Adult-FanFiction.org : Comics

Parallels	By : sirensoundwave Category: DC Verse Cartoons > Young Justice Views: 3184 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Plot and anything you don't recognize, mine. Everything else (Young Justice or any characters licensed by DC) belongs to their respective creators/writers/artists. Just know I make no profit off of this and shut up about it...m'kay?

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
Hello all. This chapter deals with a few loose ends. Remember, the events from chapters titled Kick in the Teeth (4) up til now have all occurred within the same 6-12 hour time frame; not accounting for flashbacks. After this chapter, the times between events will move beyond the current day; which is June 15th if I haven’t already mentioned it.
Okay, we get to see how the world took the on air murders of the CEO of one of the world’s largest companies and the Queen of the world’s most brutal dictatorship. We also learn about what the remaining members of the Light are up to now that they are running scared. The mages and the league continue to clash and Young Justice realizes they are more equipped to be on the frontlines than their mentors. Fittingly, Frontline by Pillar is our soundtrack.
Let’s do this.
Chapter 24
Frontline
It's not like I'm walking alone into the valley of the shadow of death
Stand beside one another, 'cause it ain't over yet
I'd be willing to bet that if we don't back down
You and I will be the ones that are holding the Crown in the end
When it's over, we can say, "Well done"
But not yet, 'cause it's only begun
So, pick up, and follow me, we're the only ones
To fight this thing, until we've won
We drive on and don't look back
It doesn't mean we can't learn from our past
All the things that we might've done wrong
We could've been doing this all along
[Chorus x2:]
Everybody, with your fists raised high
Let me hear your battle cry tonight
Stand beside, or step aside
We're on the frontline
And we'll be carrying on, until the day it doesn't matter anymore
Step aside, you forgot what this is for
We fight to live, we live to fight
And tonight, you'll hear my battle cry
We live our lives on the frontlines
We're not afraid of the fast times
These days have opened up my eyes
And now, I see where the threat lies
The world below the Watchtower had erupted into mass hysteria.
The airwaves were awash with conspiracy theorists. Some were saying how these new threats were a direct result of the Justice League. That all of the major villains in the world were only an issue after these so called heroes emerged and that the cycle would only escalate. Villains would continue to up the ante in an effort to best them. Others claimed that the movement known as the Light was simply a challenge to the JLA status as ‘benevolent overlords’ and had grown desperate enough to align with such unpredictable people in an effort to restore the natural order of the world. Still others accused the League of fabricating the whole scenario to justify their continued presence.
There were some on the heroes’ side. It was argued that the need for superheroes arose when it became very clear that the nations of the world could not deal with the scale to which criminals and their resources had risen. Some criminals weren’t exactly that bad. The Rogues of Central city had adopted a No Kill Policy while other super villains killed for the sheer joy of it. Captain Cold was even known to assist the CFD with large fires.
Attempts to control or subvert the hero populous have all met with disastrous consequences. Most notably, the attempts by the now defunct CADMUS to clone Superman on more than one occasion and the horrific Blockbuster incident. The one time Batman was forced to step back from crime fighting, Gotham was nearly destroyed. And everyone agreed that if not for a unified and capable force such as the JLA, threats from beyond the stars would rolled over the planet with ease.
Let’s not forget that fear and ostracizing because of what made them different was a common banner villain rallied behind. We ought to be grateful that individuals as powerful as the Green Lanterns, the Hawk family, Wonder Woman and alike actually gave a damn about what’s right and not how people treated them.
Freedom fighters, rebel factions and neighboring countries were sure to clash in the anarchy following the death of Queen Bee. She had never named anyone as second in command; not even Pysmon, her most loyal henchman. Much of her army had been under compulsion from either her thrall or Psymon’s hypnosis. So, when she died, many soldiers threw down their guns and ran for the hills. Or joined up with one of the other sides. Those that remained were mindless zombies that had had their psyches destroyed. The poor souls were just living puppets without a puppeteer now. Even more tragic, the Logan family’s reserve had been destroyed. It had been a battleground between Bialyan and Quraci forces shortly before the broadcast. Their whereabouts were unknown.
Luthor Corp was in shambles. Even the board of directors had no idea what to do. Despite their CEO’s track record, most were in the dark about the true workings of the company. A few distraught souls were seen swan diving from windows in the building. Defensive driving during rush hour in Metropolis took on a whole new meaning as cars were forced to avoid the bodies raining down on the streets.
*I am bum...bum...bum...a line break!*
In a hidden location, the remaining five members of the Light were at an impasse. They had gathered for a meeting to take place after their mysterious benefactor was revealed to the world but were unsure what to do now. Well, four were. One wasn’t even who they thought he was. To be fair, he wasn’t about 60% of the time they’d had contact since recruiting him.
Teekl was bored out of her skull. Her master’s last instructions were simply to appear as in the dark as the rest of them, while remaining in character as a Lord of Chaos. Complete disinterest wasn’t that far off the mark. So that’s what she went with.
“You seem quite calm despite recent development Klarion.” Black Manta frowned.
“Why should I be worried? I’m not a flimsy mortal.” ‘Klarion’ snapped. “I’m a force of nature Manta, I can’t die. Duh.”
“Still, you seem not the least bit concerned. There are fates worse than death witchboy.” Al Ghul pressed. The man never did like Klarion and it was no secret. As far as he was concerned, there was something off about the child of chaos. He strongly suspected him of being the cause of several of the Light’s setbacks. Still without proof or at least having that fleabag of his in his grasp, he had kept silent. He didn’t trust any of his partners as far as he could throw them but Klarion was at the bottom of his list.
“If you have something to say, go ahead and say it you walking corpse. It’s not like you to beat around the bush.”
“Gentleman, I doubt this useless squabbling will address the matter at hand. With Queen Bee and Lex Luthor dead, many of our plans are in jeopardy. Furthermore, we have just learned that much of the work we have put in the last 5 years have been for nought.” The Brain interjected.
“I suggest we part ways. There is no shame in a strategic retreat when the odds are so...unfavorable.” Savage suggested.
The remaining members considered this. Staying here was sure to invite the wrath of this new enemy. They were also loath to admit that the supposed masters of deception and subterfuge had been played like a fiddle. While they had been arguing, Teekl had received more orders from her master.
/Black Manta’s knowledge of Lady Lyun’ua’s abilities may prove useful. After all he had intended to use her for them until he fell in love with the woman. We may need the other idiots at some point in the future as well. Detain them anyway you please, secrecy is moot now./ Castor spoke to her through their bond.
“What are you smiling about?” Al Ghul hissed. ‘Klarion’ was positively beaming.
“I don’t have to sit here and listen to this crap anymore. And neither do you.”
She gave them no time to retort. With a snap of her fingers, Teekl was in her feline form again; alone in an empty room. Around her neck was a new collar. Sporting 4 black gem studs that pulsed briefly before she vanished in a flash of red.
*I am bum...bum...bum...a line break!*
In the cave, the tension had eased some now that everyone was being open and honest about their experiences in the last few months or years for some. They were now discussing what their new abilities mean in terms of the upcoming war.
“You guys, this is more than just a bunch of coincidences. The Zodiac Knights have been trying to prepare us for something big.” Robin said.
“I guess, but why not just come right out and say it? Look at all the time wasted when we could have been learning to control these powers? I mean, I just got mine but most of you have had them for a while and been totally in the dark.” Artemis crossed her arms. She was still angry at Sagittarius. He’d gotten her sister to trade her soul for his half assed help. Then as Red Arrow, he’d done his damnedest to get everyone to believe she was the mole, when the whole time it was him. Regardless of his reasons, those wounds were still fresh and would take more than the ‘for the greater good’ spiel to smooth things over.
“The Chaos Mages are not meant to be known about. At least for the most part. While I am upset at how things turned out, I do understand that they were duty bound to act as they have.” Kaldur sighed. “We will just have to accept that they did all they could to help us. Remember, Dr. Fate could have been a valuable asset to the situation. He knew well in advance but chose to be petty instead of warning anyone.”
“And now he’s a living Barbie doll. So, what now? We don’t even know the extent of these new abilities. Forget controlling them.” Raquel stretched.
“Well, for stater-” Connor had started to speak but stopped mid-sentence. He was frozen in the process of taking a step toward the couch like a mannequin.
“Yo, SB, you in there?” Robin waved a hand in front of his face. The Boy of Steel’s eyes turned a milky white. “Whoa...”
“Ahh!” Megan clutched her head before going limp, falling right into a confused Kaldur’s arms.
“I know that look.” Pisces smiled. “He’s having a vision and Megan’s gotten sucked into it as well. We’re gonna have to wait until it’s over kiddies. Might as well get comfy.”
*Inside the Vison*
“Not this again.” Connor grumbled. Many of his psychic experiences began this way. He was standing in a thick fog that went on forever. Any minute, he expected it to disperse and show him some random event occurring sometime in the future. That may or may not actually happen. It sucked.
“Connor what is this place?” Megan asked cautiously. Okay, that was new. Usually she knew something about these visions but this was the first time she’d been literally dragged into one. Then again, they usually happened when he was asleep so...
“It’s where I go when I have those dreams. I’m not sure why you’re here this time but I have a really bad feeling about this.” He pulled her close as the fog lifted and they found themselves standing in the Watchtower with the League and the other Chaos Mages. They were involved in a heated argument.
/We don’t need your help! You’ve been too busy watching us twist in the wind to actually do anything before!/ Hal Jordan barked.
/Do you have alzheimer's or something?! They were just fucking with you before! You just gotten beaten to a pulp and they weren’t even trying!/ Gabriel snorted. /We saved your asses!/
/Oh yes. You showed up after the slaughter. How convenient for all knowing beings. I don’t believe you’re really trying to help us at all. This is some sort of amusement for you isn’t it?/ Hawkwoman stood beside the Lantern. /Just sit back and watch the mortals panic./
/What part of non-interference do you not get? You wanna blame someone for inaction? Blame Nabu. He knew this whole time and there wasn't a damned thing preventing him from spilling the beans other than his ego!/ Castor countered. /We’ve only been trying to keep the universe from coming apart at the seams. So sorry that doesn’t seem like a priority to you./
/Fighting isn’t going to solve this. It doesn’t matter that you don’t understand our methods. Right now we are the best hope you have of living through this. You don’t have a choice but to work with us./ Sylphine reasoned.
/Is that a threat?/ Booster Gold, who had previously been at Blue Beetle’s bedside, narrowed his eyes at the fey woman. His usual carefree attitude was gone. /I don’t care who you are. You have no right to toy with our lives like this. If you’re so fucking powerful, why are Blue and Hawkman in comas? Why is Captain Marvel’s soul missing? Why did the whole world just see two people murdered on live TV; so what if they were the scum of the earth? Why is any of this shit happening when you had the power to prevent it?!/
/Chill out! We’ve been going over this for almost an hour. It’s obvious both sides are having trouble accepting the facts./ Pollux threw his arms up.
/We need to come to some sort of agreement soon. I doubt Vishnu is going to wait around for us to get our act together./ Batman interjected.
/Screaming like children isn’t getting us closer to a plan of action./ John Stewart received a glare from his fellow lantern but ignored it.
/I believe this is what he is counting on. Dissension in the ranks and confusion will make us easier to destroy./ Manhunter spoke up.
/I don’t care who did what when. Right now, I’m going with the information I have, not a bunch of mumbo jumbo about destiny and higher powers./ Mr. Terrific took up his usual position at the communications hub though he moved with a limp. /I’m going to do my job, let me know when you all get your heads out of the sand and I’ll gladly help when you come to your senses./ With that, his spheres went to work as scanning the airwaves and calculating risk. He pointedly ignored the looks of shock directed at him.
/You’re going to take that faithless stance now? When we have Gods actually before us?/ Wonder Woman balked.
/Faithless? They’ve proven they aren’t almighty deities Diana. Let it go./ Hawkwoman scoffed.
/As an AI, such concepts elude me. Still, I agree with Mr. Terrific./ Red Tornado said.
The argument only escalated from there. Everyone voiced their opinions from religious and practical standpoints. The voices all blended together as the scene faded. And gave way to a far more distressing one.
“Oh no!” Megan shrieked and hid her face in Connor’s chest.
They were standing on Earth. In D.C. if the sight of the Washington monument lying in pieces scattered about the Mall was any indication. The ground was littered with corpses. Many badly were mangled or too charred to be identified. None of the ones that were relatively intact looked like soldiers. These were civilians caught in the crossfire.
“This is what we have to look forward to? Holy shit!” Connor had seen the familiar S shield near the ruins of the WWII memorial and ran to where his ‘father’ lay. When he got there, he threw up immediately. The man of Steel’s torso was the only thing there. His head and limbs were floating in the now crimson reflecting pool in front of the destroyed monument. Many other league members were scattered about the area and clearly dead. The sight and smell was so overpowering that he almost didn’t see that his team and the Mages stood defiantly before Shiva, Kali, Vishunu and a new boy twirling a flute. Behind them an army of figures that were shadowed but burning red eyes were clearly seen.
/Your world is ours young ones. Submit and we will allow you to live./ Vishnu laughed.
/No way! Eyah!/ Artemis threw a spear of white light at him and it pierced the hand that tried to knock it away and lit it on fire. He looked at the smoldering appendage in shock. His children looked murderous.
/How dare you!/ The boy yelled.
/The Chaos Mages of several realms might be evenly matched./ Zatanna’s eyes glowed a deep violet as her hair fanned out around her like a halo.
/But this is our world and we are the only ones who get to decide how it’s ruled!/ Robin was bathed in a black aura that formed translucent wings around him.
/And your terror ends here!/ Kaldur’s markings lit up like a christmas tree.
/Impossible! Mortals are not fit to stand against us!/ Shiva growled, spear at the ready.
/We are when you are not fit to exist in this world!/ Superboy yelled from the air. His vision counterpart was actually flying! He could see Miss Martian creating doubles of herself and Rocket forming a riot shield and battle axe with the energy generated by her belt.
/You won’t be satisfied with just this world Vishnu./ A voice Connor had never heard before called from behind the heros. It was an older male voice from the deep tone.
/And we’ll be damned if we let you reach ours!/ A younger male voice sounded, closer to that of a teenager. Veiled in shadows were six others he couldn’t identify. Three males and three females. He could make out the glint of a sword and a sickle but no faces.
In the foreground, Sylphine stood with her tessens drawn. Gabriel with his massive parasol. Sagittarius drew his bow. The Gemini’s chain glowed a hot golden color. Pisces was surrounded by hundreds of mirrors and musical notes appeared when Virgo struck her harp. Even Epsilon brandished a deadly looking set of sai. Suddenly both sides of the field surged forward.
The scene exploded in bright lights before contact was made and he found himself looking at his worried team mates back in the cave. He stood there gasping for breath as Megan shot up drenched in sweat.
“What did you see?” Sagittarius asked.
“The world in ruins and the League all dead.” Megan sobbed.
“WHAT!?” everyone yelled.
“It doesn’t have to be that way. I understand why things happened the way they have. If the adults go up against Vishnu, they are going to get slaughtered; they don’t have the power to fight him. But we do. Our experiences have been preparing us, they told us already. It’s us. We are the ones who are supposed to fight along side the Knights when the time comes.” Connor shook his head to clear the fuzzy feeling in his skull. “We were all there. So were the mages. There’s another Chaos Mage with Vishnu, a little boy. They had a whole army behind them. But there were six people on our side I don’t know.”
“How do we fight something like that? We don’t even understand what we can do.” Zatanna sat down beside Megan and rubbed her temples.
“Yes you do.” Pisces spoke forcefully. “You have all you need to fight for this world. Just believe in yourselves.”
“We already do.” Epsilon smiled up at Artemis. “You guys won’t be alone, we’ll be there too!” The thought of such a small child in the middle of that made the blonde archer feel sick to her stomach; even if he wasn’t really an innocent boy.
“And who are these other people with us?” Robin thought aloud. “Mam?”
“They are other Chaos Mages, from Lord Ebedi’s realm I think. Vishnu won’t stop at conquering this world. He will try to do the same to others if he can. They recently recovered from a course of events that almost lead to a cosmic reset. Their world might be weak enough to tempt Vishnu.” The red head sighed. “I know it sounds cruel, but you really are the only ones who can stand on the frontlines of this battle with even a hope of victory.”
*I am bum...bum...bum...a line break!*
And there we have it, the Mages from ‘The Road to Hell’ make an appearance in Connor’s vision. They still won’t really show up for some time but now you see how and why they fit into this story. The argument at the Watchtower really is going on at the same time but now Connor knows that his visions are far from set in stone. It’s up to the kids to save the day. Stay tuned. Sirensoundwave out.
- 23
- 24
- 25
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Parallels