"Come on, you know he's right!"
"Shhh! They're gonna hear us!"
Everyone froze.
The voices were coming from above us, but the ceiling was empty. Which meant only one thing.
I sighed. "Girls… are you in the vents?"
There was a beat of silence.
Then, in perfect guilty harmony"…No."
Yeah, that was Ruby and Zoe.
I rubbed my temples. "Alright. I'm teleporting both of you home, and your mothers can deal with you later."
"Wait!" Ruby yelled.
Too late. I waved my hand, and poof, they were gone.
I turned back to the room like that was the most normal thing in the world.
"Anyway. Ignore that. Let's get back to business."
I looked at Hawkgirl. "This is a lot to process. Take a couple hours if you need to. They're nowhere near finished with the device, so we have time. All I ask is that you don't tell your parents about this meeting. or anything we discussed here."
Hope stepped forward. "And not just her. No one in this room tells anyone outside this room what we talked about. And don't do anything stupid like provoking them, attacking them, sneaking onto their ship, trying to get info faster. yes, that is stupid—or attempting to hack them."
She folded her arms. "We want to stay under the radar. They can't know we're suspicious."
Mr. Terrific raised a eyebrow. "So you can hack them, but we can't? Why is that?"
Hope gave him a look. "Because I highly doubt any of you own an alien-phase supercomputer capable of infiltrating their systems undetected. The only reason it'll take me two hours is because I'm deliberately going slow so their sensors don't notice me."
Guy blinked. "Damn. Where'd you get a computer like that?"
"I built it," Hope said casually.
Guy nodded, impressed. "Cool."
"Our plan is simple," I said. "We wait until Hope breaks into their systems. If what she finds is bad, we force the Thanagarians off our planet and destroy that machine. Until then, get your gear ready, stay alert, and act normal. Don't look suspicious around the Thanagarians."
"Understood. We will wait for your command," Wonder Woman said firmly.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Well… everyone except Batman. He had that look. The one that said, I'm absolutely about to do something on my own.
But they all left, scattering back to their teams, and the waiting began.
2 hours later
Most of the team waited in the common room, pacing, snacking, or pretending not to be anxious. Meanwhile, Hope, Sage, and I were in the lab, watching streams of alien data scroll across multiple screens.
Finally, Hope leaned back in her chair with a frustrated groan.
"I'm in. God, that was annoying."
She immediately began digging through the Thanagarian systems — logs, encrypted files, schematics, everything.
A minute passed.
Then Hope gasped.
"Oh my god."
My heart dropped. "What? What's wrong?"
"They're definitely not here to help us," Hope said, fingers flying across the keyboard. "And that machine they're building? It's not a shield generator."
She brought up a full holographic blueprint.
"They're building a hyperspace bypass. And not just here, they've already built three others. Earth is the final piece."
I leaned closer. "Explain."
Hope pointed at the center of the projection."When they activate all four bypasses, they'll create a perfect hyperspace corridor directly into the Gordanian Empire. It will let the Thanagarians teleport entire armies straight into enemy space. It'll end their war instantly."
She swallowed hard.
"But activating it will destroy everything on Earth. The bypass tears spacetime apart as it forms. Our planet is… basically the fuel."
Sage's eyes narrowed, voice dripping with venom.
"Those slimy bastards."
"Hope, contact the other heroes. Tell them what we just found."
Before she could act, the entire base shook with a violent BOOM.
Explosions echoed outside.
"What the hell was that?" Sage shouted.
Hope instantly pulled up the exterior camera feeds.
The screens confirmed it Thanagarian strike squads were attacking the base. Energy blasts hammered against our defenses, but our technology-based shields held strong.
My magic barrier, however, It was already shattered, cracks of dissipating energy floating in the air.
"Damn… they used Nth Metal," I muttered. "It negates my magic."
"But the tech shield is holding," Sage said, relief in her voice.
"How long can it hold?" I asked. "I need to know if we have time to warn the others."
"However long I want," Hope answered confidently. "The shield is powered by a Vibranium generator. It's not breaking anytime soon. And don't worry, I put one around the house and my company too. Speaking of which, after this is over, we need another multiverse trip. We're almost out of Vibranium."
"Fine. Hope, warn the other hero teams. They're probably already under attack or about to be."
I turned and dashed out of the lab, to the common room.
Everyone was already on alert, listening to the explosions outside. When I arrived, they all faced me.
"What's happening?" Fire asked.
"The Thanagarians aren't friendly," I said grimly. "They're attacking the base right now. Gear up, we're fighting back."
Sam looked panicked. "What about Ruby, Zoe, and Victoria? They're not here!"
"Ruby and Zoe are at Hope's home, shielded. Victoria is at the company, also shielded. They're all safe."
Sam exhaled in relief.
With that reassurance, everyone sprinted to the gear room.
It didn't take long.
Fire and Ice strapped on new high-tech gauntlets, sleek, armored pieces that amplified their elemental powers. Magical runes glowed faintly along the edges.
Hawk and Dove grabbed the custom weapons I created:
Hawk's have a crimson axe, when he channeled energy into it, a massive wave of crimson power could be unleashed with every strike. He could even coat his entire body in the energy, boosting strength and durability.
Dove's have a enchanted shield, capable of generating forcefields of any shape or size when infused with his energy.
Then, Trini activated her newly upgraded Ranger armor.
Her suit resembled a sleek, battle-ready version of Lord Drakkon, with accents of white, gold, and streaks of every Ranger color woven across the chest and helmet. Her Tiger Blade no longer had plain stripes, instead, the handle bore all Ranger colors intertwined, glowing like a prism.
Everyone stood ready.
Everyone armed.
Everyone focused.
I looked at them, my team. My people.
"Let's end this. Together."
They nodded.
Then we charged out of the bay doors into the battlefield, ready to face the invasion head-on.
Albedo POV
I was sitting in Hope's office, watching the Thanagarian broadcast on her giant holographic screen. They were announcing martial law, and outside I could see entire fleets hovering over the city… with Hawk-people flying around like oversized pigeons with spears.
"Seriously? I left one dimension because of an invasion, and now this world is getting invaded too? I swear I'm cursed," I muttered.
"What?" Victoria asked.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it. I'm activating the defenses."
I slid into Hope's chair, cracked my knuckles, and pulled up the defense protocols. The shield was already active, glowing around the building like a giant protective bubble, but now I needed to enable the fun stuff: the turrets and the flying combat robots.
Hope calls them the Iron Army for some reason. I'm not judging… but I am judging.
A few keystrokes and.
WHRRRMMMM.
The whole building came alive. Hidden panels opened. Turrets slid out. And from the underground hangars and secret compartments in the parking garage, entire swarms of armored drones launched into the sky like an angry metal beehive.
The Iron Army shot straight toward the Thanagarian forces.
Victoria's jaw dropped."Hope has a whole robot army underground?"
"I Know, Right! And she can't even spare like… six hundred of them to help me build the prison in the Null Void?" I complained.
Victoria shook her head. "How do you and Hope even have this many robots? And can you send some to Ruby and Zoe's location?"
"First off," I said, pulling up another feed, "Hope has an entire factory building these things nonstop. Second, don't worry. I just checked the security cams. Ruby and Zoe are at Hope's house, and that place has way more robots than we do. A few dozen are already guarding them, and the rest are on standby."
Victoria exhaled in relief. "That woman is always prepared, isn't she?"
"You have no idea."
Hawkgirl POV
I stood aboard one of the Thanagarian ships with my parents.Even though I didn't want to believe it, Mage King had raised a lot of valid points… and I couldn't shake them from my mind.
So instead of panicking or assuming the worst, I decided to come here myself, ask questions, subtle ones. Nothing that would reveal the suspicions the others had. Just enough to prove them wrong.
But as I spoke with my parents… I realized something.
They genuinely believed the machine being built was a shield generator.
They weren't lying. They weren't hiding anything.
And for a moment, I actually felt relieved. That meant the Thanagarian weren't a real threat. That maybe everyone else was just overreacting.
Then the alarms went off.
Red lights flashed across the corridor, sirens echoing through the ship.
"INTRUDER ALERT."
My parents immediately turned serious.
"Go to our quarters," my father ordered.
"But I can help—"
"No," he cut me off. "This is not up for debate. Go."
"I'm twenty-two," I muttered, "you can't just—"
But they stared me down with that parental authority that somehow still worked, even though I was a grown adult with wings and a mace. So I obeyed.Because despite everything, they're still my parents.
I waited in their quarters, pacing, frustrated.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message, from Mr. Terrific. Short. Direct.
"Thanagarians are attacking us."
"…What?"
My heart dropped. None of this made sense. My mind raced.
I grabbed my weapon and headed for the door, but the moment I reached it, my parents walked in.
"Where do you think you're going?" my father demanded.
"To help my friends!" I snapped. "The Thanagarians are attacking them!"
"They'll be fine," my mother said coolly. "We're simply detaining them for now."
"…Detaining?" I repeated in disbelief.
"Batman snuck aboard one of our ships uninvited," she explained. "Commander Hro Talak believes it's best to round up all heroes and place them in custody until the shield generator is complete."
"You can't be serious." My voice cracked. "Thanagarians are rounding up my team, my friends, and you're just OKAY with that?!"
"It is the Commander's order," my father said. "We obey. That is all that matters."
"We are doing the right thing," my mother added. "We are protecting Earth. Once the shield generator is active—"
"How do you even know it is a shield generator?" I cut in sharply.
They froze.
"…What?" they both said at the same time.
"Earlier, some of the heroes had a secret meeting," I admitted. "Mage King pointed out things that don't add up. The Gordanians on that ship have been dead for months. No orders were ever given for an attack. And an entire Thanagarian fleet showing up just to deal with one cruiser? At the exact moment all world leaders are in one place?"
I stepped forward, wings tensed.
"That's not coincidence. It's a setup. And maybe, just maybe, you're being played."
Both of them went silent.Completely still.Not a single word.
"Mom? Dad?" I whispered.
My father finally spoke, turning to my mother."Take her back to our home. I'll speak to the Commander and clear this up."
My mother frowned. "If you're just going to talk, why do you want us off the ship?"
"Because if Hannah is right," he said quietly, "I don't want either of you anywhere near this ship if things go bad."
"Are you crazy?" I stepped forward. "Just come with us!"
He shook his head. "No. Hro Talak… your mother and I fought beside him for years. He's a good friend, like a brother. He would have been your godfather if you were born on Thanagar."
He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder."I'm going to take your concerns to him. If he admits any wrongdoing… then you need to regroup with the other heroes and figure out how to stop whatever is happening."
My heart twisted. "And if he doesn't admit it?"
"If everything is a misunderstanding, then I'll bring you back. We might even convince him to release your friends."
I swallowed hard. "But if you stay here and they are the bad guys… you're putting yourself in danger."
"I know." His eyes softened. "But a father protects his family, no matter what."
"Dad, please," I said, voice breaking. "Let's just go together."
He didn't even look at me, he looked at my mother instead.
"Get her out of here," he said firmly. "Wait for my signal. If things go bad… regroup with any hero still free."
My mother nodded. "I understand."
My father looked at us with the kind of gaze that made my stomach drop, the kind that felt like a goodbye.
"Dad… please…" I whispered.
He didn't answer.
"Go. Now." he ordered.
Then he walked out of the room without looking back, heading straight toward Commander Hro Talak.
My mother and I went the opposite direction, following his plan… even though every step felt heavier than the last.