Chapter Text
It was a quiet night in a suburban neighborhood in Star City. Artemis was thankful for that as she parked her bike beside Will’s new SUV in the drive. The house was dark as Will had taken Lian to Ollie’s and Violet and Tara are at the Hub. She had just come back from helping Nightwing, Robin and Oracle in Gotham to stop Scarecrow since Batman was occupied by the League. She contemplated spending the night at her mother’s place once they were done but decided against it. She and Will were avoiding Paula ever since her blow up at Thanksgiving and further disappointment when Will told her firmly that he and Artemis will remain as friends and not date each other.
And she would rather come back than stay the night at the manor despite Dick’s offer when they had another mission with the Team the next morning. But later she would come to regret that decision when something crashed into the street, right in front of the house. Sparks flew and glass shattered as there was a blinding light and a loud boom. Artemis gasped pain when she was thrown against the garage by the impact headfirst.
With a groan, she blinked in attempt to clear the black spots in her vision. And she is fairly certain she has a concussion. Otherwise, how was she supposed to explain the blurry, massive thing that crawled out of the crater and shot a blue light at her now badly dented bike. She flinched, thinking it was something like heat vision but to her surprise, once it moved over her bike, it ran away. The sound of clogs and gears shifting was barely heard over the ringing in her ears.
Artemis must have blacked out for when she opened her eyes again, it was to the shaking of her neighbor, Ms. Tobes.
“Oh, thank goodness! Mark, call an ambulance!” She yelled over her shoulder at her husband. Turning back to Artemis, she pressed on Artemis shoulders to prevent her from getting up. “Stay still, Artemis. Mark is calling the firefighters and the ambulance. Can you tell me what happened here? Where does it hurt?”
“I-I don’t know.” Artemis slurred, obeying Ms. Tobes’ gestures to lie back down, too dizzy to protest. “I think I hit my head against the garage.”
“The ambulance and firefighters are on their way. And they said to stay back from the crater…Is that Wonder Woman!?” Someone yelped as the Greek Heroine descended and landed beside the strangely now empty crater.
Looking around worriedly, she called, “Is anybody hurt?”
“Over here!” Ms. Tobes waved her over to Artemis. “She was outside when…whatever it was crashed here.”
Wonder Woman hurried over, briefly glancing at the house where Brucely was frantically barking and pawing at the window. “Is there anyone else living here?” She asked even though she probably knew but feigned ignorance.
“They’re out for the evening.” Artemis rasped but quickly turned her head to the side when a wave of nausea hit her.
“I think she has a concussion. My son called the ambulance just now.” Ms. Tobes explained.
Wonder Woman nodded and moved back to the crowd around the crater. “Is anyone else hurt?”
Many shook their heads. Other than a power outage and a few scraps and cuts when the glass shattered, no one else was injured.
“Um, Wonder Woman, is this another alien invasion?! I mean, it can’t be a meteorite! The crater is empty!”
Wonder Woman held back a sigh as gasps and murmurs ran out in the crowd. She clapped to get their attention and addressed them in her authoritative voice. “That is what the Justice League is going to find out. Please remain calm and return back to your homes until the emergency services arrive. I promise, we will get to the bottom of this.”
There were grumbles but the people complied. Wonder Woman then tapped on the comm in her ear. “Wonder Woman to Watchtower. There’s nothing here.”
“The same was reported at the other sites.” Red Tornado informed her. “And what of Tigress and Red Arrow? Their place of residence is right at your site.”
“Tigress is injured but Red Arrow is out with his daughter.” Wonder Woman answered quietly. “Send Sen to the hospital to look after her.”
“Understood. Red Tornado out.”
Once she ended the call, she turned her attention back to Artemis and Ms. Tobes. “Is there anyone we can call?” She asked softly.
“My brother-in-law.” Artemis blinked as she nearly drifted off but it was Ms. Tobes’ shaking that kept her alert.
“I have his number.” Ms. Tobes spoke up.
“Please call him. I can stay with her.”
Ms. Tobes was reluctant to leave Artemis’ side but since Wonder Woman offered to watch her, she stepped aside to make the call. Once she was out of earshot, Wonder Woman leaned in closer to Artemis.
“Did you see anything come out of the crater?” She whispered.
Artemis nodded, to Wonder Woman’s dread. Artemis winced as she lifted her hand and pointed at her bike. “I couldn’t see what it was but it was massive. It shone something on my bike and left.”
This was alarming to the older heroine. Once Ms. Tobes returned, she moved to inspect the bike. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong other than being damaged from being in close proximity of the crash. But appearances can be deceiving as she learned many times in the past. The ambulance and firefighters soon arrived and took Artemis to the hospital.
Wonder Woman tied her lasso around the bike and hauled it with her as she headed to the nearest Zeta Tube to the bafflement of onlookers. If it was a hostile alien and did something to the bike, it was imperative that they find out what they did.
“Wonder Woman to Green Lantern, I need you at the Watchtower. I have something of interest from the crash site.”
A sleek sportscar swerved into the hospital’s parking lot and its occupants stumbled out when it came to a stop. Barely pausing, they rushed inside, startling the receptionist.
“We’re looking for Artemis Crock.” Oliver said breathlessly. The receptionist was visibly surprise by the presence of Oliver Queen and looked like she wanted to ask questions but her professionalism won out. She quickly typed something into the computer.
“A-ah, she’s in Room 384. But the Justice League sent a medic here to treat her and she isn’t letting anyone but family see her.”
“I’m her brother-in-law. He’s my…former foster father. He and Artemis are close too.” Will explained to her. Without wasting anymore time, they headed up ignoring the receptionist’s questions.
Just before they burst into the room, the doctor stepped out. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at them, forcing them to stop and calm down.
“The two of you came here faster than I expected.” She ushered them in and locked the door behind them. Sen, one of the medics for the League, was not surprised by Oliver and Will’s arrival having anticipated it and was warned by Diana beforehand. After Red Tornado told her that Artemis was being transported to the hospital, she followed protocol and came to the hospital to monitor her in case of any side effects from possibly being in contact with an unknown alien.
“How is she?” Oliver asked as he made a beeline to Artemis’ side. She was a bit more coherent and alert than she was with Wonder Woman and she gave him a slight irritated glare. There were bandages around her head where she hit it.
“Other than a concussion, nothing else.” Sen hummed. “But I want to keep her in for the night before moving her to the Watchtower for further observation.”
“I’m fine.” Artemis groaned. “That thing didn’t do anything to me, just my bike.”
The three other occupants in the room tensed up at that. Will carefully asked, “Artemis, did you see what came out of the crater?”
“Sort of. It was blurry but I’m pretty sure it was huge…as tall as your house tall, maybe taller.” Artemis grimaced as she tried to recall what happened. “I told Diana that it shone something at my bike and I think she took it…and I’m not sure if it was the concussion but I heard something metallic, like cogs and gears shifting when it fled.”
“I’ll report this to the Watchtower as soon as I can.” Oliver promised.
“In the meantime, you need to rest. And you and I need to debrief the League.” Sen pointed out to him.
Oliver sighed dramatically and gave her a one arm hug. “We’ll see you tomorrow kiddo.”
“Not a kid anymore.” Artemis grumbled as she swatted his arm away.
“Dinah will bring Lian over tomorrow to see you before Sen moves you. I’m going back to assess the damage.”
“You might not like the state of your SUV.”
Will groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I just replaced it.”
“I can get you a new one…” Oliver’s voice trailed off as the door shut behind them. Sen did some final checks on Artemis before she left as well. Artemis leaned back against her pillow and sighed. She should have taken on Dick’s offer to stay at the manor for the night. Now she can’t go on the mission with him tomorrow.
Shortly after Oliver and Will left the hospital, they split off with Will going to his house to assess the damage after letting Dinah know that Artemis was alright and asking her to watch over Lian for the night while Oliver headed to the Watchtower to report back to the Justice League.
Recognized: Green Arrow-08
Green Arrow was immediately greeted by the Outsiders with Halo bombarding him with questions about Artemis.
“Whoa, whoa! I can’t answer your questions if you don’t let me!”
Instantly, the teens backed down save for Halo and Tera. Green Arrow flashed a reassuring grin. “Just a concussion. Don’t worry, you all know how tough she is. She’ll be back on her feet before you know it. You guys can see her tomorrow when Sen moves her here.”
There were sighs of relief from them, Halo and Tera squeezing each other’s hands tightly in relief. Green Arrow scanned the group and noted that two of them were missing.
“Where’s Cyborg and Superboy?”
“Superboy is checking on Artemis’ bike in the lab with Hal. And Cyborg’s in the Monitor Womb. He’s reporting his findings on the Air Force One hack.” Beast Boy pointed at the direction of the Monitor Womb.
“Conveniently where I was headed too. Don’t stay up here too late.” Green Arrow waved at them as he entered the Monitor Womb where Cyborg was giving his report to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Black Lightning. Oracle and the other Leaguers at the crash sites were also present by hologram, save for Flash.
After months of peace for the Justice League as they were cleaning up the mess of Markovia and Luthor’s UN restrictions being lifted thanks to Trioa, they were long overdue a disaster. The disaster being the attack on the military base in Qatar with only a small group of survivors found after they were attacked again. The military wouldn’t divulge information about what happened but Batman decided to look into it. Not long later, there was another incident, this time on the Air Force One where someone or something tried to hack the military network through it. This time, the president himself requested the League to look into it. As the resident walking computer, the League asked Cyborg for help to investigate the hack after Oracle could not find the hacker, weirdly enough.
“…I really don’t know what to make out of this data. It’s alien but…I think the Fatherbox tech recognizes it.” Cyborg explained to the League. He pulled up a screen displaying glyphs that he didn’t recognized. And Green Lantern’s ring could not translate them either which was unusual to say the least.
“But do you think it is Apokoliptian or New Genesis?” Black Lightning asked him.
“I don’t think so. Neither does Halo, I checked.” Cyborg shrugged.
Black Lightning’s brow furrowed and he turned to Batman. “Do you think that this is connected to the attack on the military base in Qatar?”
“Yes.” Batman nodded as he pulled up some photos of the decimated base. “I managed to obtain a copy of the investigation file on the matter through a contact of mine. Something caught my attention.”
He enlarged one of the photos which showed what was once the server room. The server was badly damaged with wires protruding out from it. He pointed at a specific spot where the power box was with wires that were burnt and cut. “Someone had cut the power to shut down the server. That means that the objective of the attack was the military network.”
“So whoever it was attacked the base first to get the information but was thwarted when the server was shut down and destroyed the base to cover it up.” Superman summarized.
“And we know that they are alien or at least someone using alien tech.” Wonder Woman waved at Cyborg’s screen. “And there is the matter of the meteor shower. No casualties reported at each crash site. A few minor injuries but so far, Artemis is the only one who needs serious medical attention.”
“Did anyone find anything at the crash sites?” Black Lightning then asked the Leaguers in hologram.
“Nothing from the cameras yet.” Oracle shook her head. “The meteorite crashes caused power outages in several sites so I need to wait for the power to be restored there. But I’m not holding my breath. And some sites are isolated so there aren’t any cameras there.”
“And there was nothing in the craters by the time we got here, nor were there any signs that someone had moved them.” Aquaman shook his head with the other Leaguers nodding in agreement.
“Artemis must be the only one to see what was in the craters then.” Wonder Woman said grimly.
Green Arrow then took his cue to speak up. “Artemis told me that whatever it was, it was massive.” All heads turned to him and Wonder Woman nodded in confirmation.
“She told me that too.”
“How massive are we talking about here?” Black Lightning asked warily, his face pinched.
“About two stories high? And she was not certain about it, but she thought she heard something as they were leaving, like cogs and gears shifting.”
“I see.” Batman hummed in thought.
“Bad news on the bike, it’s a dead end.” Hal announced as he entered the Monitor Womb. “The ring found nothing suspicious with it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course Spooky.” Hal rolled his eyes. “Superboy disassembled it and I scanned each part for any signs of alien traces. And there was nothing. Superboy could not find anything wrong with each part either.”
“But Artemis was certain that it shone something on it.” Green Arrow frowned.
“Maybe it was nothing?” Hal shrugged.
“Let’s leave the matter of the bike aside for now. Flash has yet to report in on his site.”
Just as Black Lightning said that, the Flash’s hologram fizzed to life. He was grinning madly and waving his arms.
“Sorry I’m late, but I got something that can help us!” The annoyance of the Leaguers melted at Flash’s declaration and into eagerness.
“What is it then?”
“Ok, so my site is actually in a town and it crashed right into a hardware store. And nearby, there’s a party going on.”
Superman raised an eyebrow at that. “How is that going to help us?”
“It’s a teenager’s party! They have their phones!”
“Ah.”
“Anyway, when the meteorite crashed, it caught their attraction and being teenagers, they went to investigate it. And since the power was out, they couldn’t live stream it so they recorded it instead. Thankfully emergency services arrived before they did before they can actually get close to the crater. It took me a lot of haggling to get them to hand over the clips and not post anything about it, which is why I was late.”
It was a reasonable excuse to be late for the debriefing, the Leaguers supposed, knowing too well how stubborn teenagers can be since they have two teams consisting of teenagers and young adults.
“Bring the clips up so that we can analyze them.” Batman told him and nodded at Oracle. While Cyborg may be a better option to analyze the clips, Oracle had more experience with this kind of detective work. And Cyborg still needs to find the hacker of the military network.
“Since we do not have much to go on, we will reconvene tomorrow to track down the aliens that crashed on Earth. And hopefully Oracle and Cyborg can find something for us to go on.”
Four of the five Autobots that landed on Earth the night before were hiding as they awaited their fifth companion before they tracked down the AllSpark. When they landed on Earth, their last companion strangely swerved off course and landed further than she intended. And if she did not arrive soon, they would have to go on without her or Bumblebee’s sacrifice would be in vain.
Optimus wished that he could have done more to save his friend and Sam and Mikaela or track them down. But time was of the essence. Deep in his spark, he knew that the three of them will be safe and will see them again. But he also knew that the Decepticons are just as close as they are to the AllSpark and Megatron. They must find the AllSpark and destroy it before the Decepticons do.
“There she is.” Ratchet spoke as a blue motorbike drove over to them with the red Autobot insignia and a holographic driver on its back. When it got closer, the hologram fizzed out and it transformed into a blue robot that was smaller than her companions.
“Sorry for the delay. I got knocked off course by an asteroid orbiting Earth.”
“That’s alright Arcee. As long as you are here now, we can go after the AllSpark.” Optimus held up the glasses. He whispered a silent prayer for it to work and read the coordinates on the glasses. “The code…the code on these glasses indicate that the AllSpark is 230 miles from here.”
“I sense that the Decepticons are getting ready to mobilize.” Ratchet warned them.
Ironhide nodded in agreement to the medic’s words. “They must know that its here as well.”
“What about Bumblebee? We can’t just leave him to die and become some human experiment.” Jazz pointed out, concern for his friend.
“What? What happened to Bee?” Arcee grew worried.
“The humans have captured Bumblebee in our endeavor to retrieve the glasses.” Optimus explained to her.
“Then why are we not going to save him?” She demanded.
“He’ll die in vain if we don’t complete our mission.” Optimus chided her sternly. “Bumblebee is a brave soldier. This is what he would want.”
“Why are we fighting to save the humans?” Ironhide asked with disdain, a sentiment shared among his fellow Autobots. “They are a primitive and violent race.”
Optimus barely blinked when he gave his answer, one that shut down their disdain. “Were we so different?”
“They’re a young species. They have much to learn, but I’ve seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. You all know there is only one way to end this war. We must destroy the Cube. If all else fails, I will unite it with the spark of my chest.”
“That’s suicide.” Ratchet protested. “That Cube is raw power. It will destroy you both.”
“A necessary sacrifice.” Optimus brushed off his friend’s protest. “To bring peace to this planet. We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes.” Glancing at each of the loyal soldiers that will follow him to the end, he breath out, “It’s been an honor serving with you all. Autobots, roll out!"