Chapter Text
A-Town, Metropolis. The Present.
Taylor and Kat sit across from each other at the kitchen table. There’s a card on the table between them. It's been sitting there, untouched, since it materialized there a few days earlier.
On the card is a photo of Taylor in her silver costume. Above it is printed her hero name, Galaxy. At the top of the card is the text, “Justice League Identification Card”.
“They say they're inviting everyone this time,” says Taylor.
“Whatever they're doing, it must be pretty cool,” says Kat.
“Kendra vouches for it. She said she helped build the new station herself.”
“She also said the station has accommodation for Leaguers and their families.”
There's something in Kat’s tone. Taylor reaches out and takes her hand. “I wouldn't ask you to move up there with me. I don't want to uproot our lives here, leave our friends-”
“I know you wouldn't. It's just… it sounds like they'll be expecting you to devote a lot of your time to the League.”
“This organization would require more time than Taylor currently spends on superheroics?” asks Argus, standing on his hind legs to get a better look at the card. Taylor lifts him onto her lap, and he immediately begins sniffing at the card.
Kat laughs. “That's fair. I mean, how many date nights have you rushed out of because there was a robot army you had to fight?”
“Only two!” protests Taylor. Kat quirks an eyebrow.
“... Recently,” adds Taylor sheepishly. “But that's what I do! You know that.”
“It is, and I do. You're a superhero, and that,” Kat nods at the card, “is where all the coolest superheroes are hanging out.”
“Yeah.”
There's a pause.
“So… what are we waiting for? Do you have to… call them, or something?”
“The card contains teleportation technology,” Argus informs them. “It can transport Taylor directly to the Watchtower if she desires.”
“Yeah, I figured it was something like that,” says Taylor.
“So what's up?”
“I just…” Taylor hesitates, then it comes rushing out. “I mean, sure, I've done some hero stuff here in Metropolis, but the League… it's global. More than global, even! They stop alien armadas, and, and, space gods, and… do I really belong up there?”
“Taylor. You defeated an alien armada. Batman himself told you that you belonged up there. You're a full-fledged superhero, you have been for years. You're just feeling some imposter syndrome right now.”
“I guess.”
“Are you worried nobody will sit with you in the Justice League cafeteria? ‘Cause I think the people up there will be a lot nicer than the kids in Ozma Gap.”
Taylor smiles. “Yeah. Yeah, you're right.” She leans across the table and kisses Kat. “I love you. I'll be back later.”
“I love you too.”
Taylor takes hold of the card, and-
The Watchtower
-she's somewhere else. Standing in a wide, round tunnel bathed in purple light. She's just in front of an exit portal, and she steps out onto the steps leading down.
Well, she's definitely on a space station - the walls are metal, she can hear engines in the distance, and the gravity feels artificial. There’s others in the room, hurrying past in and out of the transport tunnel. Taylor’s not sure where to go, but everyone here seems too busy to stop and ask for directions. Shouldn't there be a welcome desk or something?
Outside this room is a hallway. She picks a direction and follows the hallway for a while, until she reaches a large window that looks down on the floor below. The room below is bustling with heroes, some human, some clearly not. ( Is that a monkey? ) Some criss-cross the floor on their way to a dozen other parts of the station, greeting each other as they pass; others huddle in small groups, probably discussing important Justice League stuff. And not just on the floor - flying figures speed this way and that over the others’ heads.
One of the flyers seems to notice something and alters her course, coming to hover upright in front of Taylor. It's Supergirl. She grins, waves through the window and cries out, “Galaxy!” Then she speeds off to her left. A moment later, she's coming down the hallway from that direction, finally touching down just in front of Taylor.
I've worked with Supergirl a couple times now, so I'm not completely starstruck. Still, part of me wants to ask how she keeps her hair so perfect after flying.
“How’ve you been?” Supergirl asks with a hug. “I haven't seen you up here before. Is this your first time on the Watchtower?”
“Yeah, I, uh… I guess I'm just getting around to it.”
“Then you haven't had the tour yet!” Supergirl smiles again, and Taylor smiles back. “You're gonna love it.”
The two zip through the station, Supergirl in the lead and pointing out various features to Taylor. There’s a menagerie, full of plants and animals from across the galaxy. There’s a gym, stocked with equipment that would look more at home on a construction site, and an arsenal, ditto. There's a lab, one of many, and finally-
Wide steps lead up to a central platform, ringed with computer screens. Behind the platform, a large round window looks out on the stars. But the first thing Taylor notices is actually a projector built into the center of the floor. Or, more accurately, she notices the projection - a hologram of a giant red head.
There's two humans at the computer bank, consulting some kind of star map. One of them she doesn't recognize. He's wearing a black and white jacket, with “FAIR PLAY” in red on his sleeves. The other, in all black, she does know.
Supergirl says, “Galaxy, this is Red Tornado, Mr. Terrific, and-”
“We've met,” says Batman. “Good to see you again, Galaxy.”
Ohmigod. Batman remembers me. He remembers me, from when we fought those Talons together!
Of course he remembers me, he's the world's greatest detective. He's looking at me. Say something.
“Batman. Likewise.”
Nailed it.
“Welcome to the Watchtower, Galaxy,” says the giant head. Red Tornado, presumably. Mr. Terrific nods hello, then returns to his console.
“Mr. Terrific is in charge of operations, and Red Tornado coordinates the teams for field missions. Stick around and you'll be-”
Batman’s interrupted by the crackle of an incoming transmission. “Mr. Terrific, we have a problem in the power core! It's been supercharged somehow. Atom's trying to find the source of the problem, but I don't know how much longer we can handle the excess energy!”
Energy. That's Taylor's thing .
“I can help,” she says. “Put me in, coach.”
Mr. Terrific, Red Tornado and Batman exchange glances. It would probably be imperceptible if one of their faces wasn't four feet tall.
“Blue Beetle,” says the hologram, “I'm sending you Firestorm and Galaxy as backup.”
Moments later, a bolt of yellow and flickering red speeds through the room, a dopplering “Follow meeee” just audible before it’s gone. Taylor lifts off the floor and speeds after it, almost too fast to see Supergirl give her the thumbs-up.
***
The central power core is in a deep engine bay, surrounded by a catwalk. Galaxy’s momentum coming in carries her over the balcony before she slows to a hover, giving her a good look at the problem. The engine bay is lit as if by a roaring fire. There's a central generator, ringed by transformers. The metal casing of the generator and one transformer are glowing bright orange, while the transformer opposite it glows cherry red.
“The raw power going into Transformer 1 suddenly spiked like crazy,” calls someone from the catwalk. Blue Beetle, going by the suit. “I managed to shunt some of it to Transformer 7, but the power levels are already blowing my instruments out.”
Firestorm’s already at Transformer 1, so Galaxy heads across from him and starts trying to cool Transformer 7. She's sweating immediately, but the temperature around her starts creeping down.
“I can't tell what's wrong down here, Jaime,” says another voice over comms. This must be the Atom, from inside the generator.
“Maybe the problem’s not in there,” says Firestorm. “Only one transformer overloaded at first, right? I'm seeing a hotspot at the interface with the core. I think something there's amplifying the output - but this energy signal’s weird.”
Galaxy focuses on the interface. There's a building hotspot there, too, and at the center there's a shape. The energy field taking solid form. Glowing, singing. I've seen this before.
“I'm seeing the same thing,” she confirms. “It's centered around the Nth metal components in this linkage.”
Blue Beetle starts pulling up schematics. Firestorm glances over at them, then back at the transformer. “She's right. It's in the same spot over here.”
“But why?” says Blue Beetle. “The Thanagarian design should handle our energy output easily. That's why we used it!”
“Heading over there to take a look,” calls the Atom.
Galaxy looks closer. The generator is pulsing with energy, a steady, driving rhythm. Except, not steady. There's some kind of counter-rhythm affecting it. There's more going on here. Another field. Or… something like an energy field, but it feels different. Like a color that doesn't exist. She can't get hold of it like she usually can. It's resonating in time with the Nth metal -
No, wait. She takes a step back. The mystery field covers the whole power core, and everything - the Nth metal, the generator, the transformer - is resonating in time with it. That frequency, it sets her teeth on edge. Almost reminds me of…
Roch’cianni. Not exactly the same as she felt from the Glad-Grabber, but similar.
“Is that magic ?”
Blue Beetle blinks, then: “Yes! The whole system was enchanted when it was first built. Spells of protection, strength, and… productivity.”
“That must be it,” says the Atom, suddenly appearing at full size. “Everything down there looks exactly as expected, only more so.”
“That is it,” says Galaxy. “I can see it now. The Nth metal is resonating with one of the spells - a feedback loop. It must have been building since this thing went online, and it finally reached a critical point.”
“The magic users we brought in on this - Zatanna, Constantine, Dr. Occult… all different types of magic,” says Blue Beetle. “Any one of them could have been prone to this interaction with Nth metal and not even known it.”
“I can keep it stable for now, with Firestorm’s help, but as for getting the bug in your spell fixed -”
“We’ll get an occult specialist here ASAP. Thanks, Galaxy.”
The Edge of the Solar System. Now.
Two tiny shapes, one blue, one green, fly through interplanetary space at dizzying speeds. Just inside the orbit of Pluto, the blue one stops, and the green one follows suit.
“Based on the approach data from the Watchtower, we should be able to get a better look at them from here without them seeing us,” says Superman.
“Whatever they are,” adds Green Lantern. “And assuming they don't have better sensors than us.”
The heroes’ eyes scan across the void that spreads out before them.
“There,” says Superman after a minute. Not seeing anything in the direction he indicated, Green Lantern creates a large pair of binoculars and takes another look.
Distant starlight glints off a spaceship hanging in the void. Bulbous, segmented body. Huge, nano-thin wings. An array of sensors dangling from the bottom. And a wicked sting at the rear.
“$#@§”, says Green Lantern.