low enough not all could hear. "We should test your magics don't you think little homo-magi?"
"No.. need.." Jimmy answered scared. Feeling the magic in Max's words caused cold sweat to go down his back. Fear on a magical level scared him way more than regular discomfort. "..not a problem by me anymore."
Max helped the young man recover. Hal had recovered and came back for another go. But a small blur got in the way and pinned him down on the ground with ease.
"Get off you crazy broad!" Hal yelled at Luna. Before he could say anything else, another person gagged him. "Mmff!" Luna overpowered him enough to defintely cause a few looks to go her way. Amanda did the gagging.
"Well.. first team building went well." Tom said from the side. He saw enough to know he was not a match for Max or for Luna and Amanda. They moved pretty damn fast really. 'Ok, this will be something else. What the hell did they do to get like this?'
"I think he will listen." Vicki chimed in. A smile on her face looking over them. "Keep it up Hal and you will cause problems for your old man. How many times are you going to ruin things for him?"
That earned a hard look from Hal.
"I think it best to not really care about this loser." Max squatted down grabbing Hal by the hair. Forcing him to look at him directly. "I do not care what is going on in your life at all. Not a single bit. So... do what you need to do and things can go easy. Cause trouble and things go bad. A lot of here just wanted to get through this and move on in a few years. You can not be that selfish and stupid that you will ruin it for others."
"Mmmh!" Hal muffled out.
"This will be the only time we have this talk." Luna and Amanda moved away. Hal stood up still with fire in his eyes. Right as he took a swing at Max things went from bad to worse for him. 'Dumb ones are easy to break.'
Hal fist caught Max in the face. Doing no damage what so ever. Not even turning his face. A pained look on Hal's face. Max delivered a strike right to Hal's throat.
*Thump!* The strike crushing the teens Adams apple. But not enough to cause a major medical problem. Magical energy keeping things a little healthy for him.
"Kuk!" Hal grabbed at his throat in pain. Slightly choking. Max grabbed by the back of the neck and gave a hard squeeze at key points to make him faint. Hal felt fear for the first time in a long time. It would not be the last. "Ugggh!" He dropped to the floor unconsciousness.
Things quieted down after that. Hal was tossed into a rack like nothing was wrong. Tanya checked him over seeing he was breathing. Seeing that he was, defintely enough to keep her mood good.
Teenagers were wild but they understood violence a great deal. Falling in line pretty quickly when someone showed they would act on it. Even more so for military young people.
The next few hours they actually got along. Talking about where they lacked in and what they needed to excell. A few things Max found out that suprised him was that Vicki was determined to go to the military after this to pursue a reporting focus.
Luna was determined to go into medicine. Her pops couldn't afford it after what happened to him. Wiggins had just taken his technology and applied the patten for it. She also knew Tom a little from what she learned trying to hack into the toy company of Wiggins to get things back.
Tom was mostly trying to build a relationship with his half brother. George was grateful for the reach out. Especially when finding out he came so far just to meet up with him after everything. As for his mother Elizabeth, she was actually helped by Mrs.Norton-Hex.
Something Max did not know about considering how much went on at any given time.
Amanda just wanted to protect the country. Which was something Max already understood as well as knew the need to get people close to her side she could trust. Amanda was a very angry young woman currently.
Tanya had no real idea of what she wanted. A toss-up between family issues and actually doing something worthwhile. She did want to be famous which was something.
The others remained quiet listening to everything. A groaning Hal had them chuckling slightly. Mr.Bones watched everything with a few other Instructors from Chess.
.
Later on in the night-
.
Max was standing Watch. Mentally he sent his energy towards General Sera. He knew without a doubt who she was after the break. General Sera looked up from maps on her desk staring.
A small breeze alerted her to Max's presence.
"Heh, well.. bold move." General Sera looked up at him. The mental manifestation of Max was enough to amuse "her" a bit. "Took you long enough."
"To be fair... you said you hated turning into a woman." Max said simply. "What I remember anyway, to much like the shenanigans your father did. Why are you causing trouble for me?"
"Because it is fun." General Sera leaned back in the chair. Eyes glowing in mischief. The look towards Max was very calculating. "You are of different design this time. More deadly it seems. I like it." A bit of energy brushed towards Max, but hit against a shield. "You are so much like grandmother. Still carrying a torch for her?"
"Yes." Max said simply. His eyes steely as he would not lie about it. "I remember you loved one like that once before."
"I did. But she is gone now. No thanks to.." General Sera paused looking out the window. A forlorn look passing in her eyes. ".. Artemis is causing trouble. She think I do not know what happened, but I will make her pay."
"I already did. I took that toy of hers away." Max said in disgust. THe caused General Sera to turn in shock. "They didn't tell you? How silly. Haaaa, to much energy spent throughout the day. Another time."
"Wait!"General Sera stood up looking at him. Strong power preventing him from just leaving easily. "What is coming... how bad is it?"
"A lot will die. Permanently." Max said over his shoulder. "Do not worry, I will do my best to take it on as well as you." A grin on his face staring at her. "It is what you want anyway. No friends just enemies right?"
The energy released and Max left. Leaving no trace behind.
*Boop!* A small globe appeared on General Lane's desk. Inside was a little figure of four people. Blurry but two people could be made out just a little. Both males. One was Max in a dark blue toga. The other was dark haired man with a grin on his face that would never go away it seemed.
"Heh, still kept it after all this time." General Sera said fondly. Her image turning to match the man inside. "Friends always make the best enemies." His hand raised up getting ready to crush it. He stopped at the last moment.
Sitting back down, a goblet appeared with a clear liquid inside. General "Sera" started to sip it a little in memory.
*Fwish!* A candle in the room lit up as it turned green. It increased in size as someone stepped out. The Greek God Hades stared at his nephew.
"Dear nephew.. what could you possibly have wanted from me at such a notice." Hades asked. But seeing the look and the drink that was consumed gave the old god pause. "Oh dear..." His eyes spotted the globe on the table. ".. I have not seen this in so long Ares."
"Yeah.." General Lane or better known as Ares looked over. It was his turn to be shocked. "You look so healthy! How!?" He followed the finger point towards the globe. "Huh?!"