Justice League

"Where'd they go?" Mercy asks.


"Orin, are you all right?" Nemo asks, swimming over to him.

"I am alright." Orin said looking around. "Looks like we have some reinforcements."

"The watch tower." Flash said over the comms. "A boom tube opened up inside it."

----

Zeitgeist threw Superman aside and walked towards the mainframe plugging a USB drive in. "Now this place belongs to me." He said overriding the Watchtower's security.

Sturm walked out of another Boom tube with several drones, the President and Nightwing. "The nuclear warheads are all primed and ready."

"Mother of- we just CAME from space," Mercy says.

"This is indeed a slippery one," Wonder Woman says. "I am growing more annoyed with him than frustrated now. Let us be off to stop him, then."

Zeitgeist awaited the League on the Watchtower.

Mercy brings up the rest of the League in an energy bubble. "I swear, if we have to play hopscotch with this loon any more tonight..."

"Then let's finish it fast" Morningstar says flying at Zeitgeist hitting him with a blast

Zeitgeist simply side steps it. "Ah ah ah, take in your surroundings." He said motioning to Superman, Nightwing, and the President all restrained and with collars around their necks.

"What do you want, little man?" Wonder Woman asks.

"He wants to be a pain, princess," Mercy says.

"Isn't it obvious?", Batman says at the back. "He wants a war. Although unlike previous efforts, he's not aiming to fatten his corrupt pockets.", he says before pausing while taking a walk past one of the control panels, not making any sudden movements. "I admit that I was lead to a wrong conclusion on the subject of where you aquired boom tube technology. I should've made the connection quite naturally, because you're not working for Sovereign, are you? He's not only a threat to humankind... and The Justice League", he says and exhales through his nose before continuing, recalling their encounter with the god like being. "He's a threat to you, and business, too, I can imagine. But who has boom tube technology at their disposal and might see Sovereign as not only a threat but indeed an immense adversary?", he says and leaves the question open before looking at the restrained Superman. "I'm sure Superman might know who I'm talking about."

"Darkseid." Zeitgeist said putting his arms behind his back. "You see this isn't about a war, I want a swift and relatively bloodless transition of power here. I need Earth intact but I need to make it stronger, otherwise Sovereign will take it like he's taken all the others. Already nations on Earth are mobilizing and beginning to strengthen their armed forces. So, we can either fight this out or we can all work together and use the gifts given to me by Darkseid. After all, better the devil you know"

"You little fool," Wonder Woman says, looking to Batman and Superman. "I'm not sure he's ever interacted with Sovereign. But he sounds exactly like him. The same song, only sung from the opposite end of the stage."

"He allied himself with Darkseid," Mercy says. "Not quite sure Sovereign was that dumb."

"Too many god like villains around for my taste" Mornginstar said "we need to shrink that list and frankly I don't care how we do it."

"You mistake me, I don't want power. I want to just keep on living free from the rule of tyrants. I suffered it for too long in my life." Zeitgeist said.

"Yet you speak and act like one yourself.", Batman says. "What stops Darkseid from turning on you if by small chance this needlessly complicated plan would work to defeat Sovereign?"

"You speak of unity, yet you blow away half the civilized world to achieve it? Even Sovereign hasn't stooped so low," Wonder Woman says.

"Yet," Mercy adds.

"Meanwhile, you ally yourself with a PROVEN tyrant," Wonder Woman continues.

Zeitgeist chuckled. "Ah yes because I use Darkseid's resources I am clearly evil...yet during my takeovers no civilians were killed, not even soldiers died my drones use powerful concussive blasts that simply knock targets out. In fact the only enemies I've targeted with lethal force are you all, I mean it's hard to win a fight against the Justice League unless you try to kill them. Nevertheless killing any of you was never my goal, I just want to use you all to defeat Sovereign but in order to do that you'll need more men, tanks, bullets, etc all of which I just provided with my attacks." He walked over to Superman and pulled the kyrptonite blade from him and tossed it aside. "As for who defeats Darkseid when he turns on me....well....isn't that YOUR job, defeating Darkseid when he rears his big ugly head?"

Mercy suddenly projects a bubble around Zeitgeist and pulls him to her. "Cute story, but I can't much say I care," she growls. "You killed my friend."

"Lantern, don't," Wonder Woman says.

"Why the hell not? You're not siding with him, are you?"

"Absolutely not," Wonder Woman says. "But you're fueled by anger. You need to back down before you do something you'll regret."

Zeitgeist just smiled under his helmet.

"I won't regret anything.  I...I have to kill him.  I NEED to," she says, her eyes turning black.

"Lantern, he is beaten.  Now is the time for compassion, not vengeance. This is the ring talking. Don't let it."

Mercy stares into his helmet then let's him down and backs off.  "Yeah. Fine.  But what do we do with him?"

"Nothing." Zeitgeist smiled. "When Sovereign comes make sure to make use of the toys I'm leaving you." He said opening a boomtube that he and Sturm went through.

"I move the Justice League holds a conference after assessing the damage," Wonder Woman says. "To determine our next course of action. Zeitgeist couldn't have just wanted an audience. Why go around causing all of this mayhem, just to offer us weapons and equipment?"

"That's great and all, princess, but maybe first we oughtta get that creep out of the Watchtower systems," Mercy says, floating over to the president and helping him up. "Are you all right, Mr. President?"

The President stands up and dusts himself off. "I'm fine...but he has the nuclear launch codes for every country with a nuclear arsenal."

"You can't just reset them? Make new codes?" Mercy asks.

"We can but other countries may not get it done soon enough." The President said.

"It sounds like he doesn't intend to do anything until Sovereign turns up again. I would ask if that's long enough, but who knows when Sovereign plans to make his move?" Wonder Woman says.

"Sovereign is some sorta inter-dimensional world conqueror. He made the Justice League look bad once, and I'd guess he's campaigning to do it again," Mercy tells the president. "But next time, probably on a way bigger scale."