Starro started to slowly descend, consuming the Earth below like a second night. Its underside blotted out a third of the sky as the air shrieked around its body as it burned.
Superman launched upwards with both of his fists landing onto Starro's body. A shockwave rolled across the sky. Starro's hide buckled and flexed back. Clark drove his fist again before stitching a white seam across its crimson flesh with his heat vision.
"Hal and John, pin it so it doesn't settle on the city," Batman commanded from his cockpit.
The two lanterns answered with their own constructs. Hal summoned a pair of giant green hands that grasped at Starro's limbs while John created a long line of chains that wrapped around and connected to the ground. Diana ran up the chain with her shield forward and then leapt onto the creature. She landed in a crouch and drove her sword out of her hilt. Arthur blasted a column of water into the air, riding its current before slamming his trident into Starro's soft underside.
Shayera flew crooked. Carter was flying close to her flank to make sure she was safe while their maces raked grooves into the outer limbs.
Starro screamed. It wasn't an actual sound. It was a pressure in everyone's skull. The sky opened, a final wave of crimson that poured past the heroes in a massive tide that aimed at the people below them.
Barry continued running throughout the city when he noticed that the new Starro's had descended and was pulsing. It started from the giant nodules and then rippled outwards.
"I think the new wave is releasing a sort of signal?" said Barry.
"The nodules are acting as relays to reconnecting them back to the hivemind," J'onn replied.
Barry ran through the city and slammed every relay with his vibrating hands like a jackhammer, bursting them one by one.
"Now, together," said Hal.
Two rings combined to form a single construct to form a colossal cage that wrapped around Starro's body. Starro heaved, the bars cracking and bursting. They tried to rebuild it again and again.
"We can't hold this. We need more power," John said, gasping while sweat went down his forehead.
Hal looked at him and smiled. "Ok, rookie. I'll show you some real willpower."
Hal's ring glowed more than it had ever before. Hal's hands start to shake violently. This time the cage was holding, but it wouldn't for much longer.
Shayera went in, steering with her mace and stubbornness. Carter was in front of her, looking behind him constantly.
"Stop doing that," she told him.
"Just making sure you're ok," he replied.
The eye filled the sky, its pupil turning towards them, black and vast.
"Together?" he asked.
"Let's fuck it up," she replied.
Both of their maces came down on the same point at the same time. The eye seemed to burst, and the mental shriek that came out rippled through an entire continent.
"Go," Hal said as he used his other arm to try and hold his other steady while gritting his teeth.
Superman dove through the ruined eye into the colossal being's body. The interior was a tunnel of crimson. He carved through it with his heat vision as long as he could before Starro was able to enter his mind again.
It felt like cold hands touched his forehead. His arms were heavy, and his vision was narrow.
"You are tired. Stop. Rest. Become part of something larger. Beautiful," Starro told him.
"Clark. Think of Kansas. The field behind your house. Hold that thought and never let it go," J'onn interjected.
Clark held it tight. He thought of the wind that gently touched his cheeks and hair while carrying the smell of his mother's kitchen. He felt his dad's hands lift him up in the air as he smiled and giggled. Clark opened his eyes and, with all his power, put his fist through the nearby wall of flesh.
"Killing this body will achieve nothing, for I am everything and we are one. Your resistance will only buy time that you creatures have so little of," Starro said.
"J'onn. I think you know what you have to do," Clark said.
J'onn closed his eyes and started to enter the central intelligence. It was an ocean, filled with trillions of minds. Entire galaxies were there, filled with people whose minds were tuned to one note. The harmony they created was beautiful. An eye descended from above.
"Little Martian. Stop being alone," it told him.
The weight that came down buckled him. It felt like the ocean was pulling him down from his feet. His thought started to tune to their rhythm. He started to think of the relief it would give him.
Then he remembered. The life he had built for himself on Earth. The Justice League. The friends at the Cornerstone. Kira. Then Sophist for a split second. Despite every attempt at holding everyone at a distance so he would never hurt again, he built a new life with new family and friends.
"I'm not alone anymore," said J'onn, like a declaration.
J'onn reached into the depths of the ocean, pushing through. Deep in its depths he found a bright light that shone bigger than anything he had seen before. He could hear the harmony humming from it. J'onn drifted towards it and placed his hands on its light. J'onn let out a scream as he used every bit of strength he had left to break the center of everything.
The hivemind collapsed. The Starros fell to the floor, and every being that was a part of it was set free. The light in the ocean flickered before the ocean went back into darkness.
"It's going to land on the city!" yelled Hal.
"No, it isn't," replied Superman.
Superman placed himself underneath it. He got his shoulders placed against the dead weight and lifted. Every muscle in his body stood out as he carried it upwards until it was sent adrift in space.
The team landed next to J'onn near the city center. He looked malnourished. They were a mix of blood, filth, and laughter. He could sense another presence rushing towards him. He knew from its stride that it was Kira.
She didn't say anything and threw her arms around him. J'onn froze for a second and then put his arms around hers.
"You came back!" she said into his shoulder.
"I never left," he replied.
Shayera was leaning on Carter's arm, her eyes locked on the man with black wings that had crashed their gathering. Carter was looking at Shayera with eyes full of love and care.
"Why did you do that?" she asked him.
"I'm not as much of a fighter as you are," he replied.
Shayera stared at him. "I know you're lying," she told him.
"No, I'm not," he replied.
Shayera sighed. "Whatever you say."
"I'll see you soon, Shayera," he said.
"Again? God dammit," she replied, a small grin on her face.
Sophist smiled too before he turned and walked away, disappearing to who knows where. Everyone let him go. He may be a threat, but in the moment he didn't matter. J'onn watched too, his new found daughter in his arms. He too smiled.
That evening Mike was sitting down at his desk in his quiet apartment. He opened his notebook, the pen laying besides it. He had filled it with pages of ideas for scenarios. Tonight he stared at the blank page with a large smile.
Maybe he really was making a difference.
VOLUME 1 END