Kai POV
I was still a little stunned as I brought my hammer down again, dropping another group of Thanagarians out of the sky. Somehow, we'd managed to push them all the way back from our base, and now they were in full retreat, pulling away from Metropolis entirely.
They'd thrown everything they had at us. Wave after wave. Every time they regrouped and tried to push forward, we met them head-on and forced them back. Worse, they tried to bring out kryptonite weapons, aimed straight at Might woman, Panacea, Purity, and Superwoman, but I destroyed that cannon before it ever got the chance to fire.
Right now, the skies are clear. No ships overhead. No reinforcements coming in. It looked like they'd finally stopped trying to overwhelm us.
Still, we weren't taking chances.
We spread out across the city, each of us taking a sector and keeping watch. By the end of it, we'd taken a ridiculous number of prisoners, at least five hundred Thanagarians. I set up a containment barrier right in the middle of the city to hold them all, while the police moved in and secured the area.
For the first time since this started, Metropolis could finally breathe.
"Kai, I've got news," Hope said through my earpiece.
"Good news?" I asked.
"Yes. Some of the Justice League broke free and are on their way here. Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkwoman, and Hawkgirl. Also, Thanagarian command just issued orders to stop the assault on Metropolis, so we've got a little breathing room for now," Hope said.
I let out a slow breath. "Anyone else out there?"
"Sadly, no. But I'm still searching."
"Alright. Send robots to cover all our positions and rotate everyone back to base. Contact the remaining heroes and tell them to rendezvous there," I said.
"Already on it."
I took off and headed back to base, landing just in time to see everyone else arriving. It didn't take long; we were only waiting on the Justice League.
While we waited, my mind wouldn't shut up.
Why did they attack us?
We'd been careful. Extremely careful. No alarms triggered, no obvious trails left behind. If Hope had been compromised, we'd have been the first targets, no question. But that didn't happen. Which meant it had to be something else.
It couldn't be Hawkgirl. She was coming here to help us. Hawkman, though… he wasn't with them.
Did he betray us after Hawkgirl told him about the meeting?
It felt like the obvious answer, but it didn't sit right. He didn't strike me as the kind of guy who'd sell out his own family. His wife and daughter were fighting alongside us. If anything, he should've been with them. More likely, he'd been captured with the other heroes, or maybe the Thanagarian commander didn't trust him enough to keep him free.
Still… something about this whole situation felt off.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when the door slid open.
The remaining members of the Justice League stepped inside, tired, worn down, but still standing.
Hope stormed out of the lab, marching straight past us.
For a second, I was confused, until she locked eyes with Batman.
Then she punched him.
Hard.
He went straight down.
…Okay. So it was Batman's fault. Got it.
"You absolute arrogant asshole!" Hope snapped, pointing at him as he struggled to sit back up. "You couldn't wait two hours. Two. You just had to do things your way, because you're always right. Do you have any idea what you just cost us?"
She was pacing now, voice rising.
"We could've hit them together. United. With the world's governments backing us. Instead, everywhere outside Metropolis is on lockdown, people are terrified, and nobody can move or help because you couldn't wait. Now we're stuck doing this on our own." She laughed bitterly. "Honestly, if my prison was already finished, I'd throw you in it myself right now."
I feel like she was going to use her powers.
I stepped in quickly, grabbing her from behind before she could do something we'd all regret. "Okay, okay. Breathe. Calm down. Deep breaths. You're not wrong. This is his fault."
She yanked her arm free and jabbed a finger at Batman again. "I checked the Thanagarian network. You wanna know why they suddenly attack us? Because Batman. He snuck onto one of their ships and got caught. How do you get trained by ninjas and Santa Claus, and still manage to screw that up?"
"…Wait, what?" Superman said.
"Not important," I cut in immediately. "None of that matters right now. What does matter is getting the Thanagarians off this planet. We'll deal with Batman after the crisis, I'm sure the Justice League can handle that internally."
Hope stood there for a moment, fists clenched, chest rising and falling.
Then she exhaled slowly.
"Okay," she muttered. "I'm calm. I'm calm." She looked up, eyes sharp again. "And I've got a plan."
I let go of her, and she headed toward the common room. The rest of us followed, Batman included, because whether we liked it or not, we were all in this together now.
Batman pushed himself up and wiped the small streak of blood from the corner of his mouth. Across the room, Hope was already at a console, fingers flying over the keys. The main screen flickered on, filling the wall with schematics, timelines, and red-tagged warning symbols.
"Okay," Hope said. "Ever since Mage King floated the idea that the Thanagarians could be a real threat, I started running scenarios. This is plan number forty-six." She glanced at Batman. "Also known as the Batman-screwed-us plan."
"You really are prepared for everything," I muttered.
"The good news," she continued, zooming in on a massive structure, "is they haven't been here long. The machine isn't close to being finished. The bad news is that now that we're officially at war, they're probably going to use humans as slave labor to finish it faster. That means we move now."
The screen is split into two objectives.
"First, we hit the mothership. Hard. They got the controls there for the hyperspace bypass we need to destroy it. Second, we destroy the power source already built for the hyperspace bridge. Even unfinished, it can still be activated, and if it is, it could wipe out a huge chunk of Earth."
"We can take it out with the Watchtower," Batman said. "All we need to do is retake it."
Hope didn't even look at him. "That won't work. Someone has to stay behind and manually guide the trajectory. If it drops from orbit uncontrolled, it could miss."
"I can destroy it," I said. "I've got a spell that's perfect for this. The problem is, it needs time to charge. I'll need cover."
Hope nodded immediately. "Then that's what we'll do."
"Strike Team One: Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern, Hawkwoman, Superwoman, and Stormfront. You're hitting the mothership and destroying the hyperspace bypass controls."
"Strike Team Two: Batman, Flash, Black Noir, Fire, Ice, and Crimson Countess. Your job is to retake the Justice League Tower. We're not using it as a weapon, but we are clearing out the soldiers."
"Might Woman, Purity, Panacea, Soldier Boy, and Ranger, you're with Mage King. You cover him while he charges the spell."
"Hawk, Dove, and Hawkgirl, you're with the Iron Legion. Your priority is civilian rescue. Get the humans out of the slave encampments and keep them safe."
The room went quiet.
Hope finally turned around, eyes sharp and focused. "This ends today. Either we take control of this war, or it takes everything from us."
Yeah.
No pressure at all.
"Oh, great plan overall," Soldier Boy said, arms crossed. "But me trying to cover Mage King with a hoverbike while dodging all those ships? That's gonna be a problem."
"You're not using a hoverbike," Hope said flatly. "You and Ranger are flying the jets."
There was a pause.
"…We have jets?" Soldier Boy asked.
"Damn it," I muttered. "I wanna fly the jet."
"Next time," Hope said without missing a beat. "Right now, Sage and I will handle overwatch and make sure the teams stay on track. And Soldier Boy, do not crash my jet. I literally just finished building it."
"No promises," Soldier Boy replied.
Hope pinched the bridge of her nose. "God damn it. Just go."
Hawkman POV
Pain pulsed through my ribs as I shifted against the cold floor of the cell.
The last thing I remembered clearly was fighting Commander Hro Talak. I'd confronted him after my suspicions were confirmed, after he admitted the truth. We weren't building a shield generator.
We were building a teleporter. One powerful enough to destroy Earth.
He'd tried to convince me it was necessary. That it was right.
I disagreed.
At first, I had the advantage. But then more soldiers flooded the chamber. Too many. They overwhelmed me, beat me down, and dragged me here.
Now I was injured. Imprisoned.
But my family had escaped.
That was enough.
"You are such a disappointment," a voice echoed from beyond the cell.
I opened my eyes to see Commander Hro Talak standing outside the energy field, wings folded neatly behind him.
"I could say the same," I replied, forcing myself upright despite the pain.
"You and Kendra were among my finest soldiers," he said calmly. "Loyal. Disciplined. Devoted to the cause. And you threw it all away, for a planet of humans."
"It shouldn't matter that they're human," I said. "They're alive. What you're doing is wrong, no matter how you try to justify it."
His eyes hardened.
And in that moment, I knew, there was no reasoning with him anymore.
"Sacrifices have to be made," Commander Hro Talak said. "If we want to win this war, we must accept losses."
I clenched my fists. "So we throw away our honor? We sacrifice innocent people who have nothing to do with this war instead of finding another way?" I shook my head. "You should've told me the truth from the beginning. We could have asked the Green Lanterns. We could have asked Earth's heroes for help."
"We are Thanagarians," Commander Hro Talak replied sharply. "We do not ask for help. This war has lasted generations. Asking outsiders now would mean fighting from a position of weakness, throwing away our pride. Winning this battle, winning this war, that is honor."
I stared at him, disbelief mixing with anger. "You and I have very different ideas of what honor means, old friend."
"Yes," he said calmly. "We do."
He stepped closer to the cell, his voice dropping. "We will capture your family and present them as examples. Then we will continue with the plan." His eyes narrowed. "It doesn't matter how powerful you think Earth's heroes are. We have the entire fleet here."
"You still won't win," I said.
Hro Talak scoffed. "Why? Because of those Kryptonians? Thanks to you, we know how to defeat them. We know how to defeat all of your hero friends. They'll be slaughtered."
I met his stare through the bars. "You're too blind to your own beliefs, Hro Talak. So here's some advice from an old friend, when the man with the hammer finally joins the fight, what follows isn't a battle."
I smiled coldly.
"It's a slaughter."
He snorted and turned away, wings flaring as he left.
He had no idea what was coming.
Kai POV
My team and I were already in the air, heading straight for the hyperspace bypass power supply. Below us, the Iron Legion spread out across the city, shields up, guns hot, Metropolis was locked down and protected.
Ahead of us?
A wall of enemies.
The power source sat at the center of it all, guarded by hundreds, no, thousands, of Thanagarian ships, layered in defensive formations.
"Alright," I said over comms. "You all know the plan. I get to the power source, start the spell, and I need at least two uninterrupted minutes to finish the chant. That means no ships are hitting me. If I get interrupted, I have to start all over again."
"Yeah, yeah, we know," Soldier Boy replied. "Relax. With all the toys strapped onto these rides, I doubt anything's getting close to you."
"Ranger," Panacea cut in, "please make sure Soldier Boy doesn't do anything stupid."
"Already on it," Ranger said, flying parallel to us in the jet. "I'll keep a close eye on him."
As soon as we crossed a certain range, the enemy reacted.
Ships peeled away from the formation and surged toward us, weapons lighting up the sky.
"Contact," I muttered.
I swung my hammer once and hurled it forward.
Lightning exploded from it mid-flight, crackling and branching like a living storm. The hammer tore straight through the incoming wave, ripping ships apart one after another, metal vaporizing, engines detonating, debris scattering in flaming arcs.
I held out my hand.
The hammer curved back toward me through the chaos.
"Alright," I said, eyes locked on the power source ahead. "Let's get this done."