Katarina felt a grin cross her lips at Batman's words. His voice was a welcome sound, as rare as human interaction was for Katarina since regaining her freedom. Though she questioned if the 'Human' part applied to him... Still, the sight of the bat was welcome, he had far more experience in this kind of situation."Aww my dear Bat..." She sashayed toward him, hiding her recent acquisition in her left hand behind her back as she approached.

She moved in close and stopped to looked at Batman for a moment. "I'd hope you of all people would know..."

She stood on the tip of one foot and leaned forward as she raised the other up behind her."It's not about how advanced the tech is..."

Katarina brought her hand up to her cheek and mock whispered to him as she caught the idol upon her heel and subsequently kicked it to the far end of the rooftop behind her. "It's how you use it."

She relaxed her posture and stepped back before nodding towards the flying mystery man. "That said. I probably wouldn't still be kicking around Gotham if I could do that."

Hawk and Dove cleared the first three floors. They were beginning to tire. "If you are getting tired, you can leave. I'll do the rest by myself." Dove laughed. "I know you better than that. I may tire out easier than you but sure as hell can't finished off the final thirty-seven floors by yourself." Dove was thinking they shouldn't have tried this by themselves. But who else could in Charm. The police would have shot and probably killed them all as soon as one of them was attacked. Same for the National Guard. They could depend on no one but themselves. They needed a way to incapacitate the building all at once. "We need to contact Star Labs or maybe your Oliver Security's R&D department for some knockout gas or something." "Of course you want to knock them out, peace loving hippie." "Shut your mouth war mongering tyrant."

Gotham...

Batman and Catwoman approached the man from another dimension who had landed on a smaller building rooftop. Some sentient mechanical device detached itself from the man and talked just like anyone else.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." the vampiric Thomas Wayne said to the armor clad feline.

Moments later...

"I don't know where they've come from, but these parasitic 'Starros' are mobilizing across the nation. Will you help us?" Batman asked the armored man and his hovering robot ally.

Metropolis...

Batman was in the presence of another Kryptonian, however in this instance one looking for the Superman. At some point in the conversation the vampire would let the man called Zod in on the existence of Superman's fortress, giving the king something he could use in exchange for his help with the Starro threat.

"His fortress is cloaked, but I believe I've pinpointed it's location within a forty mile radius. I'll give you all of the information I have for your help. Even a king can't do everything by himself."

The orange skinned beauty was walking down the boardwalk when Batman caught her in the corner of his eye. He'd seen her on tv days earlier nude, now she was wearing some white middle eastern like clothing. Her skin, in the sunlight of the clear summer day, was almost too much for the enhanced vision of Thomas Wayne. He couldn't have been taking more of a gamble with this one, because he had nothing to offer.

"Would you want to help me and a few other people save the world?" Batman asked.

Coast City...

"You're the only person who's been inside one of the buildings with the organic tech. You could be of some use on my team, Hendricks..." Batman said to Scott and Judah at the barn HQ/air strip.

"I barely made it out of that college alive, and they wrecked my plane, dude." Scott replied.

"We got over sixty percent of the enhanced metal back. Jimmy, maybe we could..." Judah started to say before Batman cut him off.

"Mind if I help you boys tinker for a bit? I'm pretty good with my hands, I used to be a surgeon and a chemist, studying engineering..." Batman asked removing his mask but putting his red goggles back over his eyes.

Hours later...

"What was your call-sign again?" Batman asked.

"This is stupid, I can't believe I even put this thing on my back.." Scott said in his flight suit that had been upgraded as well.

"Just put the helmet on, Jimmy. And flip the damn switch."

"What was your call-sign again?" Batman asked one more time.

"Hawkman. And it sure as hell sounds better than Batman. Here goes nothing, boys." Scott Hendricks said flipping a switch and watching as his new wings folded out of the harness and backpack.

He took off into the air like a person sized fighter plane. Like a metal bird in the sky.

~KL~

Hawk knew that Dove was right, she would never admit though, which sucks as soon as they revert back to a singular entity he would know. Just as they were finishing their argument they heard a large number of people coming towards them. "Shit they are teaming up and doing for us." "Gotta get out of here." They were on a stairwell mostly used by health nuts and emergency evacuations. They both realized the enemy was coming from below and above. "Shit, shit, shit." Hawk realized that Dove was overwhelmed. She She shoved him over the railing the first floor was mostly occupied by a single receptionist and a few janitors unless they were cleaning another floor. It was the least occupied and by the sounds of it they were all coming for them. She waited till the last second herself to jump. She just barely missed being hit by five Starro blasts at once. On the ground they ran out of the building's emergency exit in the back. "Fuck that was close." They barricaded the door with a dumpster. "We need to get the authorities to evacuate the nearby buildings and cordon off the entire area. Until the threat can be neutralized everyone passing through her could be shot. He didn't want to admit it but he was grateful and pissed she shoved him over the railings.

@The Kid LanternStarfire hadn't been able to get into the tower without causing it serious damage, so she had been looking for clues for the last few days. Unfortunately, Superman was nowhere to be found.

Then the mutated "Bat Man" had come to her to request her help. "Well, If it means protecting the people of the United States from a threat, foreign or domestic, I'll be glad to help." she responded, rubbing the stubby hair that had grown on her head over the last few days.

Jax sighed, hearing his police radio buzz as a cop spoke into it. "All units...we have a robbery on..." Jax was already climbing back into his suit. Hearing the police rattle off the location, he recorded it on his phone. "Alright...This'll be fun. But let's make this one fast, okay Dad?" He said as he turned on his comm. "Son, this looks different from the others. Approach with caution. " Jax rolled his eyes, now in his suit. "Don't worry about it. They try anything, I beat them so bad they wish they would die." Back in his hometown, his father, Victor Fries, creased his brow in concern.

40 minutes later...

Icicle stood inside the bank, confused. He'd searched everywhere, and hadn't found anyone. "Hey Dad. False alarm. I guess the police radio was wrong for-" Then it hit him. Of course. He should have known. "Dad. Some of the police were in on it." His father gasped audibly over the comm. "Corruption is prominent in Gotham. It breaks my heart that this would happen." Meanwhile, Jax was leaping through the door. He hit the ground in a roll. Ten police officers stared at him, shocked. One decided to be brave. "Hey, what are you doing here, kid?" Icicle turned to them. "I could ask the same. I find it strange, that, despite there being many more crimes being committed tonight, and you all have to be spread thin, there are ten police here. Not to mention the place is empty. You know what that tells me? A couple of you aren't cops. I would say more weren't, but, hey, this is Gotham. It's no surprise. I better just beat the corruption out of you, then."

Jax turned on his stealth mode. Running behind one of the cops, he froze him promptly. He drew out the uzis he decided to use for this crime, and shot three. He turned to another and knocked him out with a right hook. By then his stealth had worn out, and a corrupted police officer was charging at him. Icicle easily sidestepped and tripped him. Another crook came at him, and he knocked the wind out of him by punching him in the gut. The one he had tripped got up, and Jax used one shot to kill him, and another to kill the one who ran out of wind. The three that were left tried to run. Jax shot two in the legs, but the third got away. He sighed and holstered his guns. "This has been a long night. Shame I had to kill five of 'em." He grinned. "Yeah. Shame..."

Dove contacted the authorities and after much failed persuasion and a cop being killed by a Starro did they agree. Hawk & Dove returned to their singular form. "So who can we speak to at Oliver Security about getting something to knock them out." "Beats me, I am their lawyer, I handle them being sued by greedy assholes looking for a payout for their stupidity or patent infringement. I know nothing of their products or who makes the shit. Guess you could start with Steve Queen, he is the cousin of the CEO, I believe. He may be convinced to let H&D to use their stuff if he could use it to get a promotion. Just be warned he will flirt with and get way to close. Just get in his face and the twerp backs off, never learns though. I assume he thinks he can wear me down. Donald groaned. Bethany was amused with his discomfort. "Let me guess you never encouraged it but don't actively discourage it." "Of course, a client that wants more is always going to find a reason to cause billable hours. That is common sense 101." Donald felt like hitting her.

On the elevator ride up to Steve Bethany kept prodding Donald to unbutton a button or two. Donald refused. "I am not going to leverage breasts to get what I want like some two bit harlot I know." Bethany scoffed. "I am no harlot I am a liberated sexual woman."

Metropolis...

Batman had used his wealth and resources to get a plane for the group of misfit heroes going into a war zone. Over the last several hours, the Daily Planet building has become overrun by Starro infected civilians. The majority of the staff had been enslaved. Standing as one of the taller buildings in downtown Metropolis, the organic Starro tech began infecting the upper levels of the structure. A large star shaped satellite dish of sorts now grew and busted through the 'Planet globe as if broadcasting a signal. At least two hundred civilians had been enslaved with over forty percent of them already having the Starros moved over their faces for optimum control.

"We'll drop about two clicks from the target, Rex. Then get this plane to an air strip in Coast City. A friend of mine still has to make a living somehow..." Batman instructed to the pilot before walking back into the hangar with the rest of the gather superhumans.

There was nothing superhuman about Scott. He was just a man in a suit that happened to have fold out metal wings. He couldn't hear what Batman had said about dropping the plane they were in off at his airstrip. Hendricks was in awe already at the alien situation, but now he'd been introduced briefly by Batman to the strangest group of individuals he'd ever seen gathered. An alien woman with gold skin and fiery short hair, a more human looking alien king looking for Superman, a woman in a tech'ed out cat suit, and a guy who looked like he'd jumped out of a video game who the tabloids were calling Gold Star were all in the plane ready to drop out.

"This is us people. The plan is simple. Get in and disable as many of the face huggers as you can. The ones with the baby Starros still on their spines are more like zombies..." Batman began before Scott removed his helmet to ask.

"The face huggers can shoot lasers out of the Starros red eyes, and are more like enhanced zombies than Walking Dead zombies. Aim for the eyes and you can stun the creatures long enough to pull them off of civilians' faces." Scott mentioned, "Sorry Bats, didn't mean to steal your thunder."

"We need to reach whatever their central hub is and destroy what we can of the organic tech. Zod and the golden girl can try and destroy the device they've constructed at the top of the 'Planet building, but it seems as if they've got it surrounded by a small army with organic tech defenses..." Batman continued before the pilot yelled over the intercom.

"Opening the hangar door now. It's showtime Super Friends!" the man flying the plane screamed as the wind made it harder to heard over the opening door.

Scott put his helmet back on after putting an earbud in his left ear. He walked towards the edge of the hangar and folded his wings out as Danger Zone played in his ear. The Kenny Loggins tune that played in the movie Top Gun was now guiding Scott through the Metropolis skyline. Two building lengths away Batman was already crashing through an eighth story window with the two alien allies flying towards the top. Hawkman, Catwoman, and Booster Gold were all instructed to follow the vampire in and fight their way to the command center. Once they reached the Daily Planet building and the opening in it's structure left by Batman, Scott folded his wings back in and drew his two custom pistols.

~KL~

Donald in his sister's body approached the Head of Oliver Security Steve Queen. Steve acted like they were extremely close. He hugged her, far longer than Donald was comfortable with. Steve's hand started to drift down, when Bethany suggested pulling out of the hug. "Call him Stevey he likes it when I do it. Also gently touch his arm with your hand. With your other hand tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, doesn't matter if you actually need to or not." "Stevey..." Donald reluctantly did what Bethany suggested. He felt dirty. "I was brainstorming ways for you to improve your position within Queen Industries. You know the whole Starro problem? If you could find a way to incapacitate them or kill them without hurting the human victim/host you will be considered a hero." "Play on his jealousy of Oliver Queen." "Your star may rise even higher than Oliver. Who knows you may beat him out for the promotion to CEO when Robert retires." Steve jumped at the chance. Donald check the time on her watch. "I have to go, I have a meeting downtown soon. Donald turned and left. "You know he is staring at your ass now. I know you know what he is thinking about doing to it."

"Superfriends, huh?" said Starfire. Despite the fact that they were about to go into battle, she was still only wearing her bikini, as the extra radiation absorption would make her a bit stronger. "Sounds like a cheesy cartoon." Since she had come to Earth she had begun experiencing their culture, including television, movies, popcorn, and pizza. Most of that television was centered around the depiction of Superheroes.

"Well, King Zod, I guess we get to do the hard part." she said to him, then addressed the rest. "I'll take point." With that she jumped out the door and, after flying away far enough to not hurt the others, increased a intensity of plasma from her hands and feet, accelerating at a rate of several Gs. She then formed a ball of plasma around her, turning herself into a human warhead, intent on blowing the enemy up on impact.

Zod still hadn't gotten used to Earth by the time he had been propositioned to aid with this odd creature's pet project, he accepted in exchange for the chance to meet this Superman who he'd heard so much about, he barely knew what was happening when he was separated from his guards, hauled into a plane and told to destroy a device in order to stop some "Starro" menace.

It was all a little overwhelming.

Their language was easy to pick up on, and Zod quickly put it to good use.

"What is even happening and why?"

When the first earthling he had met leapt out the hanger door, Zod noticed a flaw in their plan.

"Well, I am not as durable as you think I am, so I'll just be a moment," he yelled over the wind, and then a moment later he had disappeared in a purple flash.

A moment later he reappeared, wearing a massive suit of metallic armor, with blue highlights and a large blue circle in the center of his chest. His eyes slowly became a bright, flaming red visible through the slits in his helmet, and he shot forth a blast of red energy, tracing a line of flame along the Zorro constructions before shooting down after the red-haired meta-human.

I really should just blow everything up and say "Give me Superman or I'll kill you"... a tempting thought, but I'm a King, not some brute.

They were joined on the elevator by a person in R&D labcoat. "That is Tiffany Gladstone, she is the head of R&D. She would know better than that moron Steve. Just don't flirt with her she is a happily married to a man. Plus this body doesn't like women. We have never actually met."

"Mrs. Gladstone, I spoke with Mr. Queen about this but you know him. I doubt he was listening as much as he was enjoying the view. I do believe by playing on his desire to be better than Oliver. He said he would look into it. I know you are the head of R&D. I was wondering if you had anyway of incapacitating them or killing them without hurting the human victim/host." Mrs. Gladstone thought for a moment. "We do have something. What we have could probably be modified, would help if we had one or at least a sample of it's flesh." "We can get a word to Hawk & Dove. They can get you a sample." Mrs. Gladstone gave them her business card. "Have them call if/when they get the sample." Mrs. Gladstone got off on the 30th floor.

"You sure you can handle going back?" "It's my job. I have to. We can't split up this time, you can't just blindly rush in either. We have to do it with stealth."

Metropolis, the infected Daily Planet building...

Hawkman tried to stick as close to the vampiric Batman as he could but the creature of the night was too fast. It would take weeks to get used to the new wing harness on his back and the weight of the new armor in his flight suit. His guns were drawn from their holsters, his aim just wasn't as great as some of the other heroes. He managed to punch a couple face huggers into submission though, and ripped them from their victims faces. Scott Hendricks didn't know if they'd make it to the first floor of the Daily Planet or not, as Hawkman he had to press forward. The wings are no good in confined spaces, but when Hawkman entered the central hub behind Batman... it was a lot more advanced than the tech growing in California.

"What the hell Bats?! Are you putting part of that computer thing on the wall on a hot plate?" Jimmy asked.

"I'm taking a sample if at all possible, I'm trying to find a way to get rid of the organic tech more so than the alien starfish..." Batman explained, "Give me some cover while I finish taking this culture..." he then instructed.

"I'm gonna switch to explosive rounds and take down that wall.." Scott explained as he took a shot at the tech'ed out wall and blasted a hole roughly the size of a giant flat-screen tv in it.

Through the new window, Hawkman could see the rooftops outside and Zod and the golden skinned alien darting through the air taking out the larger defenses. The powerhouses seemed to take blows when they could on the satellite dish type device, made of the same organic tech, and in the shape of a star. That was when some Starros without hosts flung themselves onto a larger Daily Planet employee who was already under the control of a Starro on his face. Within seconds dozens had piled onto the man, essentially making him an eight foot tall hulk-like creature.

"Bats?" Hawkman yelled as the dark knight ignored him for his science, "BATS?!? You MIGHT want to turn around and take a look at this."

Batman finally looked up and across the large bullpen of writers' desks and workspaces, knocked out Starros, and fleeing civilians, and saw the Starro Man.

~KL~