Chapter 1

"...and the last report from San Francisco has everything cleared up, our teams packing up and getting ready to head back."

"Good," J'onn nodded at Mister Terrific's words. "With everything running smoothly, we'll be able to go through with the mechanical inspections tonight, and make ready for the food shipment tomorrow-" The martian was cut off by sudden beeping from one of the sensor consoles. A civilian tech hurried over to check it over.

"Sir?" She called out in a strange tone. "We're getting warnings of an incoming energy, but the scanners can't pinpoint what it is, or even where it's coming from." J'onn hurried over, checking the readouts himself.

"Hm... The predominant signature appears to be zeta energy..."

"The stuff that goes into the teleporters?" Mister Terrific frowned, joining him. "Does that mean we're about to-"

Startled cries resounded through the command center as a blinding flash of orange life flared through the viewing windows. The various heroes and civilians recovered as quickly as they could once it faded, looking out into the vacuum of space to try and spot where the light had come from.

"There!" Someone shouted, a hand outstretched. J'onn followed the pointing digit, and felt the equivalent of a human's stomach suddenly dropping down to the floor.

"What is that thing?" Terrific muttered, squinting.

"A martian bio-ship," J'onn whispered as he continued to stare. "I have not seen an intact one since before the Invaders came..."

"Whoa, wait, that thing's from Mars? J'onn? Hey!" People called out in alarm as the green skinned alien suddenly turned intangible, flying away from the command center and out of the Watchtower entirely. He couldn't help but head straight towards the red and black bio-ship - his friends and allies would berate him for the abruptness later, but at that particular moment J'onn could not bring himself to care.

A true bio-ship... Living! And indeed, the vessel's limited psyche was functioning, if a bit sluggishly from the sudden teleportation. It - she - at least recognized J'onn as a fellow denizen of their home planet, reluctantly allowing him to phase inside. Once within the ship's cabin, he returned to solidity, and gazed about at the passengers, growing more confused and awed by the moment.

There were eight of them, all appearing to be human teenagers, though they varied greatly in appearance - and every single one was in a state of unconsciousness. There was one male and female pair who very much resembled Green Arrow and Flash... Another male bearing Superman's crest on his black shirt... A dark skinned pair, also male and female, whose clothing J'onn did not recognize... One female with black hair was dressed in a magician's garb, not unlike Zatanna... The smallest of them greatly resembled Batman's youngest partner, Robin, whom J'onn had met on several occasions...

And the last one, slumped over in the pilot's seat, was most definitely a martian girl.

She may have altered her appearance to mimic a human's anatomy even more so than he had done, but J'onn could sense another of his kind easily. He strode toward her cautiously, knowing that the bio-ship would most likely be keyed into her mistress' mind-scape, and would react automatically in defense should anything attempt to harm the martian female. So, J'onn took extra care to seem non-threatening as he reached out with both hand and mind.

-Team, report to the mission room-

-assume standard procedure: Superboy, Rocket, infiltrate from above-

-Got it! Now let's scatter before this aster decides to gain a dis in front of it-

-can't believe we actually managed to pull of a proper stealth mission!-

-hey, can we swing by Central real quick? The Rogues are out in full force again, my uncle Barry might need a hand-

-sure thing, Wally-

-such a little troll, Robin-

-but you gotta admit, the look on that jerk's face!-

-Guys, something's wrong, this isn't a normal storm-

-M'gann, watch out!-

With a gasp, the martian girl's eyes snapped open, and for a moment all she did was stare at J'onn in shock. Then he suddenly had his arms full as she launched herself at him, holding on and trembling. Almost unbidden, he sent her a warm telepathic reassurance, that she and the others were safe, they were out of the storm.

*Sometimes I really hate Earth weather...* The girl murmured at him, one mind to another.

*I can certainly agree with that statement.* J'onn shared his flicker of amusement with her. *Now, perhaps you might consent to explaining to me exactly who you are?*

Instantly, the girl stiffened, pulling back from his embrace in shock. "Y-you- but- what?" She stuttered weakly.

"I am J'onn J'onzz, of the Justice League." He told her carefully. "And I glimpsed enough of your recent memories to know that you and your friends are not, as the humans say, from around here."

The girl continued to gape at him, at least until J'onn sent her a gentle telepathic nudge. "O-oh, I, um, I'm M'gann M'orzz... your niece."

Eyes widening, he gestured for her to sit, since it seemed as though the child was about to collapse once more. "Perhaps, sharing mentally might make things easier."

Hesitantly, the girl nodded, calling up a chair for him as well, directly beside her own. Then, when J'onn was comfortable, the two of them opened a full mind link, as was the martian way of sharing a great amount of information quickly.

-screams, aliens landing, their own citizens changing, shooting-

-cruel laughter and taunts, her white skin an eyesore among the crowd-

-specialized gas, freeze the Invaders where they stand, but the cost of the final raid-

-a chance, such a tiny chance, but she took it, sneaking aboard his bio-ship-

-visitors from another world, they awoke the Invaders, delivered to them a new planet for conquering, he had to warn-

-discovered, reluctantly given belated permission, joy joy joy, going to Earth at last-

-captured, imprisoned, but there, possible aid, another not of this world-

-a Team, friends, real ones who wouldn't know what a monster she was, especially the cute, tall one-

-alliance with the others, explaining, winning, a permanent group, a Justice League-

-Happy Harbor, so quaint, just like on tv-

-human behavior is so strange-

-missions, new members, her true martian form, she knows she knows she knows-

-they make no sense, but he helps anyway, and then there is a new menace, a winged one-

-traitor, traitor, can't let them know, wait, others have secrets too? Superboy? Artemis? maybe I should take the chance-

-betrayal, but redemption, sacrifice, but a last minute rescue, they're all alive, they survived-

-beat the Light, and then the League, missing sixteen hours, but for now we're all fine, we won-

-new Watchtower, new members, facing aliens and Cadmus and Luthor/Brainiac, Wally! still alive, back, safe, the League has prevailed-

Both of them snapped back to their own forms when there came a tapping on the ship's windows. Outside, Superman floated with a questioning expression on his face, clearly able to see them with his x-ray vision.

"Oh! Allow me." M'gann had a small bubble form in the side of the ship, allowing the Kryptonian to enter from the space side, which she sealed again before allowing him to enter the main cabin.

"Well, that's probably one of the stranger airlocks I've ever been through," Superman muttered as the wall smoothed out once more behind him. "So, J'onn, I've ordered the others not to fire, but maybe now you can explain exactly what's going on out here?"

"We have visitors from another dimension." He replied, causing the Man of Steel's eyes to widen almost comically.

"Oh."