JustIce League: The Malignant Uprising

Legacy

Flash is dead. Tempest couldn't stop thinking about the pool of blood that stained her ivory boots. She kept seeing Flash fall onto the ground over and over again. He was reaching to her, pleading. The smell of burnt bodies lingered in her nose. They're all dead. I can't believe myself.

Who's next?

******

"Madame, I don't want to sound rude, but we're walking in the middle of the desert."

"Mrs. Waller," Vestra stopped in her tracks, "you need to learn to open your mind to the impossible."

"What?"

"The impossible. The things no one believes will ever happen."

"Madame, I know what the impossible is."

Vestra turned to face Amanda, her face concealed by her black cloak. "Then start acting like you can face it."

Amanda grew silent as she looked at the ground. Face it? I did that by turning a girl into a war machine and where did that even get me? The impossible turned her into a psychopath.

Amanda crossed her arms as she prepared herself to look up again. She saw that Vestra was extending her arms out of her cloak. Silver bracelets were wrapped around each wrist as a lacey sleeve bounced around her forearm. Amanda stepped to the side and carefully watched Vestra's long and delicate fingers. They were swaying to an invisible rhythm and tightening as the silence between the two women grew louder.

Then, just as fast as her fingers began to move, they stopped. Amanda stood waiting for something to happen. Nothing was. The only thing Amanda could see was the moonlight trickling onto the ground before them. Amanda stepped back in surprise as a huge white chasm appeared in the air before them in a low hum.

"What is that?"

Vestra turned back to Amanda, "A portal."

"How?"

"It's a gift I gained a long time ago. I've gotten better over time. Now come." Madame Vestra led Amanda through a tunnel of darkness. Wind chilled Amanda's bones as the two of them ventured further into the spinning void of white.

Amanda stared at the walls. The further the two ventured the more bright the walls got. White wisps of light would swirl throughout the walls, getting bigger the more they walked. Eventually the swirls faded into a delicate sheen.

"How far does this go?" Amanda asked in awe.

"Forever."

"How?"

Vestra pulled her cloak's edges toward her and lifted her head to reveal the outline of her face. "You can't get too comfortable here. You see, one could spend days in here and come out seconds later."

"What?"

"Time moves in all sorts of ways. Back on Earth, time is linear. Always moving forward. But here, time has a mind of its own. Moving whenever and wherever it wants to."

"How do we get back?"

"I open another portal to Earth."

"But I thought you said time moves whenever it wants to? How do you know that the portal you open will go the time period you want and not just put us in prehistoric times?" Amanda gritted her teeth. She knew she was asking too many questions, but she also felt a rush in being able to discover secrets and holding onto them again. There was something about this that made her want to find out more. Amanda felt butterflies flurry in her stomach as she realized she wanted to stay with Vestra. Learn more.

"Time is always moving forward on Earth. Which means we can never go back to the past. We can only move through and to the future." Vestra relaxed and waved her hand out of her cape. She snapped and a large buzzing sound echoed throughout the space.

The entrance behind that led to the desert changed. It slowly morphed its shape and dimmed in color. Slowly, grey shadows began to peek through the new hole to reveal a dimly lit room. There was a single chair in the center. Vestra walked through it and gestured for Amanda to follow. Screens were displayed against the whole room. They showed muted videos of the fighting.

"Where did you get these?" Amanda asked.

"We call them Watchers, but you would call them spies."

"Where are we?"

"The Watcher Room," Vestra cooed, "I can communicate with them easily this way, but if you want to know the large scale. We're in an underground base that the military used to use to hide their soldiers. It's quite a large space."

Amanda began a slow pace around the circular room, her hand brushing the chair. She watched the screens carefully. They mostly showed smoke rising from the ground or white soldiers fighting heroes. There was one screen that showed Superman on his knees. The other heroes appeared to be yelling at him.

A small smile appeared on her face as she realized that Batman wasn't there. She knew that he was the only one that could stop them.

Amanda turned to face Vestra and slowly descended onto one knee. "I would be honored to serve you."

Vestra let out a small laugh. "So that's what you thought this was?"

Amanda looked up, puzzled. "What else would it be?"

"I can't just have you revealing my secrets. You have to prove yourself first." Vestra snapped and a portal opened to her left. "Now go in."

Amanda was speechless as she slowly eyed Vestra. Amanda walked into the portal and turned to Vestra. "How long?"

Amanda felt chills on her spine as she saw the same, devilish white smile the Commander had, appear on Vestra's face. "As long as it takes." Vestra snapped.

The portal closed.

******

Batman found himself regretting leaving the fight. He thought that he could have helped his friends. This is more important.

The Batmobile zoomed into the night as the dry desert air made his throat dry. The car's speed increased as Batman's nerves thumped louder in his chest. This is the only way. He gripped the wheel as he got closer into town. You're almost there. Batman drove until he saw a junkyard. He slammed the brakes and sprinted out of the car.

He raced into the junkyard and ran straight to a rusty car. Bright light flashed in his eyes as he was transported to his Bat Cave. This is it.