74 Chapter 68: Wonder Woman vs Ghost Rider

"talking"

'thinking'

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New Watchtower, March 10, 10:38, 2017

"Are you ready?" said a voice cheerfully, as she smiled at the person in front of her.

"Sigh. No. But what can I do. I'm already here" the person in front of her replied with a heavy sigh. There was a lot of resignation in his voice, as if he really didn't want to be there.

The cheerful voice came from none other than Diana, who was currently sporting a special training suit, manufactured by the Justice League's new research facility. A new department implemented since this new regulation, where many scientists had been hired to support in logistics, and technology to the Justice League.

On the surface, she was wearing a normal black sports suit, which looked spectacular on her, and highlighted all her good physical attributes. But underneath, this fabric was special, because it projected and analyzed every physical aspect of a person. That is, it had built-in sensors that measured strength, speed, agility, heart rate, and so on, with great certainty.

Across from her, who was the one answering with resignation, was Edgar, wearing a similar male training suit, which highlighted his muscular physique, which, to Diana, was a visual delight. Said suit had the same function as Diana's, only with the difference that this one had been fitted with quite resistant thermal heat sensors, for obvious reasons.

At this moment, both were preparing in the training room of the New Watchtower. A new space base built in record time, much more advanced and expanded than the old Watchtower. And which would serve as Earth's first line of defense should alien invasions arise. The facilities were top-notch, with the best of the technologies developed by Cyborg, Batman and Thinker, which Cyborg kept when he hacked into their operating system.

However, although this was the heroes' base. It was not all the facilities that had been created. In actuality, facilities of all kinds had been created in the name of the Justice League, from corporate offices, to research centers. And all for one simple reason.

The Justice League had become a global security agency independent of the world's governments. One that had the permission to move around the world if the situation warranted. And that, when it came to apprehending criminals, they would rely on the new world laws passed by the World Legislative Regulatory Committee, whose head was Michael Holt.

This privatization brought many changes to the old Justice League. Among them, that the new superheroes and League members would work for a fair wage. That is to say, that being a superhero became a real full-time job and not a mere surveillance as it used to be.

Something that many were grateful for. Since, with most people's identities revealed to the world, they could no longer have a 'normal' life by taking off their costume, as they once did.

An example of this was Clark Kent. Even if Clark wanted to go back to work as a reporter, he could no longer. Since everyone knew he was Superman, he would be treated differently. That's how it was with most people. So turning this into a job helped everyone, and committed them to the cause.

Also, as it became a private agency, several departments and offices were created, where scientific breakthroughs, logistical support, and technological development were developed. Where many of the scientists who lived on Lian Yu, and some who were rescued from kidnapping, decided to work happily.

But it was not all technology development or scientific developments. They had also created quite large marketing departments and offices where a lot of Justice League merchandise was sold all over the world.

T-shirts with logos, thermoses, stuffed animals, collectible figures and more were selling like hot cakes. Such merchandise was the main funding for all these new projects.

This was Bruce's idea. He showed why he was a business genius by privatizing all this merchandise and generating revenue to finance all these new projects. And supporting with all these new jobs. The League had become a 'business'. And a pretty big one.

(AN: Fun fact: this does happen in the comics. Both Batman and Iron Man are in charge at DC and Marvel of generating revenue from marketing all sorts of Justice League and Avengers products)

In short, The Justice League had become a private global security company. However, this was for the better, as they were able to have better independence from governments. There was no longer someone to forbid them or tell them how they should act in the face of threats in the world.

At this moment, both Diana and Edgar were preparing and warming up for a training sparring. This combat would serve to finalize the tests previously performed today and adjust the parameters measured in the other tests, to finally have a base level of the person.

These tests were mandatory for each member of the League. Tests of strength, speed, endurance, intelligence, combat skills, and so on, measured with the latest generation equipment.

In theory, this was for two purposes.

The first was to update the old database that was in place before the Justice League officially disbanded and The Light happened.

Not only that, but with the proliferation of metahumans, the League now had many more members than it had previously. And those new members needed to be studied to know their base level of abilities.

There were enough members for the League to be divided into four groupings. And that these groupings would be divided into the 5 continents as base groups.

That is, each continent would have its base group of Justice League superheroes who would help in situations that merited it, ending the rotation of patrols that were done before.

(AN: In case you don't understand. I'm talking about the groupings like the Justice League of America, Justice League of Europe, etc. Where each continent has its group of superheroes. I will mention later how these groups were left)

This was for the best. With a core group monitoring a specific territory, then secret criminal groups would not emerge as they did before.

The second situation why these tests were done was to categorize the person and prevent that person from putting themselves in unnecessary danger. That is, to prevent a superhero from facing an opponent far stronger than he or she could possibly face.

It sounds bad, but it would prevent more deaths like Jefferson (Black Lightning) at the hands of Doomsday, who was clearly a much stronger opponent than he could handle.

But the real reason was very simple. To know the threat level that each superhero had. Simply put, this was for Batman to analyze each member and thus update his contingency plans he already had from the most.

Edgar, while unaware of these plans from Batman, knew it was a way to categorize his threat level to them. Before, he would clearly be against these types of tests, but he had agreed for two reasons.

The first, was that he wanted to know what level of power he had. In terms of physical level, both at his base level (untransformed) and transformed, he was quite strong and fast. But he had a limit. And Edgar wanted to know what it was. Superman was stronger than him, but how much was the difference, that's what he wanted to know.

Sure, in the training in his mind, he more or less got an idea, but, with these tests, now he was going to be sure of his actual level of physical power.

Another thing he didn't know was his level of firepower (hellfire/heavenfire). Although his fire was said to simulate hell itself, he didn't know how hot or powerful that was. Hotter than the sun if it was, but specifically how much, that was unknown.

Unfortunately, he still didn't know, as the machine, despite being latest generation, did not withstand the heat and melted when Edgar passed the threshold of 100 times hotter than the sun. And it still wasn't his full power.

Edgar wondered if he would actually have a limit. Perhaps the only limit to his fire was the limit he set for himself so as not to burn everything in his path.

The second reason was because that was the agreement he had with Batman and the Justice League. Edgar was not a conventional member of the League. He operated a special group, called the Outsiders, who operated in the shadows against paranormal menaces that threatened the Earth.

But, to avoid legal problems, this group was an affiliate of the Justice League. And as such, they had to rely on the new agreements, among which was the measurement of such parameters.

Also, if warranted, the Outsiders would serve as a patrol group or auxiliary group in the face of certain threats that exceed a certain threshold. That is, they would be called upon to act in the face of threats such as invasions, or quite powerful and troublesome villains.

Anyway, Edgar agreed with this. He was also taking advantage of this arrangement, since they could also use the Watchtower and its facilities as a base. Plus he was using the League's resources to search for the Obscurus. Such as surveillance technology and so on.

Everything was now ready for the combat to begin. The training room, along with the sensors, were operating at full capacity. But, Edgar, despite being ready for combat, still felt quite uncomfortable.

And that was because all, ALL, members of the Justice League, both old and new, were witnessing the event. As if this was all the greatest show on earth. Maybe for them it was.

Right now, dozens of superheroes, both old and new recruits, were witnessing said spectacle, sitting in the break room adjacent to the training room. All expectant to know who would win. Even small bets were being placed among them.

And how to blame them. It wasn't every day that two great powers fought. On the one hand, the strongest Amazon in history. And on the other, the Ghost Rider.

Although in this fight, Edgar would only be limited to a partial transformation, since, if he were to transform completely, the sensors would be fried and would not give a reading of his parameters.

"What are so many people doing here. I understand if Cyborg or Batman is here to measure our stats, but why are they all here?" asked Edgar curiously to Diana.

"Maybe I accidentally revealed that our tests would be today, then many came out of curiosity. Come on, don't tell me you're nervous about so many people watching you fight. You've already been seen by the whole world"

"That was different. And I'm not nervous, I'm just... uncomfortable" Edgar couldn't tell Diana that his senses were getting a lot of looks directed at her rather boldly. Although the old ones didn't, there were a lot of new male members who didn't know Diana well, and obviously, in those tight training clothes, she was an eye-catcher for all of them.

Edgar wasn't jealous, but, still, any man would feel uncomfortable if his girlfriend was seen like that, more so when the situation didn't warrant it. It was a training session, not a fashion show.

Actually, Edgar wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable. Diana was too. Not because she felt the stares directed at her, as she was completely unaware of this.

But because she felt the glances directed towards Edgar. HER MAN. Who, while not as handsome as Batman or Superman, was quite handsome. And being the Ghost Rider, perhaps the being with the most power there, only further highlighted his attractiveness to new women. Diana was annoyed by these looks.

They couldn't complain or anything, however, when the voice of Cyborg, who was in the monitoring booth, spoke through the room's communicators.

"Ready, guys. You're all set. Remember, this is training, don't get excited. And Edgar...don't burn everything, please. We already owe a big debt to the machines you melted down an hour ago"

"Hahahaha" everyone started laughing at Cyborg's joke. Except Edgar, who was just thinking.

'I'll make you pay for this one, Victor. When we have a training match, I'll make you feel a lot of pain' Edgar threatened in his mind.

Just at that, Victor's danger senses were activated. For a moment, he felt his life was in danger, but the Motherbox told him nothing, so he dismissed it as a false alarm. What he didn't know was that a fight with a lot of pain would await him in the future.

You would think that Victor would be careful with Edgar, and watch his words, but this was no longer the case. In fact, they had already become good friends, and often joked with each other.

Actually, Edgar was already good friends with the old League (the original members), as they had gotten to know each other well, and had realized that the prejudices they had were unfounded. Even Zatara had let go of his prejudices and treated Edgar quite well.

Raven and Zatanna were good friends. They both mended their relationship because of this very thing. They still treated each other formally, and not as friendly as with the others, but there was respect.

Victor, along with Marie and the other couples, often hung out with Diana and Edgar. Things like going bowling or out to dinner were quite recurrent between them to get away from the stress of League work. They even had the confidence to tell each other about their difficulties.

Cyborg was even helping him keep an eye on certain key locations where clues indicated there were traces of the Obscurus. Something that Edgar was very grateful for.

"Okay, on the count of 3" Cyborg activated a protective barrier that would prevent explosions from spreading to the spectating members, and began counting. Even though it was a training bout, he was under no illusions that this wouldn't escalate. Even more so for Diana, who was a combat junkie and then became enthusiastic about this type of training.

When the barrier was erected, Cyborg started counting

"3, 2,1...begin!"

Both of them moved. However, they didn't attack. Instead, both ran to the corner where the weapons were presented. Diana, as was obvious, took a double-edged sword.

Edgar, to the surprise of all present, who expected him to take a chain or perhaps a pistol like what he always used in fights, did the same and took another sword like Diana.

Diana began to agilely wave the sword, measuring its weight and balance. Edgar did the same, touching the surface of its blade, while he analyzed with his senses every flaw in the weapon.

Although they were not the weapons they were used to, since this was a mere training and there was no need to take things to a larger scale, the weapons were still first class. Two good swords, quite resistant and sharp.

Taking a couple of seconds to measure their weapons. Finally, they were ready. They both braced themselves and 'looked' at each other with a smile. Both quite a ways away from each other from each corner of the room. Without needing words, or anything else, they both moved.

There it proved that this was a fight of titans, when in less than a second, they cut the distance between them and clashed swords.

"SHING!"

Edges of metal clashed producing sparks, as they both came at astonishing speed to intercept. Both exerting immense force not wanting to give an inch.

However, despite that, the smile on their faces never disappeared, but only grew wider. The competitive streak in both of them began to grow as they felt that, in this first clash, they were both quite evenly matched.

The discomfort of having dozens of eyes watching them had vanished, as they both concentrated only on their opponent.

"Are you ready to lose, my beloved?" asked Diana in a teasing manner. Edgar took the joke well and answered her with a smile.

"Don't be overconfident, my princess. Or you'll be in for an unwelcome surprise... Now let's dance"

Edgar exerted more force, which frankly surprised Diana, and drove her back with his sword. Diana, not expecting this increased force, was unprepared and began to give ground, however, this did not affect her too much when she chose another strategy and, in an unusual move, released her grip on her sword, and rolled on the ground.

Edgar sensed Diana's danger, but was too late to react when a kick from Diana was delivered to the back of his thigh. The kick was so hard that it brought him to his knees.

Diana moved at inhuman speed and grabbed the kneeling Edgar by the neck in a paralyzing choke hold and began to choke him. It was all in less than a second, and Edgar couldn't help himself.

However, if they thought he was going to let himself be choked by Diana, they were very wrong, as he quickly transformed his hands into skeletal ones and slightly burned Diana's hand.

Although it was very controlled, the fire was enough for Diana to release her grip from the burn of this fire, causing Edgar to be able to break free and, with a wrestling hold, throw her away.

Diana was thrown by Edgar. Her hands had a burn mark on them. But this did not bother her. On the contrary, she was grateful that Edgar didn't give up so easily or go easy against her.

The last thing she wanted was for her beloved to think her weak. And Edgar wouldn't. And never would. To him, Diana was the better fighter and a great threat. And he would take this training with the seriousness it deserved. Without being overconfident.

Edgar took the sword and moved before the defenseless Diana. In less than an instant he reached where he had thrown Diana and slashed diagonally with the sword. However, Diana intercepted the sword with her bracelets, serving as a shield. Then, she rolled again and, positioning herself in front of Edgar, then she clashed both bracelets producing a loud

"PANG!"

A shockwave ensued that swept Edgar to the shore. Diana took advantage of this to grab the sword she had left behind. Again, they returned to where same point at the beginning. Both looking away at each other at every corner. Both, again, with sword in hand.

Again, they moved and in a second they were intercepted again.

"SHING" both again produced sparks, but this time it was different, as both did not stop and began a sword dance.

Vertical, horizontal and diagonal slashes occurred as the two moved at a speed almost undetectable to the normal human eye. Only two blurs were visible at this point, as sparks leapt across the blades' edges. That these swords did not break, only demonstrated the level of control exercised by both on said weapons.

Diana was more experienced, and more versed in combat. This was demonstrated when she began to use erratic movements on Edgar. But Edgar matched them with his enhanced senses. Diana was even pleasantly surprised that her beloved was quite good with a sword. She knew he had training. But right now, he was matching her. Something the other members couldn't even think about.

However, the reality was otherwise. The reality was that Edgar was suffering. At this moment, all his senses were maximized to be able to match Diana. But he was already passing his limits and Diana was getting better and better. Speed and strength were improving with every passing second.

And less and less movements were being countered by Edgar. And this was seen in his body, where more and more bleeding cuts were being produced. Little by little, Edgar was beginning to show signs of cuts on his arms, torso, chest, and stomach. Nothing serious, but it still showed the Diana's dominance.

'Damn, why her speed and strength are improving. At this rate, I won't be able to keep up with her' thought Edgar. If he didn't counter Diana soon, he would lose. That much was certain. He would have to do whatever it took if he wanted to have a chance of winning.

Edgar no longer hesitated. Generating his skeletal hands, this one ignited his sword with his orange fire

"SHUUUUU!"

Edgar slashed with his flaming sword and literally split the metal of Diana's sword in half. But Diana had already sensed the danger and had dropped the sword.

Edgar did not stand still, and slashed again, but Diana again intercepted with her bracelets. However, it was no longer the same situation. For, with Edgar's fire, even her bracelets would not be enough to stop the force of the sword.

So she began to produce divine power. Her bracelets began to glow derived from this power, while Diana improved in strength and speed.

Edgar, however, did not give up. He kept cutting, but Diana was no longer the same. Her divine power put her on a higher level. And this was demonstrated when she started to move and hit Edgar.

First, she intercepted the sword with her bracelets, and then, seizing the moment, she struck with a hook to Edgar's liver. That left Edgar gasping for air. Then she moved in and struck hard on his cheek, briefly numbing him.

Left jab, right jab. Diana was demonstrating why she was a fighting machine, as she began to pummel Edgar.

Edgar was starting to bleed from his nose, and from his mouth, as his mind began to go numb from all these blows. They hurt like hell, that was for sure. And that he knew Diana was holding back.

However, he'd had enough. So he moved and, with a headbutt, pushed Diana away. This took the Amazon by surprise, who didn't expect her beloved to strike back like that. She, however, wanted to strike again, but was unable to do so, when she sensed danger and had to run away to dodge the numerous fireballs Edgar began to throw at her.

This gave Edgar a break.

"You even seem to hate me, love" Edgar said, as he spat out a bloody spittle.

"It's because I love you that I'm doing my best"

"I appreciate that. But I've had enough. Let's have one last attack that will define everything"

"Fine by me, my love"

They both agreed to give one last attack. Diana charged her divine power and charged her bracelets. They began to glow with a golden light as they charged with this power.

Edgar generated fire with his hands. The heat was such that the temperature sensors in the room began to go crazy with the measurements.

One thing was clear. This last attack would be of biblical proportions. However, just as they were about to move, Cyborg's voice interrupted them.

"WAIT" they both stopped and stopped charging their power. "Stop the training"

"No!"

"Come on, it was about to end"

"No way. Was already going to win the Ghost Rider"

"I think you're blind, clearly Wonder Woman was going to win"

That's when Edgar and Diana came back to reality, and remembered that this was all mere training. And that they were in fact being watched by everyone.

They felt a little embarrassed that they were taking this fight quite seriously. For, the last attack they were producing would perhaps have destroyed the training room. That's how powerful it was going to be.

That said. There was a slight annoyance in both of them as to who would have won. But the biggest annoyance was from the spectators, who had never witnessed such a good training fight before.

It ended in a draw. But that Edgar, who never transformed, came out of it pretty well despite being badly injured against Diana, was almost a victory in his book.

Everyone was angry that they interrupted the fight. But they couldn't complain when Cyborg commented on the reasons why he stopped the fight.

"Watchtower sensors have detected an alien ship of unknown origin approaching Earth. 'Delta Protocol' for invasions is activated"

"WEE WOO"

<EMERGENCY. DELTA PROTOCOL. ACTIVATED. PLEASE GET INTO BATTLE POSITIONS. EXTRATERRESTRIAL INVASION. DETECTED. POSITIONS>

"WEE WOO"

Sensors were heard throughout the Watchtower, indicating to prepare for fight. Some went for their suits. Some went for their weapons. Others were already ready with their suits and moved to follow this protocol.

The 'Delta' protocol, was the League's updated defensive protocol to prevent alien invasions. And it had members move to different parts of the world to defend by zones. This way most of the territory could be covered and the highest number of casualties would be avoided.

A well thought out plan that worked because of the new large number of heroes in The Justice League that currently existed.

Many started running and teleporting to different parts of the world. Some to Asia, some to Europe, and some to America. The large group that had come today to witness the combat no longer existed, as little by little the members moved on to defend their respective territories. Even Diana and Edgar went to defend.

However, some did not move. Among them, the Teen Titans, who knew nothing of this protocol, and would not move until Batman gave orders, the Green Lanterns, Superman, Batman and Cyborg, who was monitoring the Watchtower.

There they saw it. A great ball of fire, like a meteorite, was approaching the Earth at the speed of light. Cyborg, seeing what was approaching, was about to erect an external containment wall, which would serve as the first line of defense, but just as he was about to activate the commands, he was stopped by Superman.

"Cyborg, call off the Delta command. This is not an invasion" Superman saw it clearly. Although most saw only a fireball, he saw what it really was. A single ship of a material quite similar to the one used on him and his cousin when they came to Earth. For a moment, he began to feel hope. Maybe...just maybe...they were Kryptonians.

He, despite the Lanterns' protests, went out to intercept the ship's flight. There, however, he was disappointed. For as the ship drew closer, he could see that it was not actually Kryptonian. And just as there were similarities, it also had many differences. However, with his vision, he could see that there was an orange-skinned woman dozing in it.

He no longer hesitated. Superman positioned himself near to the moon, and began to stop the ship's path.

Despite the momentum it was carrying, Superman generated more force and began to stop the ship's flight. The ship was of individual size. For an adult person. Quite equipped and sturdy. But for Superman, it didn't bother him at all and he carried it to the Watchtower easily.

However, just before he reached the Watchtower, he was stopped by the Lanterns.

"Superman, wait. Let me test it for radiation or any space parasites that might infect or affect humans"

Superman didn't object to this. Hal used his ring and scanned the ship, testing negative for these. From the composition of the ship, they even knew that it was a ship of Tamarean origin. They, who had not yet gone to Oa, did not know that Darkseid had recently attacked this planet.

However, they still remained alert, because, from their knowledge derived from the Lanterns, they knew that the Tamareans were a rather strong warrior race. One of the strongest and best known in the galaxy. They could not let their guard down because it was only one person on the ship.

Finally, they entered the Watchtower. With a UV and gaseous disinfection to the ship, they let it in.

Then, Cyborg, with the help the Motherbox, hacked the systems to be able to open the ship. Actually, it didn't have such difficult commands. Just a strange language that Cyborg didn't identify, but which the Motherbox quickly informed him was Tamarean.

With a simple 'Open' command in that language, the ship's hatch opened.

There, both to the Lanterns, Superman, Cyborg and the Teen Titans, a beautiful woman was revealed.

She had orange skin, reddish almost purple hair and purple lips. She wore as a rather futuristic looking purple armor, which matched her skin and highlighted her perfect body. Something that the male Teen Titans, who were teenagers with high hormones, saw as spectacular.

She was asleep, so they couldn't see her eyes. More or less, if you were to calculate her age in human terms, it would fit between 18-20 years old. Quite young.

However, the woman kind of felt the stares everyone was giving her, because just at that, she suddenly opened her eyes. There her full green eyes were revealed, which contrasted and enhanced the ethereal beauty she had.

She looked with curiosity with a bit of fear at these new people looking at her. However, her senses registered no threat, only curiosity and attraction to her person. So she no longer felt fear. She began to rise, albeit with difficulty, as she was numb from the great journey.

No one helped her, but they were on the alert. Although she showed no hostility they could not let their guard down. When she stood up, she looked at the Watchtower curiously, then at those present and began to say.

"ԐԘԜαԋԈԈʣʡ αԋԈԈ ԘԜTns"

However, no one understood her.

"Sorry, we don't understand you" said Nightwing, who had approached politely enough. He felt a lot of attraction to this girl for some strange reason. The girl also stared at him

"Wait, the Motherbox can translate-" was about to say Cyborg, but he couldn't finish because, just at that, the girl moved at a great speed towards Nightwing, and, to everyone's surprise, kissed him.

The kiss was not a simple kiss. It was a passionate kiss with tongue included that made everyone present numb. Even some of the Teen Titans guys, who watched this scene, could only think.

'Lucky bastard'

When the kiss ended, where Nightwing was totally entranced, the girl spoke again, however, her language was now understandable. Perfect English like anyone else's.

"Now can you understand me?"

"Emm, cough, cough, yes"

"That's great" the girl started clapping happily when she saw that now they did understand her. At this moment she was looking quite a childish and adorable side. "Oh, how rude. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Koriand'r, princess of Tamaran. And... I come to ask for your help"

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AN:

My P@treon

TioIroh99 (11 chapters ahead)

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