"Alright, hands up, now!" Came a harsh voice from where Kid Flash had landed. He looked up to see a gun pointed at him by a Marine.
"Hey, I'm one of the good guys." He jumped up.
"I don't care!" The Marine yelled again. "You're endangering civilians; take the fight outside the city!"
"What do you think we're trying to do?" He snapped back. "These aliens are tough." Right as he said that four of them surrounded them. Without missing a beat the marine realized they were too close range to shoot, so he kicked out to hit one in the face, whipped around to block a punch from another, and them using it to take out the third. The three were on the ground as he back flipped over the last alien, flipping him over as well.
As the Marine landed, the helmet fell off to reveal a very long blonde ponytail. The marine was- a girl! A pretty hot one too.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help out?" She asked irritatedly.
"Fine, what do you suggest?" He snapped back.
"The army has already set up a parameter, and the Air Force is on stand by. I can call in an air assault with some of the -"
"Ok, hold." Kid Flash said and picked her up bridal style. "I'm taking you to our team leader." As he ran with the woman to a rooftop.
"Nightwing, this is..."
"Captain Crock." She saluted "I'm in command on the ground." she quickly radioed in she was with the heroes while Kid Flash explained.
"She's here to help get these aliens out of Metropolis and away from civilians." Kid Flash replied. Nightwing looked at her and suddenly a voice was in the Captain's head.
"She's linked up." The female voice said.
"What?" Crock's eyes widened.
"Mind link." Nightwing explained. "It's how we communicate."
"Oh." Crock said. "Um, anyway, Army is evacuating and has a barrier set up and Air Force is ready to give air support and my ground forces are ready to go."
"Call in Air Force and I'll set our fliers with them to draw the fight out and we can take care if stragglers." Nightwing said through the mind link. Wonder Girl, Miss Martian, and Blue Beetle agreed and Crock called it in.
"Let's get you back." Kid Flash said after the plan was finalized.
"Here's the gun." Kid flash said as he returned in, well, a flash. Crock apparently use to be a sniper before becoming an officer and her superiors wanted her on the roof top to keep the plan in control.
"Thanks." She said and set it up. Kid Flash had also brought her helpmate back and she put it on. Kid Flash had to admit, he hated to see her face hidden again.
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Five hours later and everything was over. The clean up was started and Captain Crock was debriefing with her superiors and the team. Afterwards she was about to leave when Kid Flash caught up with her.
"A-hoy Captain." He said with a smirk.
"That really isn't funny. At all." Crock said dryly.
"Sorry." He blushed. "That was good fighting and great shooting by the way."
"Thanks." She smiled back.
"Anyway, I wanted to ask your first name." He told her.
"Why?" She asked in surprise.
"Nightwing asked me to get it." He replied. "The why was undefined."
"Artemis." She replied. "I'm Capt. Artemis Lian Crock."
"Well, nice to meet you Artemis." Kid Flash said. "Nightwing also said to let you know he'll be in touch."
"Um, alright." She shrugged as he walked off.
A few days went bye with Artemis hanging out with the other Captains, many if who she'd known since she started. She was one of the youngest Captains at the age of 24. She had enrolled at 18, but had climbed the ranks quickly. She was a former Martial Arts' world champion and had gotten the Gold in the Olympics when she was 17. She had always wanted to join the Marines and to help the world a bit. She was good at fighting, so why not use it for good.
"Captain Crock." Came a voice and all of the captains snapped to attention.
"Colonel Smith Sir!" She shouted.
"My office." He said with a straight face. She followed him unsure if there was a problem.
"Sit." He said and she did. He sat on the other side of the desk and looked at her. "You did very well during the alien attack in Metropilous." He told her.
"Thank you sir." She replied, confused now.
"I received an interesting call from the team that was handling the invasion. They're some sort of Junior Justice League." He continued. "And they were also impressed by you. They want you to be their military liaison."
"Their what?" She asked in surprise.
"A contact between us and them to help organize things better in the future." He said. "And we've agreed."
"I honesty don't know what to say." She answered.
"I like you Captain." He told her honestly. "And this is a good move for you. They have requested you visit their base to get to know them and their procedures."
"So my assignment is to work with superheroes." She said in shock.
"Yes." He told me. "They'll be picking you up in one hour, they said to pack both your uniform and civilian clothes all the way from casual to formal. Dismissed."
"Sir yes sir." She saluted and took her leave.
As promised, an hour later an alien tech ship arrived. The Martian she had briefly met and Nightwing were there to meet her.
"Hello Captain." Nightwing smiled at her. "Get ready for your world to change."