The Batwing Mark VII wasn't built for comfort.
It was built for stealth, speed, and the transport of up to a dozen individuals across continents undetected by any and all means, be they terrestrial, aerial, or extra-terrestrial. Comfort had been sacrificed at the altar of said stealth sometime around the third iteration, replaced in favor of additional sensor packages and a second weapons battery that the Batman had insisted on as a "precaution."
Nine individuals filled the aircraft's interior.
Nine well eight extremely powerful individuals, crammed into a fuselage that had been designed with such little regard for the occupants that one might have assumed the creator had never experienced the joys of a well-fitted seat or the simple pleasures of a nap.
The Dark Knight was at the pilot's seat, naturally, hands resting lightly on the controls with all the trust and nonchalance of a man who placed his faith in the machines and not the people around him. The instrument panel before him contained a mish-mash of navigational displays, weather displays, and about forty-seven other assorted devices that the other soul aboard the aircraft had no earthly idea what to do with.
The Last Son of Krypton was in the copilot's seat, his shoulders pressed tight against the bulkhead in a way that made one wonder if the cabin was too small, or if the sight of a Kryptonian and a Batwing existing in the same space at the same time was somehow wrong.
He wore the discomfort like the stoic soldier he was, having learned long ago that arguing with Gotham's resident vigilante was like trying to shove a glacier into a teacup.
Behind them the passenger compartment stretched out in two rows of seats, facing one another across the aisle in the convivial manner of long-winded friends.
Wonder Woman occupied the first seat on the left
The medallion, the gift from Hippolyta and beacon to Aurelia, sat in a glass display case mounted on the bulkhead between the cockpit and passenger cabin, it's glow a warm, welcoming shade of amber that shimmered and pulsed like the heart of the sun itself.
Each pulse grew stronger than the last, each one more insistent, each matched by a corresponding increase in the strength of the directional pull the Batwing's navigation computers had detected and superimposed onto the aircraft's HUD.
West-southwest, the aircraft's HUD indicated.
Into the Pacific.
Aquaman held the second seat on the left, his trident slung lazily against the bulkhead at his side, his shoulders tight against the bulkhead on the opposite side in what very well could have been a Kryptonian-Amazonian double entendre about cramped quarters and how no one should have to sit in a spacecraft designed by a single billionaire.
He wore his Atlantean battle armor, scaled and shinning and catching the dim light of the aircraft interior just enough to blind anyone that looked directly at him.
Green Arrow claimed the first seat on the right, cleaning his fingernails with an arrowhead in a dramatic display of impatience that not a single soul on board was fooled by.
The Flash claimed the second seat on the right, vibrating just short of visible perception in what would normally be considered a severe display of fidgeting were he not known to do precisely this thing when he was bored. [T/L: This must be torture for Flash lol]
Green Lantern lounged lazily against the bulkhead on the opposite side, his ring casting away faint green lights through the cabin as he amused himself by assembling and disassembling various shapes in the air in rapid succession.
Martian Manhunter sat at the very back of the cabin without doing anything. If anyone didn't look closely they might even mistake him for being aslee- Oh he is actually sleeping
And finally, wedged between the bulkhead at the very back and a storage locker, trying desperately to think of himself as a member of the Justice League and not a glorified tour guide on what promised to be an exceptionally dangerous trip to the secret hideout of an ancient vampire queen was Ethan
"Can you please stop narrating this and putting yourself down Ethan? You helped people without hoping to get anything in return. You're a hero. Never put yourself down"
"Sorry"
"Don't be. Anyway" Oliver said, after four whole minutes of silence, which was a personal best for the Green Arrow, if the smirk on his face was anything to go by. "Anyone feel like playing twenty questions? I spy something blue"
"Superman's suit."
"Damn. Your turn."
"I spy something green."
"Your suit. Or Hal's suit. Or your ring. Or the seven different shades of green on the instrument panel. This game doesn't work when we're all in costume."
"Should have thought about that before you started."
"You started."
Ethan listened to the banter, half of his mind on it as the other half mulled over the information he had on the evil detection. So far, he'd found nothing. Only the vastness of the ocean stretching out below them, the cobalt blue of which deepened the further they flew into the sunset.
"Are we sure this thing is taking us in the right direction?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ethan turned to find his questioner. The Atlantean monarch was studying the medallion in the display case with a look that might be described as suspicious.
"It was cross-referenced with our navigational system" Batman said, his gaze not leaving the controls. "The pull is steady, and it's growing stronger. The course is correct"
"On whose navigational system?" Aqua-man asked, leaning forward over the control panel with his elbows. "We've been flying over the pacific for thirty minutes, and aside from a few pods of dolphins, there hasn't exactly been interesting landscape to cross reference with. I would know."
"We have been flying over the Pacific for thirty minutes" Diana stated, turning to face Aquaman. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the fact that I'm the King of Atlantis."
"This stretch of ocean falls within my kingdom, or at least it was right along the borders. My people's charts and maps catalogued every detail of this region, from its trenches and mountains to its volcanic vents and hidden kingdoms. If there was anything within this area that would provide a suitable habitat for a vampire queen, my people's records would show it."
"Perhaps it is hidden."
Martian Manhunter remarked from the back of the cabin. "Hidden from your people."
Aquaman opened his mouth to respond, but stopped as his thoughts were neatly cut off by a new voice. "It is not uncommon for your people to uncover things hidden beneath the ocean" Ethan pointed out from where he sat near the back of the plane. "If something was hidden from your people, it was either done by magic, or it was exceptionally well hidden. Either way, I suspect something supernatural was at play, considering this has been hidden for two hundred thirty years."
"My mother and Aurelia were friends, once" Diana said. "They fought alongside each other, and they trusted each other to know the location of Themyscira and the means to find her sister's palace if the need ever arose. If she thought the defenses, be it natural or magical, were sufficient enough to protect Aurelia, then without getting a direct key no one should be able to find it."
"Have your people ever encountered vampires at all?" Ethan asked. "Have any of the Atlantean records ever mentioned the vampire race in history?"
"The Atlantean Royal Archives are... extensive," Aquaman said carefully. "I spent three days combing over the ancient records before this mission and had my finest historians sifting through the older vaults, looking for anything that could give us an idea of what we were up against." He paused. "The earliest references to the vampire race in Atlantis's history pre-date the sinking by several centuries."
"What kind of contact was there between the two sides?" Diana asked.
"Trade," Aquaman told her. "The vampires came to Atlantis looking for a partnership, which seems almost ludicrous considering what we know of the history of the vampire race. But, in truth, I don't think they've ever been much more than that."
"The vampires sought a partnership?"
Batman asked.
"They needed supplies," Aquaman said. "At the time Atlantis was at war with the surface world. We were in a constant state of border skirmishes in the coastal waters and internal unrest among the various Atlantean city-states made trade and diplomacy difficult. The vampires came to Atlantis offering a unique kind of healing magic"
"Vampire healing magic," Oliver muttered. "That's not ominous at all."
"The vampires, at the time had developed a means to extend the lifespan of an injured person through means of magical blood manipulation," Aquaman continued. "Crude artifacts, from what the records say, but effective all the same. The Atlantean council thought it would be a useful addition to our arsenal and arranged for their purchase. The whole arrangement was going to take place in Atlantis's capital city. However, the cataclysm occurred before the deal could be finalized."
"And afterwards?" Clark asked.
"Nothing," Aquaman said. "No contact between the two sides. Atlantis survived the sinking and eventually adapted to life underwater, but I imagine the vampires struggled just as hard since they did try to help us in that war. Either way, there was no contact between the two sides, and certainly none of it was sufficient to prompt us making contact ever again."
"Considering how dangerous the vampire race is with their motives we should have found out about it long ago," Hal said. "But it seems that even after she left they still followed her commands for a period of time considering they could have taken action long ago so that's something I suppose." He shook his head in disbelieve. "It's kind of funny that the people that queen trusted the most are the people that are destroying her legacy."
Just then the medallion's glow increased, pulsing faster than before. The light spilling out from the display case cast long shadows across the interior of the aircraft.
"We're getting closer," Diana noted, watching the shadows as they lengthened.
"The pulses are getting faster."
"Correct," Batman said from the cockpit.
"The directional pull has increased in strength by more than three times in the last two minutes. Whatever we're approaching, it's within--"
The medallion's glow exploded outwards, filling the aircraft with a sudden blinding flash of brilliant amber light that turned every interior surface gold and sent shadows writhing across the walls threatening to swallow the occupants whole.
"HA!" Barry exclaimed, jabbing a finger at Hal's chest with his smug face. "Ten bucks Jordan; I'll take a ten."
"You're joking!" Hal said, his ring suddenly flaring with the light of a protective field as it reacted to the glow of the medallion. "We don't even know what this thing is! It could just be some sort of signal for all we know! It could be an explosion! It could be--"
"IT'S PULLING US SOMEWHERE!" Barry yelled, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Look at the instruments! That is CLEARLY teleportation! You owe me ten dollars Jordan!"
"At least WAIT for us to finish being teleported!" he snapped. "You're the most annoying man I know!"
"EVERYONE BRACE!" Batman's voice rang out through the aircraft, cutting off the argument as if it had never even been there. "BRACE FOR IMPACT! BE ON GUARD!"
The Dark Knight's fingers flew across the various control panels, activating every defensive measure the Batwing possessed from force fields to dampeners to integrity field stabilizers. The instruments were going haywire with the sudden shift in the aircraft's trajectory, going mad, their displays going nuts, their GPS devices informing them all at once that they were three hundred and forty-five miles away from the nearest landmark and five thousand miles in the air.
The light from the medallion engulfed the aircraft, filling every corner of the interior, turning it into an inverted version of itself, gold, shadows, and nothing else except for itself.
The aircraft groaned and twisted, the outside world spinning. The gravity pulled and twisted and turned on its head.
And suddenly, everything was falling. Actually falling, not the sensation of it, but it was truly plummeting, diving towards what looked suspiciously like the same ground the plane had just taken off from, only the clouds were a dull gold instead of white.
Ethan grabbing hold of whatever he could and holding on with all the strength. Around him, the others members of the League did the same just bracing for it all but Superman who just kept on observing.
The light peaked, then suddenly was gone.
And the Batwing was on the ground, somewhere west-southwest of where it had took off from.
----------------------
Six thousand miles east, above a glittering swarm of humanity stretched out across the bay and down the bay like ants on a bare field of sand, two figures were flying through the air at the height of the clouds, painted rose and amber by the setting sun which sank in a fiery blaze over the water.
In full flight.
Cassie Sandsmark - Wonder Woman, as the headlines liked to refer to her - shot across the sky.
Her lasso trailed like a comet from her hip, her divine bracers glimmered in the dying light, her golden hair streamed back against the wind like a triumph-banner on the air.
Kara Zor-El - Supergirl glided alongside her.
They'd been on patrol for three hours, scouring the sky over the Eastern seaboard, fulfilling their duty as guardians and silent protectors, doing what they did best. Something Cassie would've left to her mentor, and Kara would've left to hers. Except two days ago things had not gone according to plan.
"Anything?" Cassie asked.
"Quiet night. Too quiet, maybe." Kara raised her super hearing, scanning distant horizons for signs of life. "Something's wrong. Has Diana said anything about what's going on?"
"Not a word." Cassie shook her head. "You?"
"Superman gave me the bland little briefing," she muttered. "'Keep patrol but not too much presence up, avoid anything that looks like it could get you killed and if you find something interesting show up, let me know.' And then he vanished, just - left. Without saying anything."
"She did the same to me," Cassie said, adjusting their altitude. "She's never been this secretive with me. She'll always tell me things she doesn't with the League. Whatever this is..."
" above our clearance."
Kara said wryly. "Annoying."
"Extremely."
They flew in companionable silence for a moment, the great sprawled city of lights and power unfolding beneath them like a circuit board wired from electric minds.
"What about those robots?"
Kara's look was dark. "Duplicates. They're... unsettling. Clark's replica looks like him, acts like him, patrols exactly like him, but something's wrong with its eyes. It's like watching an empty mannequin trying to be my cousin."
"Diana's replica keeps smiling at civilians."
Cassie frowned. "That's not like Diana, she doesn't - she doesn't do it during patrol. She's focused, dedicated, she's all intensity in battle. This one just... beams at people like she's working for the Tourism Bureau."
"At this point," Kara said, "Batman really should have a therapist."
"With a therapist's pay, she'd run halfway to the nearest insane asylum."
Cassie chuckled.
"Now look," Kara said, levelling a serious gaze at Cassie.
"Whatever they are are doing, wherever they've snuck off to is operating on a level above us. That's not something league normally deals with. After all Batman was the one who took those contingency robots out on patrol and gave us strict orders to keep everything small and contained, which means Batman wouldn't have done it if he didn't believe something serious was going to happen."
"Kara?" Cassie asked. "What is it?"
"I don't--"
Something hit them.
Something or someone quick and powerful.
So fast enough that, if it hadn't been for her being a Kryptonian, she probably wouldn't have seen it at all.
It was one moment, flying along the clouds with Cassie. Then the next, something unseen gave them both a solid impact.
Cassie's hands shot out, catching air and willpower and instinct, and she was falling, falling, falling, the great city rising up to meet her in an inky black mass of buildings and streets and the outlines of people who had no idea that two of their protectors would soon be coming down on them with such speed.
She landed with a sickening crash on the outskirts of the city, sending shockwaves through the pavement, and skidded to a halt on her butt, her bracers sparking as she came to a stop.
Whatever it was that hit them, that thing was gone.
Three blocks away, there was another crash, and another crater. Another hero down, and on the far side of the street, both of them, too far away to help each other.
"KARA!" Cassie cried, already running towards the second crater.
There was a crack in her ear, and not Kara's voice, but Nightwing's, saying, "Wonder Girl, we've been attacked, we have multiple titans down, unknown assailants, very fast, very powerful, Raven is down, Beast Boy is-"
The line went dead in a burst of static.
Across the county, in twelve different cities, at twelve different points in time that were close enough to be considered coordinated but far apart enough that no response team could assist another, the attack began.
In Star City, Arsenal was in the midst of patrol when whatever it was dropped him through the roof of a parking garage.
In Central City, Kid Flash was doing his normal patrol route when whatever it was matched his speed, matched his pace and clotheslined him at Mach 2. He slammed into two buildings and a high-rise overpass before friction brought him to a stop.
In Gotham, the Batfamily's communications faded out one after another, an eerie progression - Batgirl, then Red Robin, then Robin, until it was only Nightwing listening to silence.
In Metropolis, Supergirl pulled herself from the crater and fought an unseen opponent, one who was fast enough to not be seen at all.
In the Atlantic, Aqualad's patrol was cut short by something rising from the depths.
In Fawcett City, Mary Marvel was blindsided, hit from behind while pulling innocent people away from a burning building, and sent hurtling through six city blocks.
The attacks came in quick succession across the country, each a coordinated event, but each a different city, striking a different Protegé of the league, and doing so at a time when the Protegé was least likely to be prepared for an ambush. Each served only one purpose - to incapacitate.
And each time the assault ended in the same fashion
The attacker vanished with their victim the Protegés dissolving into shadows and leaving behind broken infrastructures.
-------------------
Two hundred and thirty-eight thousand miles away the Moon glowed from the void of space like a pale eye watching as Earth rotated.
Upon its surface in some location unrecorded by any telescope and unphotographed by any satellite something stood in the vacuum of space and watched this situation unfold
Spanning the distance between the moon's surface and the Earth's atmosphere like a hand reaching down to rearrange the chess pieces on a board.
Every attack every impact every protégé driven into the ground or through a building or off a rooftop were all watched at the same time
"Looks like that insane plan worked."
The words hung soundless in the vacuum but were spoken nonetheless