[IC] Justice League

[VitaVitaAR]

There was a rumble as Robin launched off her feet again. The wind whipped past her as she cleared the area that would have required her running across the zipline much more quickly and efficiently. She rapidly lowered, her feet impacting on the soft surface of the first of the airbags that Green Arrow had deployed. She lept, landing on the next one, before giving a running jump to land on the one after that. There weren't too many, she just had to get across quickly... She landed on the final airbag, and triggered the jetpack again. It was... still pretty awesome, soaring up into the air and feeling the sensation of flight... but things were serious. Madison had to focus, there was no time to admire the awesomeness of jetpacks right now. She began her descent, nearly at the top of the immense robotic monstrosity...

... And reached out to grasp onto the last of the arrows Green Arrow had fired, lodged in the metal. Madison swiftly yanked herself up, balancing on the arrow like it was a tightrope for a moment with both feet(all of Batman's training really paid off), before leaping upwards and grabbing the metal above her. She pulled herself up, her boots clicking against the metal surface at the top of the huge constructing, and she began to sprint across it. Okay, okay, control box? Something like that... she needed to find something that worked like that. Even if this was an alien there had to be something that functioned like that, right?

[Bonesaw McGraw]

"Alright. It'd be too slow to use the Jet. Set the transporter to put me near Superman. We'll take it down together." Wonder Woman flew away from her friend and floated over the transporter pad. A bright white flash later and Wonder Woman appeared in the skies of Metropolis, next to Superman one of her mightiest allies and closest friends.

Wonder Woman smiled as the pair faced the robot, "Hello Superman. I can see things are progressing as they usually do. What's our plan of attack?"

"Give me a minute," came Superman's reply.

Superman accelerated towards the robot, scanning it with his x-ray vision. To his surprise, he discovered someone inside the robot's body, tearing away at it's inner circuits. Whoever, or whatever, it was, it was slowing their enemy down. Shifter was in the water below, having transformed himself into a magnificent white shark. The shark's jaws were clamping down on the robot's legs, trapping it. Superman man saw Robin scaling the side of the giant machine, with one of Oliver's ludicrous trick arrows in hand. Using his super hearing, Clark had picked up on Ollie's plan to hack into the machine. Glancing at the robot's head, Superman began to formulate a plan.

"Robin, try to plant the arrow around the back of the robot's head, it's control circuitry seems to emanate from there!" yelled Superman, "Diana, we need to divert it's attention to give Robin time to plant the arrow and download the data!"

Superman swooped past the robot, blasting it with it's heat vision. Three more tendrils emerged from the robot's head, one from each of the three glowing dots. Superman dove through the air, the tendrils in pursuit. He turned his body and began to fly backwards. He fired several more heat vision beams at the pursing tendrils, but the snake-like protrusions were able to evade his attacks.

"I hope you brought your sword Diana," Clark thought to himself.

[MrDidact]

Wonder Woman nodded, "It'll be done Superman." Diana realized she did not recognize this Robin. It obviously wasn't Tim or Damian and her hair was too dark for it to be Stephanie. She must be new, but this did not overly surprise Diana. Bruce had a habit of taking in stray children. She had to admire that despite her reservations about bringing children into battle. But this Robin seemed to have quite a bit of courage, like the ones who came before her.

Clark engaged the machine and Wonder Woman drew her sword and shield. The robot's eerie tendrils followed the Kryptonian warrior, despite his burning heat vision. Wonder Woman flew at the tendrils from the side and with an Amazonian war cry, swung her celestially-forged blade down on the tendril closest to her. With any luck the incredibly sharp blade would sever the offending limb. Wonder Woman continued her flight and swung her blade back up at the second tendril and brought it back down again on the third. She emerged at the other side and twisted around in the air to see the effects her blade had on the tendrils.

[An Outsider]

CRAAACKKK - The robots remaining, frozen tendrils shattered apart, forcing Aquaman to jump clear of his now precarious footing for a more solid footing aboard it's shoulder. Clearly the metal monstrosity was nowhere near powerful enough to restrain the Man of Steel. Is anything? thought Arthur. One of the things he admired most about Clark was the Kryptonian's iron determination, the strength to take whatever was thrown at him and keep one going. Darkseid had learnt that the hard way, and judging by the way that he had just broken cloud cover and entered the rejuvenating light of the sun, Superman was about to teach this robot the same lesson.

Not in any immediate danger Arthur paused to take stock of his allies positions and the state of their enemy. Shifter was thrown clear of the bot, but had quickly returned to the offensive, morphing into a large shark and attacking the feet. Good choice Shifter, the more angles this giant has to defend from the better. Batman was doing strafing runs, probably while formulating thousands of strategies to take down the villain. Green Arrow was firing missle after missle, no doubt his diverse range of arrows taking a hefty toll upon their enemy. A young female Robin, one Arthur had never met before, was jetting up to the robot waving an arrow in her fist. Arthur was one of the few members of the league who also trained young sidekicks (No doubt Aqualad would be disappointed that his king had left him behind for this adventure) but this girl didn't look like Bruce's usual type of partner, but she gamely scaled the robot, using Queen's arrows and her jetpack in tandem. Once she reached the top she began to traverse the bot, clearly looking for something. So intent was her searching that she missed the robots other arm, undamaged so far, looming above her, ready to squash the sidekick.

Aquaman sped to her side, catching the robots palm in both hands. It's strength was extraordinary, and for one terrifying second he felt like he AND Robin where both about to be crushed. A low groan of pain became a growl of determination as the King of Atlantis managed to brace himself, locking his arms and refusing to budge another inch. You might be strong monster, but I'm stronger. . .

"Whatever you're doing Robin, do it quick!" he commanded through gritted teeth. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Superman and Wonder Woman battling more tentacles. This can't last much longer, not now they are both on the scene.

[VitaVitaAR]

"Right, Superman!" it was a moment that Madison would later reflect on as being totally awesome, as it was the first time she had spoken with Superman. But for the moment, she was focused. She was ready! Near the back of the head? That made sense. If there was a big robot and it had a head, it made sense for the control systems to be located there. Robin shifted her feet, breaking into a run for the back of the head... and then there was an immense, black shadow over her. There was barely any time to get away, and she still had to-

It was noticeably not coming down any further. Madison's took a quick glance around the area, and swiftly realized why. It was Aquaman! He'd gotten up there while she was searching for the control systems and blocked the huge fist from coming any closer. The situation might have been serious... but he'd just saved her, she had to show her thanks. Madison raised her free hand, flashing the aquatic superhero a thumbs up and a grin. "Thanks, Aquaman! I'll be done in a second!"

Not wanting to waste any more time, she was off! And it was only a few more moments before she was there! Catching the side of the head with one gloved hand, she swung herself around and downwards to the backside of the huge robot's massive head. This seemed like it was about the right area, right? Clinging on tightly with one hand, the other sharply brought the arrow down. With a thunk it pierced metal, planting itself firmly in the robot's head. There!

"Got it!"

[Dblade26]

Batman circled in the jet while the others formulated a battle-plan, observing the fight from on high. Something about all of this still didn't add up correctly, specifically he noticed that the tendrils were still almost exclusively targeting Superman. The only other attack so far had been on the news helicopter and that practically reeked of baiting, true the robot could just be prioritizing the strongest threat but Wonder Woman and Green Lantern's arrival both nullified that possibility. Better to conserve ammunition for now, since the 'bigger guns' he'd been stalling for were on the scene and not incapacitated...yet.

He noticed that Madison was attempting to scale the robot, probably as part of one of Oliver's schemes involving an arrow. Oliver needing someone to plant the thing rather than taking the shot meant that he either didn't know exactly where the target was, or it was too difficult even for him. Probably the former, the man's ego would likely never let him admit he might miss. some kind of 'hacking arrow' was the most likely ordinance then, with Madison instructed to find a weakpoint to plug it into. A risky, potentialy stupid plan considering the robot they were trying to hack was entirely alien in origin and no one had exactly had time to analyze it's operating systems so the arrow working would be sheer blind luck, but the girl still jumped right into the fray. It was her first real sortie with the League and she was doing admirably. Bruce had to grudgingly admit she-

was about to be carelessly crushed by a giant robotic fist! Batman dropped the Jet into a dive at the fist, knowing he might not be able to blow it off or halt it in time since it had already been poised to strike, planning on intercepting it physically. Then Aquaman stepped in the way and stopped it with his bare hands. You had to admire that about Arthur, really. The world thought of him as a complete joke, but he still leaped right into danger without a second thought.

Noticing that Aquaman was struggling to hold the fist back, Batman pulled up and armed several high-explosive missiles before firing them right at the elbow joint to blast it off, then immediately fired the last of his 'Freeze Missiles' at the metallic stump to prevent more tentacles from forming.

"Now we're even!" was about all he said to Aquaman over the intercom.

[Bonesaw McGraw]

Transmitting data: 50%...53%...59%...

Wonder Woman sliced cleanly through the robotic tendrils, and a strange purple fluid shot out of the severed ends. With his heightened senses, he was able to monitor the progress of the data transmission through Oliver's arrow. He was certain the information would come in the form of bizarre alien symbols, but he hoped that either Green Lantern's ring, or the Kryptonian computer at the Fortress of Solitude, would be able to make something of it.

Transmitting data: 62%...68%...75%

Clark had to admit that the new Robin's skills were very impressive. She was quite young, and she certainly had never faced off against anything like this before, but she had performed admirably and gotten the job done. Clark was somewhat wary or Batman's choice to have Robin fight alongside him, but he saw the effect that Robin's presence had on the Dark Knight through the years. Robin was a ray of light, shining through the endless darkness that engulfed Gotham City's Caped Crusader. In many ways, Batman needed Robin as much as Robin needed Batman.

Transmitting data: 80%...86%...91%

Superman activated his Justice League communicator, "Batman, bring your plane around so that Robin will be able to reach you with her jetpack."

Clark always felt somewhat strange giving orders to Batman, as he was usually the master tactician and Clark mainly focused on the heavy lifting. But over the years he had learned that part of being Superman was being a leader.

Transmitting data: 98%...99%...Transfer complete.

Superman swooped around and made a beeline directly for the robot's head. The battle had gone on long enough. Leading by giving orders was one thing, but it was time to lead by example. Superman landed on top of the robot, and fired a highly concentrated beam of heat into it's skull at point blank range, completely melting through it. He slammed his fist into the cranium of the infernal machine, utterly annihilating it's metallic brain. The robot's body went limp and it's brilliant violet lights turned black as it fell with finality towards the sea below.

[Dblade26]

Batman brought his jet around under Superman's orders, not that he wouldn't have moved in to catch Robin before she fell anyways. Sure, he could have been the one giving the orders but it was good for team unity for the others to see Superman in a position of authority. He was something of a symbol after all, not just to the other heroes here but to the world at large. With that in mind, he should probably formally introduce Madison to the rest of the League members here ifs he hadn't introduced herself already once this was over. Her reaction would probably be an even more intense version of the sort of enthusiasm she applied to her work as Robin, which...could be interesting, he supposed.

To ensure that that meeting could properly take place he retracted the canopy again and swept low nearby the robot, slowing just enough that Madison could make the jump back into the cockpit safely and use the jetpack for insurance if she missed. He might trust her enough to scale a giant robot with some help, but it would be meaningless if she got too excited from the fact that she'd just helped destroy a giant robot, miscalculated the jump and had to be rescued from plummeting into the sea at terminal velocity.

Once the robot inevitably fell Batman would make sure to remember its' position in the water exactly and plot out where the ocean currents might have caused any stray pieces to drift or wash up. The right sort of carefully executed bribes and even more carefully executed legitimate paperwork by Bruce Wayne would ensure that the inevitable salvage or clean-up teams were blocked from delivering the robot or any of its' parts to Luthor. The last thing any of them needed was Lex weaponizing alien technology after the League practically disarmed and gift-wrapped it for him right off of Metropolis' shores.

A little more careful paperwork and a few more bribes would ensure they instead delivered them to one of several high-security storage bunkers that just happened to belong to a subsidiary of a subsidiary's subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises. Lex not being good enough to deserve extra-terrestrial toys didn't mean Batman shouldn't know the best ways to break them if more showed up.

But first he had to catch Madison. Then, even more dangerously, he'd have to survive her squeeing.

[VitaVitaAR]

It wasn't easy to see what had just happened from her position(to Madison's dismay), but she could certainly hear what happened. There was no mistaking the sound of bubbling molten metal as the alien robot's entire head was melted through by the Man of Steel. And then the rather prompt sound of that machine's head being punched apart on the inside. Robin wrapped her fingers around the hacking arrow and yanked it out, its duty done in collecting the data in the mammoth mechanical monstrosity. For the moment, she tried to contain herself as much as possible. Yes she had just helped superheroes destroy a giant robot. But she still had to make it safely back to the Batjet before she could express the extreme levels of awesomeness she has just participated in.

Speaking of the black jet plane, there it was, pulling around for her landing. Without any hesitation, Robin sprang off the collapsing titan! The small girl hurtled downwards through the air... and slightly misjudged her landing. Her boots clacked down on the top of the Batjet, the very edge of the retracted canopy. She tried to straighten... and then let out a yelp, waving her arms awkwardly as she began to pitch forward. Oh no! She hadn't pulled off the landing right! This was no good at all, it was a silly mistake, and... and...

Madison fell head-first into the cockpit, landing upside-down in her seat.

"... O-owies..."

[Yog Sothoth]

Walt had managed to tear through the robot's leg just as Superman finished off the machine by melting its head with his heat vision. He swam away from the falling robot and changed into a dolphin. He then jumped out of the water and while he was in mid air, Walt transformed into a bald eagle and flew off into the air.

"Oh yeah! we kicked that tin-can's ass!" Walt shouted as he flew over the other heroes and dropped back down to land on a sidewalk. He turned back into his regular form and walked over to where the pier overlooked the water where the robot had fallen. Walt took out his communicator and spoke into it with a happy voice, "So do we celebrate now?"

He hoped they would since this was his first real mission with the Justice League and it would be great celebrate his first successful mission. Walt wondered what the next crisis would be that would require the league's attention and how he would fare against them.

[MrDidact]

Wonder Woman smiled at the sight of the enthusiastic Robin. She'd have to properly introduce herself to the sidekick later, the Amazon imagined that might get quite the reaction. She laughed and said to Clark, "Where does Bruce find these children? They seem to get more enthusiastic every time." She eyed the destroyed robot and wondered just where it came from, and why it seemed to target Clark. No doubt Bruce would try to find out but perhaps the League would have better resources. Diana heard an unfamiliar voice over the line and asked Superman, "Who is that? New hero?"

The sight of the eager young hero and the equally earnest Robin reminded Diana of her own younger proteges. She wondered how Donna and her Teen Titans were faring, and no doubt Cassandra would have been disappointed to not have been present on this mission. However it wasn't like there'd be a shortage of incidents like this in the future. No doubt a few months down the line some other extraterrestrial force would come down to conquer the Earth or some such business.

Wonder Woman continued her conversation with Superman, "What's our next move? We could get Ray Palmer to examine the wreckage. Or Irons. Mister Terrific. Doctor Magnus. Even all four of them. Surely the four of them could find out something about our mysterious assailant. We could even have Fate and Zatanna use their magic. Whatever it was, targeted you Clark and we're not going to let whoever sent it get away with it." Wonder Woman had sheated her sword but her grip on it tightened as a wave of anger rose. In most cases the Princess of the Amazons was calm and collected, but she would never suffer anyone man, alien, or god, attempting to harm her friends.

[Rin]

Eilidh MacLeod, Green Lantern of Sector 2814

"Nae need fir that, Wondie," Eilidh growled, floating behind the Amazon. Her voice had a rather noticable tone of annoyance in it; chasing that thing all the way back to Earth had meant that she didn't have enough power left to actually help with the fight, something that made her angrier than usual. "The big tin basser's alien, which makes it my responsibility. And ah've got jus' about enough ring charge tae scan it, so nae need tae call anyone else in. Ye can jus' sit there and straighten that Amazonian thong o' yers or whatever."

Pointing her left hand at the wreckage, a beam of green light emitted from the nearly depleted ring. Even though she was scanning it was such a low charge, she quickly came to the conclusion that even with her reserves full she wouldn't have gotten much information. At least she could get a point of origin, which was something.

"Colu," she stated, as she finished her scan. "'Sall I could get. It's from Colu. 'pparently. Nae clue what that means, though, since I've never heard o' that planet before. Hurm."

[An Outsider]

The titanic struggle between the Sea-King and the giant robot continued on even after Robin had left to finish her mission, both sides vying to end the temporary stalemate. So great was the robots effort to crush Aquaman that the metal beneath his feet had began to give, bending under the force. It'll break before I tire. Long before Arthur told himself, setting his shoulders and working himself into his task.

BOOM! Another mighty explosion, louder than the others, seemed to rock his position. It was so close that he could feel the heat from the blast. Queen or Bruce? It took him a second to realise that the pressure from the arm had suddenly decreased dramatically. He took a quizzical look round to realise that the explosion must have detached the robots arm at the elbow, so now the only thing holding the tattered remains in the air was Aquaman himself. He tossed the now useless appendage into the water underneath them, slightly annoyed that his contest with the robot had been interrupted. He could have beaten the alien machine on his own, even if it would have taken longer. Still, that was what the League was about, supporting each other, even if the support wasn't appreciated.

"Now we're even!" So it WAS Bruce who had intervened. A tight smile broke Arthur's grim visage. Bruce hated being in other's debts so much that it probably almost physically hurt him to think that he might owe Arthur for saving Robin. The thing was, Batman would have fired his missiles even if Aquaman hadn't just saved his sidekick, just now he could shrug it off as 'repaying the favour'.

"Are we counting Batman? Because if we are its four to three in my favour, or have you forgotten when I stopped Amazo from kicking you into the sun?" Arthur replied as he dived off the side of the robot into the sea seconds after Superman ended the fight. He resurfaced just in time to see the machine crash into the water, watching silently as it sank between the waves. The King of the Seas would later approach Batman, offering his help in locating and salvaging the mechanical menace. The thought of something that alien in his oceans was a worrying one, not knowing what damages it could cause to the waters or local marine life. He would be much happier once it was out of harms way.

But that is the way of things. The Justice League comes together to face these kind of threats, but it is left to me to protect the waters of this planet. All the leagues combined might to serve the barest fraction of our world.

He heard Green Lantern say the machine was from Colu, a planet Arthur had never heard of. Not that he knew much about any of the planets past the borders of his own solar system, but he was surprised Green Lantern had never heard of it. Hal had once told him that his ring could tap into all the combined knowledge of the Guardian's of the Galaxy, and they were supposed to be all knowing. The fact that she couldn't shine any light on the robots origins lended the confrontation an even more sinister edge.

"The machine seemed fixated on you Superman," noted Arthur "Have you any ideas why?"

[clanjos]

As Superman had lasered the robot from above, Ambush Bug teleported to the Batplane's wing, electronics still in tow. Even from within the robot, he could figure it was time to leave. Of course, next to Batman, he began tapping on the glass. This, of course, was also Bruce Wayne. Not exactly the hardest secret identity to figure out, given the intersection of free time, disposable income, and desire for societal improvement needed to be Batman. Either way, the perfect person to ask about Arkham and drop off the parts.

"Uh, Mr. Way- er, Batman, I got some important-looking circuitry and... I think servos from inside the robot. I couldn't find any parts that were structurally significant though, which was odd. Also, I was hoping I could ask you some things about Arkham, pending an oncoming investigation. Such as whether the Arkham family was related to the family of the same name from Massachusetts, or if there are supernatural forces at work impairing the trea- you know what, screw it, I'll just come out and ask: is Arkham haunted?"

[Dblade26]

"I would have thought you owed me more than once for the situation with Starro the Conqueror, Aquaman. Unless of course letting him mind-control you into invading the surface world as a distraction was all a part of your brilliant plan." Batman shot right back over the intercom. True, the Amazo battle had left him in a tight spot for a moment, but he doubted the force of that kick would have reached all the way to the sun and having begun training himself to survive in a vacuum for a while he would probably have had plenty of time to come up with a plan if Aquaman hadn't stopped the android's attack.

Batman cracked a barely visible smile as Madison made her clumsy entrance back into the plane, although he was careful not to let the sidekick see his face. She had done the job well and the mistake was a small one, so he had no intention of chewing her out over it. This was far from a real victory considering all they still didn't know, but it was Madison's first major mission with the League, so he could afford to let her enjoy it, for now.

As Ambush Bug appeared on his wing and proceeded to almost use Batman's real name, he glared at the would-be hero "Slip up like that again and I won't hesitate to knock you off of the wing." The fact that Ambush Bug would obviously survive was beyond the point. When he went on to mention robotic circuitry and whether Arkham was haunted though, it almost made up for it. "I'd like to run some tests on those circuits you've got, eventually. As for Arkham well...considering some of the things I've seen there, it seems more likely than not. But trust me when I say it doesn't take ghosts to skew the treatment results there."

Batman pulled the jet up to the other heroes and used the vertical verniers to slowly lower the aircraft straight down to the ground and retracted the canopy while jumping out as he did so, just in time to hear Aquaman's comment to Superman.

"I could spend some time pouring over the data myself to look for clues...but the fastest way to figure out why a robot from space is hunting a Kryptonian would be to just ask another Kryptonian or at least a copy of one, right? Robin, give Superman the data and introduce yourself. Try not to...try and...just don't faint."

[Bonesaw McGraw]

The robot crashed into the sea as the Man of Steel landed on the harbor's pier. Military personnel had already surrounded the area, but had not intervened in the battle. They knew they would only get in the Justice League's way. Green Lantern had scanned the robot's wreckage, but with her ring's limited charge all she could gather was it's point of origin, the planet Colu.

"What's our next move?" said Wonder Woman, "We could get Ray Palmer to examine the wreckage. Or Irons. Mister Terrific. Doctor Magnus. Even all four of them. Surely the four of them could find out something about our mysterious assailant. We could even have Fate and Zatanna use their magic. Whatever it was, it targeted you Clark and we're not going to let whoever sent it get away with it."

"We'll have to transport it back to the Watchtower, and decide our next move from there."

"I'm afraid that won't be happening Superman."

The voice belonged to General Sam Lane, who had just stepped out of one of the military trucks.

"This machine is now the property of the United States government," the General continued, "Stand aside."

Clark knew that General Lane held a deep mistrust for the Justice League, especially Superman, something that was a major point of contention between the General and his daughter Lois. In spite of this fact, Clark still had a great deal of respect for Sam Lane, knowing of his many heroic deeds and accomplishments. Superman respected all U.S. troops, and anyone willing to stand up and fight for truth, justice and the American Way. Batman was often astounded by his naivety.

Of course General," came Superman's reply. He gave a salute to the soldiers on the trucks, and stepped out of the General's way. The soldiers couldn't help but smile. It was Superman after all.

Clark was fairly certain that no human technology would be able to make sense of the machine's internal workings, and truthfully he also felt somewhat uneasy about Diana's suggestion to have the robot analyzed by magical means. He knew Bruce would agree, at least on that point. For all of their differences, he and Batman were both quite fearful of the mystical and the arcane.

As General Lane radioed for military boats to enter the harbor, Aquaman emerged from the water.

"The machine seemed fixated on you Superman, have you any idea why?"

"I'm afraid not Arthur...maybe it was just fixated on the biggest threat," Superman answered with a wink.

In truth, Clark was troubled by the robot's presence. The others in the League seemed insistent that it had come to Metropolis because of Superman himself, and no doubt Luthor would share the same sentiment, but Clark wasn't so sure. Perhaps because he hoped so strongly that it wasn't true. Whatever the reason, Superman needed to get to the bottom of it. He activated his Justice League communicator.

"Batman, I need that arrow."

[VitaVitaAR]

Robin slowly squirmed over until she was upright, rubbing the back of her neck. The way she had landed had pretty much put all the impact right into it, and that had really not felt too good at all... but at least it was only an ache, and she had made it inside the Batjet! She rubbed the back of her neck, blushing in embarrassment at the landing in any case. It was pretty clumsy of her... However, the moment that Batman spoke to her, she immediately stood at attention, clutching the arrow tightly in one hand. "Yes! I'll... I'll... get... get to meet Superman! ... I mean, um... I'll give him the arrow, yeah!"

Now that things had calmed down, well... Madison could focus on how ridiculously excited the prospect of meeting Superman was! And... it really was amazing, she worked with Batman and that was awesome and now she got to meet Superman and that was also awesome and so many heroes oh my god this was amazing. Putting one hand on the roof of the Batjet, and trying not to tremble in excitement, Robin pulled herself up and out of the advanced plane and landed on top. She held the arrow up, waving it in the air.

"Superman! I'm here!" she called.

[Bonesaw McGraw]

Superman heard Robin's voice, and glided towards the Bat-Plane. He also picked up on the sound of her rapidly increasing heartbeat, but it certainly didn't take someone with super senses to realize that Robin was excited. Her small frame was in stark contrast to the towering Man of Steel, and Clark could see the awe-struck look on her face as he hovered in front of her.

"Nice work up there," said Superman, extending his hand, "Looks like we might need to make some more room on the Watchtower."

Clark wondered about where this new Robin had come from. The original Robin, Dick Grayson, had grown to become a good friend of Superman's. In fact it was Clark that had inspired Grayson's current superhero identity, Nightwing. Clark once told Dick a story of two superheroes that lived on the planet Krypton, called Nightwing and Flamebird, who were not unlike Gotham City's dynamic duo. After Dick had a falling out with Batman, he left the mantle of Robin behind and started out on his own solo crime fighting career, taking the name Nightwing as an homage to Superman's home planet. Based on what Clark had seen so far, the new Robin was every bit as good as Dick Grayson had ever been.

[VitaVitaAR]

Oh my god he was right there. The Man of Steel had just... just flown right up to her! Now, now Madison was definitely shaking, her entire body trembling with excitement as the famous figure floated right in front of her. It was really a lot like this when she first met Batman too... though that time he was chastising her for trying to take on crime by herself with no training or anything, really. Not that it had stopped her, she just kept going until he had no real choice but to train and equip her. He said it was so she wouldn't get hurt, but whatever the reason it meant that she was Robin now and it was awesome. And now... now she was meeting Superman himself! And... did he just say that... room on the...

"Oh wow well thanks!" she loudly declared reaching out to shake Superman's hand almost rigidly, "Hehehe well I guess I did do pretty well and all and you're pretty awesome too and really the Watchtower seriously that's awesome oh my god!"

She got training from Batman, got to shake hands with Superman... and these were just pluses to getting to help people and protect them as Robin! This really was fantastic.

[Dblade26]

Batman sighed in fake exasperation as Robin proceeded to turn into a hyperactive puppy, loudly thanking him, practically vibrating with energy and excitement and energy. He was almost certain she was going to go against orders and actually faint once she heard Superman's potentially joking compliment about making room on the Watchtower soon, but she held up surprisingly well and instead just mentioned the word awesome around three or four times in response.

Still, he couldn't quite blame the girl. It wasn't every day that you met a living demi-god and icon to hundreds of millions, maybe billions of people, even if Clark could never even start to think of himself that way. Dick had been similarly enthusiastic when first meeting him, although Bruce had shut him down fairly quickly to keep the atmosphere professional. Tim's reaction was just slightly short of fanboy-ish as well and even Damian had seemed impressed if nothing else. Not that Bruce was smiling at all, in fact he was working very hard not to smile.

That task became easier when he noticed General Lane and his troops had pulled up. Lane was a hindrance at the best of times and a blind zealot or a clueless puppet at the worst. Whether the general was an honest man wasn't the issue considering the sort of people he reported to unofficially made his input meaninglessly. The only things stopping Batman from outright demanding that they leave without claiming the robot or anything related to it was the need for the Justice League to maintain as good an image as possible and Superman's inherent trust in the government and military. So instead of making much of a scene, he would just stall them and put his arrangements with Aquaman and his resources as head of Wayne Enterprises to good use and quietly slip the robot out from under the government's nose with them none-the-wiser.

"Robin, give Superman the arrow and lets go. You can socialize with the League another time, but we still have other business in Metropolis and we need to make preparations. A pleasure as always, General. Make sure to give Amanda my regards."

Batman turned to leave without waiting for a reply, expecting Robin would probably try and stay to talk a little longer afterward as he moved toward the jet.