DC Heroes

thedarkknight:

Several days after the incident in Khandaq, Batman breaks into Zatanna's home at Shadowcrest. If the wards were as good as he remembered, she would be aware of his presence the moment he entered the premises.

This is exactly what he wants.

He's waiting in the library, looking among the books, as he waits for Zatanna to arrive. He remembers the last time he was here.

It hadn't gone well /then/, either.
 

crossbowvixen:

Every little girl dreamed of their wedding day, but Helena Bertinelli never thought hers would have ended up like this. Sure the dress was beautiful and everything was perfect and right out of a fairy tale, but Helena hadn’t really cared. She had barely payed attention during most of the ceremony until the end when they were pronounced man and wife.

Adan jussed her and the two turned to face the assembled crowd. She forced a smile and waved. Adam escorted her to the great banquet hall where the reception was to take place. A few more hours of forcing herself to smile and then she would have to worry about the wedding night.

boy_wonder87:

A cold night wind whipped through the wind-tunnel of Gotham's streets, threatening to tear Nightwing from his perch between two gargoyles. His practised gymnast's grip on the ledge below held him firm, fingers hard and calloused by years of training, his forearms knotted like thick ropes on some ancient sailing ship.

Below him stretched West Brewery Street- a favourite haunt of his during days as Robin. The neighbourhood had been dangerous and seedy, which seemed a requirement for any part of Gotham, but underneath Dick had found a neighbourhood with wonderful characters, friendships, and sense of community. It had become a kind of haven for the wayward, the strange, the weird, and the broken denizens of Gotham's underworld. The people of West Brewery Street had not been saints- more than a few were murderers and worse- but they found a certain stoic pride in their home, and did what they could to contribute to it. Many of Dick's preconceptions about street life had been turned on their head, and his concept of right and wrong had been blurred. The street kids and hookers, the bottom-rung dealers and homeless veterans, the mentally ill and scarred products of abusive homes; they all called the West Brewery home, and they had all taught the young Boy Wonder lessons he would never forget.( Read more... )

crossbowvixen:

Gotham.

It was a hard city. It was her city.

Helena Rosa Bertinelli was an English teacher by day, but by night she was the Huntress.

A local drug dealer was having his sellers getting closer and closer to her school. No one messed with her kids. Drugs near her school would not be tolerated, nor would gangs. As soon as she heard about the drugs dealers Helena made a plan to take action. There would be no drugs near her kids.

After school had let out, she donned her costume and went hunting.

The low level guys were taken out rather easily. It took Helena a little while to find the upper management, but she did find them. It had been a brutal fight, but in the end she had won. The only problem she had was that the bigwig wasn't there.

Now Helena was looking for him.

thedarkknight:

Two days after Batman's meeting with the Justice League, the Dark Knight returns to his headquarters and begins the nightly (or morning, rather) ritual of removing his armor and going over the night's work. The appearance of a new designer drug in Gotham has been his top priority, as well as keeping the family of a visiting diplomat out of harm's reach has taken up most of his attention. Robin has been doing the legwork of watching over the family, but Batman knows he will need to step in soon.

Meanwhile, he finds that the new Wayne Enterprises satellite is working as intended and he notes where Superman, Green Lantern and other members of the new Justice League are as they move about the planet. He couldn't allow this new group to operate unchecked, no matter how much he wanted to believe that Clark and the others would be able keep things in line. Rumors of the Justice League's return were being met overall with triumph, though there was hostility in other places. Across the world, media outlets vocally floated the idea that the time had come for every country to create their own Justice League to keep America from policing them even further.

Batman files away every scrap of information, knowing that it will all be necessary at some point. I

It always is.

Alfred arrives from upstairs, his polished shoes clacking softly against the stone of the steps as he arrives.

"Master Bruce, Princess Diana wishes to speak to you. Shall I send her down?" he asks.

Bruce grunts, and switches to something else on the computer screen.

"Very well. I'll send her down presently." Alfred says, returning the way he came.

man_of_steel:

 

The Hall of Justice shone in the early morning, sunlight glinting off its gold and silver facade. Great glass panels allowed light to flood into its marble entryway.

The Man of Steel stood in the doorway for a brief moment, taking in the room. This had once been a bustling hub of activity, staffed with dozens of aides and security personnel. The main floor of the Hall of Justice had acted as an embassy, a link between the world of Super heroes and everyday people. Here, one could learn about the history of groups like the JSA and Justice League, and could file petitions for the League to help with a crisis. While the League was stretched thin, they still tried to find time to make people feel as though they were listened to. That the League cared.

Superman found himself wandering through the empty reception area, following a familiar route. He ran his hand over the desk where a young receptionist had sat. Her name had been Judy Torrence...

“What do you make of the Hall, Mister Kent?” she had asked him, some months ago...

Clark had frowned, looking up at the amazing architecture. “It's...breathtaking, of course. But I can't help but wonder what the point of all this is, ” he had said. His thoughts had been clouded with doubt, in those days leading up to the League's dissolution.

Judy had frowned, twirling her short blond hair on one finger, “I know there's a lot rumours going around that the League's going to break up- but I can't see why.” He had been surprised to see tears twinkle in her eyes. “People think that our heroes just spend their time fighting aliens and super-villains, but they help everyday people too...” She had opened up a drawer in her desk, and produced a book. As she flipped through it, Clark saw the faces of smiling children, tearful families holding one another, paramedics and firemen giving thumbs-up. “Who are they?” Clark had asked.

Judy had smiled “They're people the League has helped. They send in these pictures. Some of them were saved from floods or natural disasters, some were brought food during famines in their countries, some are just first-responders who didn't have to go into a burning building because a hero was able to do it for them.” Her eyes had shone with hope. “When aliens invade or monsters try to destroy a city- a thousand people are helped in a thousand different ways, by groups like the Justice League. But you don't see stories about these people on TV or in the paper. Because it happens to often, we take it for granted...

Superman smiled at the memory, and wondered where Judy Torrence was now. He vowed silently that should- no, when the League re-formed- that he would personally ask her to come back and work for them. Possibly as head of public relations.

But for now, Superman had to content himself with leaving the Lobby and Museum level- and taking the secure elevator to the top floor.

The sliding doors opened, and Superman stepped out onto the Executive Level. A great conference table dominated the room, symbols etched into the back of chairs. Superman was early, so he went and stood before the glass wall that overlooked the the city beyond. He waited for the others to arrive- so they might start to rebuild the Justice League of America.

marsneedschocos:

Once J'onn, Diana, and Zatanna had connected with Bruce and Arthur, determining where the last Appelaxian had arrived had, truthfully, been a very simple matter.  Looking back over the League history and taking into account the location of the others, well, the Arctic circle had been easy enough to figure out. 

Back to where it all began.

The Invisible Plane, the Batplane, and J'onn flew there now.

It had been too long since he had fought beside this noble individuals, those who were his friends.   Arthur, who had been another outsider when they had first formed the League, his first friend within the super-hero community and who he barely understood any more.  Bruce, who he had bonded with, in a way, owing to his status as essentially a policeman on Mars, and who he feared for more and more with each year that passed.  Zatanna, who had stood with him, Arthur, and Ralph when there had been no one else to hold the League together.  And Diana, who he called a friend, but who possessed a fierce, warrior side that sometimes frightened him.

He could think of few better people to save the world with.

mrcrankypants:

Arthur was enjoying some quiet time. Lorena was busy elsewhere in Sub Diego and not nagging him for a change. He hadn't told her about his lunch date with Mera and he wasn't going to. Let her keep guessing where he disappeared to. It would do her some good. Not to mention save him from some nagging about seeing Mera again.

Arthur was on patrol around the outskirts of Sub Diego. He personally did this a few times a day and coordinated the other patrols. After the last attack it never hurt to be too careful.

marsneedschocos:

J'onn J'onzz, Manhunter from Mars, was worried.  Though he had protected Denver from the wrath of the fire creature, he had gleaned enough from its mind to know that it had not come alone.  Five more of the creatures had come to the Earth, for the purpose of once more using it as a battleground in their struggle for supremacy.  There was the hope, of course, that others of his adopted home's champions would defeat those creatures, but he had long learned that to leave anything just to hope alone was folly.

The creature's mind had been like fire itself, making it difficult to touch even when he had steeled himself against it.  He had numbers, but precious few locations.  Only one, New York City, supposedly a place Diana currently called home.  He would have to investigate for himself, and perhaps from there, learn more.

As he approached the city, from the air, he cast out a mental call for Diana, wherever she might be.

marsneedschocos:

Whenever possible, private detective John Jones preferred to eat at one of the Dairy Queens of Denver, Colorado.  Certainly, there were places with better food and at times he ate there, but he always returned to the land of frozen treats and for one simple reason: Choco Blizzards.  Earth would never be Mars, he had long ago accepted that, but new delights such as Chocos went a quite a ways toward making up for it.

The Blizzard, the day to day habits of his civilian identity, burying himself in work, went a long way to toward taking his mind off many things which troubled him.  That the League had disbanded was high among them.  The League had been a part of his life ever since he had participated in its formation.  Others had come and gone, but always he had remained.  He could have protested the disbandment, could even have remained and rebuilt anew, but no.  Something vital, something important to the League had been lost, broken.  These wounds would take time to heal.

How much things had changed since the old days.  They had all been quite happy, friends, sure of themselves and their powers,  sure that the path they were on was the right one.  And now?

Barry and Hal were dead.   Arthur and Bruce were barely recognizable as the men he had once known.  Even Diana was different from the new visitor to Man's World she had been when she had first met them all.  Clark remained largely the same, he supposed, if perhaps even more settled into his role as a leader in the super-human community.

But J'onn?  J'onn had been on Earth since the mid 1950's, long before most of the current generation of heroes had even been born.  He had been brought to Earth as an adult, not an infant like Clark.  He had new friends, new connections on this planet, but he was still much the same he had been.

An overwhelming moment of panic set upon his senses, the telepathic nosie of numerous citizens all crying out at once.  A glance up instantly told him what was the cause.  A meteor, hurling toward the city, already too close for him to do anything about it.  It had to be alien in nature, advanced.  This was no natural phenomena.  

What he could do was help people.  Turning invisible and resuming his public Martian form, he pulled people from the path of the meteor at high speed, moments before the meteor hit.

Where have I seen this before...?

The meteor impacted with the street, hard, but not with the speed it should have had.  It was as though it had slowed itself.  It cracked and something inside it began to grow...  and burn.

It was a giant of fire.