Back in Washington, D.C., a ceremony was being held near the League's headquarters, where members of the Justice League were being recognized for their heroic deeds over the past several months. One after another, they stepped forward to receive their medals as government officials presented them with the honors before the assembled crowd. However, Green Lantern and a few other members were notably absent from the ceremony, leaving the rest of the League to represent the team.
Superman eventually stepped onto the podium to deliver a brief speech, thanking both the government and the people for their continued support while acknowledging the importance of the heroes standing alongside him. He had barely begun when a sudden explosion erupted somewhere within the large crowd, the deafening blast immediately drowning out his words.
Chaos erupted.
Civilians screamed and scattered in every direction as government agents and League members immediately moved into action. People shoved past one another in their desperate attempts to find cover, while others simply froze in confusion, struggling to understand what had just happened. The League looked upward, searching for the source of the attack, and soon found it.
Hovering high above the ceremony was an android.
A.M.A.Z.O.
Its mechanical body remained perfectly still against the sky, its expressionless face offering no indication of emotion or intent. The only movement came from its glowing red eyes, which stared down at the chaos below with an unsettling emptiness, as though there were no trace of a living consciousness behind them.
The realization that this wasn't a conventional terrorist attack sent another wave of panic through the crowd. Civilians fled from the area as quickly as they could, desperately searching for shelter while security personnel scrambled to establish some semblance of order.
Four Secret Service agents dressed in black suits and dark sunglasses immediately surrounded the President, forming a protective barrier around him as they began escorting him away from the chaos.
"Get the President out of here," Batman ordered.
Cyborg immediately responded, his systems scanning the surrounding area as he calculated the safest possible evacuation route. His cybernetic eye flickered as multiple paths were assessed and discarded within seconds before he settled on the most secure option. He then moved alongside the Secret Service detail, providing cover as they hurried the President away from the unfolding battle.
Batman, meanwhile, had already moved into action.
Several Batarangs shot from his hand toward A.M.A.Z.O., cutting through the air with lethality. The android effortlessly shifted its body, allowing the projectiles to sail harmlessly past it.
But the moment it finished dodging, Superman was already there.
The Kryptonian surged forward and drove his fist toward A.M.A.Z.O.'s face with enough force to shatter concrete. Yet just before the punch could connect with its jaw, something strange happened.
The android's chest suddenly changed.
The surface of its armor rippled and reshaped itself, forming an unmistakable imitation of the Kryptonian symbol.
Superman's fist slammed into it.
The impact produced a tremendous shockwave, but instead of damaging A.M.A.Z.O., the blow merely sent the android flying backward through the air. It recovered almost immediately, stabilizing itself in midair as though the attack had done nothing more than inconvenience it.
There wasn't even a dent.
Flash stared upward, his expression shifting from amusement to genuine confusion.
"Did I just imagine that, or did it seem to run some sort of scan on Superman in less than a second?" he asked, mostly to himself as he watched the android.
A.M.A.Z.O.'s eyes suddenly flared.
Two beams of red-hot energy erupted from them and struck Superman squarely, blasting him backward. Before the Kryptonian could recover, the android vanished from its position and shot through the air at incredible speed, closing the distance almost instantly.
Its fist connected with Superman, and the impact sent Earth's mightiest hero hurtling downward.
Superman slammed into the paved road with enough force to crack the surface beneath him before his momentum carried him forward, his body skidding across the asphalt and leaving a long trail of destruction behind him.
Flash watched the spectacle with widened eyes before slowly nodding.
"Nope," he remarked. "It definitely did that."
Wonder Woman launched herself into the air, her expression stitching to warrior mode as she accelerated toward A.M.A.Z.O. She drew her fist back and swung with enough force to crush stone, a grunt escaping her as she put her full strength behind the attack.
A.M.A.Z.O. moved before the punch could reach it.
The android had already calculated her trajectory.
It tilted its body just enough for Wonder Woman's fist to pass harmlessly beside its head, then immediately seized her arm. Before she could react, A.M.A.Z.O. pulled her toward itself with mechanical ease.
Wonder Woman's eyes widened at that sudden action as the android drove its forehead into hers.
The brutal headbutt sent a shock through her body as A.M.A.Z.O. maintained its grip, already analyzing its everyone while the rest of the League rushed to respond.
Batman watched Wonder Woman stagger from the headbutt, her hand briefly touching her forehead as she regained her balance. His eyes narrowed behind the lenses of his cowl as he studied the android hovering above them.
"It must be some kind of Kryptonian robot," he concluded, his gaze shifting toward Superman.
As if on cue, Superman pushed himself back onto his feet, shaking off the impact and preparing to launch himself toward A.M.A.Z.O. again. But before he could take off, the android's eyes flashed red.
Two beams of heat vision suddenly streaked downward toward the civilians still scrambling to escape.
Superman's expression changed immediately.
Without hesitation, he abandoned his pursuit and shot across the battlefield, placing himself between the civilians and the incoming beams. His body absorbed the attack, shielding the fleeing people from the destructive heat.
"Did you say robot?" Green Arrow asked, already reaching for his quiver.
He pulled out three specially modified arrows and fired them in rapid succession. The projectiles streaked toward A.M.A.Z.O., but the android had already anticipated Superman's movement. Taking advantage of the Kryptonian's instinct to protect the civilians, A.M.A.Z.O. opened its mouth and unleashed a blast of freezing breath.
The sudden wave of cold caught Superman before he could reposition himself.
Ice rapidly spread across his body, freezing him in place.
Before Superman could break free, A.M.A.Z.O. surged forward and drove its fist into the frozen Kryptonian, sending him crashing backward through the ice.
The three arrows struck the android almost immediately afterward.
Electricity surged across A.M.A.Z.O.'s body as the modified projectiles discharged their payload, but when the sparks finally faded, the android remained completely unharmed.
Flash stared at it for a moment.
"Well, that did nothing at all except piss him off," he remarked.
Then he was gone.
The Flash blurred across the battlefield, moving so quickly that his form became little more than a streak of red and yellow as he circled A.M.A.Z.O. Batman took advantage of the distraction, launching several explosive Batarangs toward the android.
The explosives rapidly detonated in successive order.
Flash used his incredible speed to manipulate the surrounding air, running around the perimeter of the flames and creating a powerful vacuum that fed oxygen into the fire while simultaneously forcing the flames inward. The inferno intensified around A.M.A.Z.O., engulfing the android in a concentrated storm of heat.
For a moment, it looked promising.
Then A.M.A.Z.O. opened its mouth.
A powerful blast of freezing breath swept through the flames, extinguishing them almost instantly. The fire vanished beneath the wave of cold, leaving the android standing exactly where it had been.
Not a scratch.
Flash's expression shifted from confidence to irritation. "Okay, that's getting annoying."
He immediately accelerated.
In less than a second, Flash appeared directly in front of A.M.A.Z.O. and unleashed a barrage of punches. His fists struck the android's face more than a hundred times in the blink of an eye, each blow carrying the force of his incredible speed.
A.M.A.Z.O.'s head snapped backward repeatedly under the barrage.
For the first time, the android actually stumbled.
Flash stopped a short distance away, already preparing for another attack, when he noticed something changing across A.M.A.Z.O.'s chest.
The metal rippled as the lightning bolt symbol of the Flash appeared across its armor, glowing faintly as it finished copying the speedster's abilities.
Batman immediately recognized what was happening.
"Cyborg!" he called, his attention never leaving the android. "Run a scan on that thing and figure out how to shut it down before—"
Lightning suddenly erupted around Flash's body.
The speedster accelerated again, electricity crackling across his arms and legs as he gathered the energy around himself. He thrust one hand forward and hurled a concentrated bolt of lightning directly at A.M.A.Z.O.
The android didn't dodge.
Instead, it moved its arm in a precise rotation and caught the lightning.
Flash's eyes widened, watching as A.M.A.Z.O. twisted its arm and the lightning changed direction.
The same bolt came flying back toward him.
"What the—?"
Flash barely had time to react before the lightning struck him squarely in the chest. The impact sent him flying backward as electricity exploded across his body.
Meanwhile, Superman and Wonder Woman recovered and charged toward A.M.A.Z.O. together, coordinating their attacks as they moved in from opposite angles. Green Arrow remained farther back, firing arrow after arrow to provide support while Batman and Cyborg focused their attention on the real problem.
They weren't simply fighting a powerful robot as they initially thought, but something that could observe their abilities, replicate them, and immediately turn those same powers against them.
And now it had access to the attributes of a Kryptonian and a speedster.
Batman narrowed his eyes as Cyborg's systems continued scanning the android.
They needed to find a way to shut A.M.A.Z.O. down before it learned what the rest of the League could do.
- - -
[Tom Hendricks POV]
Since the whole fiasco with the group calling themselves the Sparrows, and the incident involving their leader Jamie that eventually led to our encounter with the Justice League, things had been surprisingly calm lately. There hadn't been any major complications, no unexpected clashes, and, for once, I wasn't constantly looking over my shoulder wondering when the next problem was going to drop into my lap.
Business as Ghost had been doing great as well. There hadn't been any serious setbacks or conflicts between the different operations, and the money was flowing exactly the way it was supposed to.
I'd also started making legitimate investments in some of the bigger firms around the country, mostly to reinforce the story I'd built around the source of my wealth. If anyone ever became curious about how I could afford the lifestyle I maintained, the answer was simple: overseas investments and smart business decisions.
I even had Leo put me in contact with someone involved in real estate. Through him, I managed to pick up several properties at reasonable prices, only to turn around and resell them for two or three times what I'd paid. It was clean money, legitimate business, and, more importantly, it gave my public identity something substantial to point toward whenever someone started asking questions about where all my money came from.
Still, there was no telling when Jamie might show up again. He knew my identity as Ace, and unlike most of the people I'd crossed paths with, he had actually proven that he could get close enough to put his hands on me. That alone made him dangerous.
I couldn't lie, though.
I was looking forward to our next meeting.
It wouldn't hurt to have a little fun before taking him down and shipping him off to White Prison in Venezuela for the rest of his lockup.
I was still mulling over those thoughts when the television caught my attention. The news had suddenly interrupted its regular programming, showing footage from Washington, D.C., where the award ceremony honoring Earth's Mightiest Heroes had been abruptly interrupted by what was being described as a terrorist attack.
I leaned back and watched the footage unfold.
The screen soon shifted to images of the Justice League in the middle of a battle with some strange-looking guy with orange skin. Whatever the hell he was, he wasn't some ordinary metahuman. He was going toe-to-toe with the League and somehow managing to keep up with them.
I watched the fight for a few moments, studying the footage with mild curiosity before my phone began ringing.
Slade.
I picked up the call and listened as he gave me an update. He'd been sent out on a mission with Jason because one of my client's drug shipments had been delayed. That might not sound like my problem at first, but my client's dealers were dependent on those shipments to keep their own businesses running, and if they weren't getting their supply, I wasn't getting my weekly cut.
That made it my problem.
Everyone involved had abandoned their previous supplier after I connected them with this particular source. I'd put the entire chain together, which meant that when something went wrong with the supply, it was my responsibility to find out why and fix it.
And apparently, the problem wasn't with the supplier.
The Feds had been interfering with the shipments repeatedly, which meant someone was either deliberately disrupting the operation or, more likely, there was a rat somewhere inside the organization tipping them off. Someone had to be feeding the authorities information about the shipments before they moved.
That was exactly why I'd sent Jason and Slade overseas.
Their job was simple enough: find out who was leaking the information, figure out why the shipments were being intercepted, and fix the problem before returning to the States.
I didn't particularly care which option they ended up using.
I just wanted my supply line running smoothly again.
- - -
[Jason Todd's POV]
The moment we stepped out of the airport, I spotted a Spanish-looking guy who looked to be in his early forties standing beside a black sedan. He lifted a hand and waved at us with a grin that was just a little too enthusiastic for my liking.
"Is that him?" I asked Slade, who hadn't said much of anything since we got on the plane.
"From the way he's smiling at us, I'd say he is," Slade replied in his usual dry tone. "Otherwise, it would just be creepy."
I glanced back at the guy.
"It's already creepy as is."
We walked over to the black sedan, and the man immediately stepped forward to greet us. "Welcome to Morocco, Americans," he said, extending his hand toward me.
I stared at his hand for a moment before looking back at his face without saying a word. Slade, thankfully, had no problem playing along and reached out to shake his hand.
"You must be Mr. Wilson. I am Miguel," he introduced himself. "The boss ordered me to pick you up from the airport since this might probably be your first time in our country."
He opened the passenger door, then walked around and opened the rear door as well, gesturing for us to get inside.
I glanced toward Slade, who was already scanning the surrounding area, his attention moving between passing vehicles, pedestrians, and anyone who looked remotely suspicious. Apparently satisfied that nobody was about to put a bullet in us, he turned toward the car.
I looked back at Miguel.
He was still smiling.
That damn smile was starting to get on my nerves.
"What makes you think we're the right people your boss wants you to escort?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"He told me to look for a man with white hair and an eyepatch with a kid tagging along with him," Miguel explained with a small shrug. "You don't see too many people wearing eyepatches nowadays, do you?"
I couldn't argue with that.
Tom must have given the connect a description of what we looked like before we landed. White hair, eyepatch, and a kid. Subtle as hell.
"Move your ass, old man. I'm starving."
Slade looked at me for a moment, his expression saying everything he didn't bother putting into words. He simply shook his head like he didn't have the patience to deal with my bullshit and climbed into the vehicle.
I followed him inside, and Miguel shut the doors before taking his place behind the wheel.
As the sedan pulled away from the airport, I settled back into my seat and looked out through the window at the unfamiliar streets passing by.
I had no idea where the hell this guy was taking us, or what kind of mess Tom expected us to clean up once we got there.
But hopefully, this job would be as interesting as I'd been expecting.
After spending hours on a plane, I wouldn't mind blowing off some steam by bashing my gun against the face of a couple of foreign gangsters who thought they were tough.
- - -
Patrn Maverick_DaSupreme