JustIce League: The Malignant Uprising

The Plan

I got to my feet and wiped the blood of my face. Just a scratch. I deserved it.

My mind was racing with all of the things I just learned. They're important lessons I can't forget. Emotions kill. Heroes always win, they have to. We are the heroes. I stand tall. Today was the day.

The Commander walked me to the center of the room. His stare was menacing. He needed my power under his thumb.

"Your powers are new and uncontrollable." He waited for my response, but I said nothing. "You have to control them, or the plan can't commence."

"Yes, Commander." I shifted my stance into a fighting position and braced myself. I had to expect the Commander to do anything to me.

Instead of facing me, he faced a wall in front of us. "Show me what you can do." He gestured to the wall. I swallowed and concentrated on a clear state of mind. I couldn't have any distractions.

I felt something buzz within my cuffs, but I hesitated following that feeling because I thought of Macho lying motionless on the floor. 

No. If I was going to do this I had to think of the cuffs as an extension of myself. They are my power and are the things that define who I am now. They make me a hero. I took a deep breath in and out and slowly raised my hands out in front of me and thought about Etrigan again.

Suddenly, I felt pressure push against my wrists as I saw streaks of orange start to circle us. They began swirling around father and I with a strange beauty. 

But I was interrupted in my thoughts when father spoke.

"This is what control looks like?" He looked at me and I looked up at him. He grabbed my wrist and yanked it down, knuckles turning white. "I need the control and power of war." He squinted his eyes to show his point. His grip on my wrist only tightened further. "Show me power."

I looked away from his stare and closed my eyes. For some reason, what he was asking made me feel unnatural. I felt control now, in this beauty, but I guess he wanted something ugly. If he wanted wrath, I would show him mine.

The room exploded with a brutal heat as I let go of the serene feeling I was carrying. The orange and yellow hues flickered back and forth between shades of blue. I pushed out all of the anger I had and gritted my teeth as the force of the flames started to push my body back. I widened my stance, and pushed the flame out further. Soon it began to consume my vision with blue hues, but I couldn't control the force anymore. I started feeling the heat surge through my veins and saw that the force that pushed me down was making me levitate in the air. My head started to throb as I focused on creating even more fire.

I glanced below to see the Commander looking pleased. He liked this state of chaos.

He raised up his hand. "Stop." 

I don't know how I did it, but everything around me started to go back to the way it was. My vision cleared and was lowered to the ground. The floor around us was turned black and I could sense a lingering feeling of power pulsed inside my cuffs and inside my head. I felt a connection to them that was new.

"That is what I need. All you have to do is show that same tenacity with the other powers you create." He put his hands behind his back and watched me.

"Like what kind of other powers?"

"If the experiment truly succeeded, you should be able to generate anything you have seen with those cuffs. You can have any ability you've observed. Copy anyone or create anything in which you've analyzed and studied. Do you remember your training?"

"Yes. The Justice League videos and simulations were all very detailed."

"Think of their powers. You can have them all."

He came closer; his stature was threatening. "Do not forget which side you're on."

I showed him a fake smile. "Believe me when I say that I won't."

"Good. Now I can tell you your part in the plan."

********

The Commander's Office

I was standing in the Commander's office. Everyone of importance from the Complex was there. He was pointing at a board with all known members of the Justice League and Young Justice. The board had pictures of each member along with their names. He had had me memorize everyone's names, super and real. He said if anything should go wrong, this info would help me the most.

The Commander moved to a board with the attack site. It was a site of abandoned warehouses that contained war ammunition. I thought this was a smart site considering it had back up tools for us and would distract the League from the real reason we were there.

"We have to take out as many of them as possible with the least resistance. We have made knockout gas that will drug them into a sleep induced state. They will come in groups; most likely teams of five. We can't say who they will be, but we do know that they will be connected with a mind link through Martian Manhunter. Tempest, your job is to block the connection and any technology signals from coming through. The other teams will notice something is wrong and will send more teams. We do the same thing. This will only work with the first few groups. Eventually they will send everybody and that is when we fight to the death. "

I thought deeply about this. Death seemed like a lot to do at this point.

"Tempest?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Pay attention." I nodded myself from my daze. "When the fight begins you are the main weapon. All of our forces will drive the League to you. You are to kill them while staying hidden. Is that clear?"

I hesitated. "Yes."

"Our advantage is that they will know nothing of you. However, eventually when things go wrong, which they will, you must expose yourself and fight to finish the job."

A small woman spoke. "What about the kids?"

"They will come when everyone starts to die. They will share the same fate." There was no mercy in his voice. "If anything goes wrong," he looked over at me, "Tempest is the best chance we have at winning."

I crossed my arms and looked father in the eye. He seemed satisfied for once. I gave him the confidence he wanted, "this is it."

He nodded and smiled. "This is it." He put his fist in the air and chanted, "Heaven looks down upon the innocent!"

The rest of the group followed suit, putting their fists in the air. They roared with excitement, "and Heaven supports the mighty!"

I chanted with the group, but left the room once it was over. This was it. This was really it.