Worst Case Scenario

Chapter 72: Q.E.D.

All eyes were on Zatanna. She was on her knees, the Helmet of Fate solidly on her head, her hands clasped over her scalp, either trying to keep the Helmet on or rip it off. It was impossible to tell.

Lightning sparked around her. It was eerily quiet, save for the crackle of the burning grass nearby and the low hum of electricity. No one was sure what was supposed to happen, or what they should do. Klarion in particular seemed conflicted as to whether or not he should try to blast the Helmet off.

"Tala...?" he asked, uncharacteristically unsure of himself.

The silence was broken when Teekl fell out of the sky and slammed into the ground, Superboy crashing right next to him. He wasn't sure where that blast had come from, but it was definitely red sunlight or some technological facsimile. His head was spinning, though whether it was from the blast, the fall or the shields he couldn't be sure. He got up on one elbow, and looked up, trying to see what had shot him down.

Part of the grass-coated dome forming the base had shifted and retracted, like a giant garage door. From this hole emerged a massive hunk of metal, slowly unfolding like an expanding ladder. Atop the enormous supports (legs?) stood a huge body(?) shaped like a giant stylized skull, reaching almost 200 feet high. Various guns, lasers and missile launchers were attached to the thing's body, all pointing downwards.

Superboy had a feeling that he knew where the red sunlight blast had come from.

"Uh, guys?" asked Rocket over the radio. "Is that a giant robot?"

"That would appear to be the case" replied Red Tornado.

A loud, synthesized, slightly accented laughter filled the night.

"Hello little Justice League" said the Brain via a loudspeaker. "Would you like to play?"

Red Arrow was the only one who spoke.

"You have GOT to be kidding me."

"Brain?" asked Kuttler over the radio. He knew he shouldn't call a member of the Light in the middle of a battle that they very well might lose, but he had to know. "Where did you get a giant robot?"

"I built it, Monsieur Kuttler" replied the Brain, apparently too excited at being able to actually use the thing to care about Kuttler's breach of professional protocol.

"Why?"

"I had a spare weekend. I was bored."

That explains a lot thought Kuttler. "Carry on."

"Oh, I will, Monsieur. Nothing can defeat the genius of... THE BRAIN!"

Maniacal, synthesized, French-accented laughter filled the room. Kuttler sighed, put down the radio and resumed backing up all the files and preparing the self-destruct. At this point, NOTHING about these mad-scientist types should surprise him.

Vandal Savage rolled his shoulders and began to toy with the long blade strapped to his wrist.

"Ah, violence" he said, a wicked grin on his face. "The one constant in my fifty thousand years of existence. If we these were better circumstances, I would enjoy ripping you to pieces. However, you have pushed me too far, and for that, you must die as quickly as possible."

"If you think we're going down without a fight," Artemis growled "you've got another thing coming."

Kid Flash and Robin tensed into combat stances and nodded in agreement. An objective assessment put them in serious trouble, two utterly exhausted and gadgetless boys and Artemis still recovering from possibly hours of mental intrusion trapped between an unkillable and fully rested man with 50,000 years worth of hand-to-hand combat experience and a trained... whatever-Tigress-was with an assault rifle.