The Ultimate DC RPG - Season III

[Byrd Man]

​

Previously

Spoiler

Allen Home

Central City, Missouri


"Bart?"

I looked up from my roasted chicken. Mom was starting at me with a puzzled expression on her face. "Sweetie, are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."

For the third night in a row, it was just me, mom, and Wally eating dinner. Dad was out in the streets, manning the Anti-Flash Taskforce with Jay. Apparently, the incident with Cold and his buddies lead to a rise in anti-Flash sentiment. While I was off having fun with the Fantastic Four, Iron Heights had a massive breakout with all of the people I had fought. Calling themselves the Rogues, they've started a crime spree around the twin cities.

"Are you sure? You've been real quiet the past few days. Is anything wrong?"

"I'm fine."

She leaned back in her chair, her arms crossed and a steely look on her face. "No, something is wrong. What is it?"

She's right. Ever since Denny's death, my secret life as the Flash has been eating at me. My dad hates the Flash. He's out there right now looking for him while he's been right under his nose all along. There's no way I could come out to him and he wouldn't hate me. Even if I am his son, he's said time and time again how Flash mocks the police of both cities. That was bad enough, but now with Denny's death... I don't know what he'd do to me...

"It's just... Have you ever had a secret you were scared to death to tell anyone about?"

"Of course," she said, reaching across the table and taking my hand. "We all have."

"Ha!" Wally laughed. "Bart's gay! I knew it all along!"

"Yeah, well you were adopted!"

"Be quiet, Wally. Bart... you can tell me whatever it is. I'll love you no matter what. You should know that by now."

"But... what... what if it's something bad?"

"Bad? Bad in what way? What's wrong, honey? You can tell me. Are you in trouble? What is it?"

"I...," I started, taking a deep breath. "Mom... I'm the F--"


BOOOOOOOM!

The sonic boom tore into the house, ripping the door and half the wall off the house. Mom, Wally, and I were all knocked back. I landed hard on the floor, the air rushing out of my lungs and my ears ringing. My eyes began to focus on the figure standing walking through the hole where the wall had been just seconds earlier.

"Mom, mommie, motherofmine..."

*Photo courtesy of Supergirl

"I'm hoommmeee!"
​

The monster... thing, sped around the dinning room. Bart and Mom backed away from it. Me, on the other hand, I rushed forward. As fast as he was, I was just as fast. I slammed into him and drove him to the ground.

"What are you doing here?!" I yelled, punching him in the chest with a sped up fist.

"I'mmmm home," he said in reply, his voice distorted and high. "Homeherewithmyfamily. After all, you are mybrother."

"What?"

That was all I could get out. His body vibrated underneath my hands and he slipped under the floor. In the blink of an eye, he was back through the hole in the wall and slamming into me. We crashed through the wall, creating another hole, and into the backyard. I bounced off the grass and hit the apple tree with a solid crack.

While I recovered, my attacker rushed towards me and struck me with a powerful kick to the face. I fell back, crashing into Dad's tool shed. Trying to stand, the mutated assailant just watched me with a sneer.

"What...--," I started before coughing. "What are you talking about? I'm not your brother?"

"Oh, Bart. Butyouare."

He swung at me, but I was ready. I ducked his fist and swung upwards with a uppercut. My fist struck his jaw solidly and knocked him off his feet. He was launched a few feet back where he crashed into the grass.

"I don't know what kind of delusions you're under, but we're not related."

"ENOUGH!" He screamed, looking up at me. "Youdon'tthinkIdon'tknowthetruth?! You don't think I know what our parents did to me? Yoooou haveit all. Acharmedlife, that's whaaaat you've had. Goodfamily, good education, goodjobandyou'rethegoddamnFlash?!"

"I--," I start before stopping. "I didn't ask for any of that..."

"Andyouthink I did? You think I waaanted to havemymother buuurning myarmswithcigarettes?! DO YOU?!"

Gritting his teeth, he sprung up and charged towards me. He lashed out, attacking with all he had. As fast as he had been at the start, I could tell his speed was dipping. I easily dodged his attacks and hit him in the stomach with punch.

The blow sent him stumbling back. He coughed, his cough turning into a retch. Blood came out of his mouth and stained the green grass at his feet. "Oh, God..."

"Look, listen to me... Whatever it is that's happened to you, work with me and I can get you help."

"You thiiiiink I wantyourcharity?" He said before hacking violently. He turned around and began to shuffle towards the hole in the wall we had made. "Iwantedtoshow yoooou and your parents what they had made. Hooow they hadgivenmeup and what it did to me."

He stumbled through the hole and fell on the dining room floor. I came through the hole right behind him. Suddenly, his body began to seize up.

"What's happening to him?" Mom asked frantically.

"I don't know," I said leaning down to look at him.

His wriggling up jerked upwards and then sideways, blood running from his mouth. With a final shake, his body tensed up before going limp.

"Oh, my God..."

"What's going on?!" A voice shouted from behind. We turned and saw Dad and Jay at the hole in the wall, guns out and raised.

"Barry," Mom said, looking at him and then back at me and the attacker. Jay ran over and bent down, looking at the unconscious man. He leaned his head against the man's chest before looking at me and back up at Mom and Dad.

"I don't hear a heartbeat... I think he's dead."

"Who was he? What did he want?"

"He just came in, talking so fast I couldn't understand him and then Bart... He... Disappeared too."

"What?" Dad said, furrowing his brow. "Disappeared? Where?"

"He just," Wally started. "Disappeared. When he reappeared again he was fighting the guy. The guy was talking about us and how... something about Bart. He was talking too fast."

"Bart?" Dad asked sternly. "What's going on?"

I looked at my father, then down at the dead man. Jay made eye contact with me and slowly nodded. I looked up at my father and sighed.

"I--... Dad. I'm the Flash."

 

[Andy C.]

It's not easy to deal with discovering that you're wrong about something, or that you've been lied to.

It's even harder to deal with discovering that the person you're wrong about, the person that's lying to you, has been actively messing with your brain so that you don't even know it's happened.

What seems like forever ago, I left Gotham City behind, to come with my friend Rachel and an alien girl named Koriand'r, to a place called the HIVE. We were told that they'd learn to use their powers for a greater purpose here, that we'd be trained to become agents of good in the world.

Instead, we've been trained to become soldiers and assassins for masters whose names we don't even know, and had our minds altered and powers suppressed whenever we ask too many questions.

I don't know exactly where we are, but I do know it's somewhere in the Middle Eastern nation of Bialya.

I don't know how long we've been here. It could have been a few weeks, maybe several months.

I don't know how much Queen Bee and her puppet Psimon have tampered with our minds, how deep the damage goes.

But I do know one thing: it ends today.

"So everyone knows the plan," I say, looking at each of the members of Titan and Cerberus Squads. "I wish I could say it's a guarantee this will work, but I can't. There's every possibility that we might wind up right back where we started, or worse."

"But at least we'll have taken a shot at them," says Arsenal, backing me up. "If we make enough of a mess, hit them hard enough, even if they do take us down, they'll think twice before doing this to another crop of people like us."

"To hell with that," Artemis says, cracking her knuckles angrily. "What they did to us, what they're doing to Donna Troy.......forget 'thinking twice' about it. This never happens again."

"I hear that," Cyborg says. "We tear this whole place to the ground."

"My whole life I thought I was a monster because of the way I looked," says Skitter, self-consciously looking at the chitinous exoskeleton that covers her body. "But being here.....these people showed me what a monster really is."

"Don't start beating yourself up again, Skits," says Bumblebee. "You stay good and mad. You're gonna need it."

"I'm not gonna live like this," mumbles Icicle Junior, shaking with something that's not quite anger or fear. "I'm not gonna wind up like the old man. I'm not!"

"I'm not a weapon," Changeling says to himself, his usually cheerful smile gone.

Even Starfire, the always smiling, wide-eyed beautiful Starfire, has a cold determination on her face.

"I will not be used," she repeats to herself, her fists pulsing with crackling green energy. "I will not be used."

Even I'm trembling with nervous energy, not to mention anger.

In fact, the only one who doesn't seem to have any emotion is Raven. Looking at her, carefully eyeing her teammates, she doesn't look like she's feeling anything at all. It's like she's not even there, like she's piloting her body from remote control.

Even after we kissed last night, when she looks at me, her face says......nothing.

"Everyone," I say, looking away from Rachel and towards the others, "remember, it's not just our own lives that are in danger here. We can do this. We have to do this. And so we will do this."

Everyone exchanges nods, acknowledgements of what we're about to do.

"Then everyone get to your places, and get ready for Phase I."

The team splits up, each of them heading for their target locations. For a second, Raven turns back, and finally says something.

"Dick," she says, not quite able to look me in the eye, "good luck."

"Yeah, um....you too," I say uneasily, before she flies off, and I begin making my way to my own target.

Before we all break out, I have to do a little breaking in.



HIVE Facility Mainframe

"I heard you, I heard you, keep your panties on," grumbled Gizmo over the sounds of blaring alarms and warning klaxons. Given that he was the resident expert on all things technological, he was Psimon's first choice when it came to responding to a break-in at the mainframe.

The HIVE's Mainframe not only controlled the operations within the base, but also stored a veritable treasure trove of data....not the least of which were the records of HIVE activities throughout the world, and caches of data involving the HIVE's financial backers, the Society. Even a cursory glance at the information contained within these computers could be disastrous for their entire organization.

Gizmo scowled as he pulled his spectral-scanning goggles over his head, mechanical spider-legs telescoping out of his backpack to carry his squat, miniscule frame around.

He told Psimon they should have just wiped all of the kids' memories, cleaned them out completely. But no, Psimon wanted to preserve their stored muscle memory, their existing training and instincts, which a mind-wipe would damage or destroy.

So now they were acting up, and one of them was inside the most important room in the entire facility. Probably Cyborg, or that little snot Robin.

"Come on out here, you little puke," said Gizmo, arming himself with a nano-disruptor rifle that would incapacitate any technological-based weaponry. "Come on out and--""

Before he could finish his sentence, Gizmo froze in his tracks.....literally.

"One down," said Icicle Junior, grinning just a little too widely as he stepped forward from the shadows.

"The computing technology your people have developed so far is, if you'll excuse the connotations of the term, primitive," said Starfire as she produced a jump drive Robin had given her and approached the main terminal. "However, I believe I can infiltrate the terminal's digital security without difficulty."

"So what next?" said Icicle nervously.

"Once we secure as much data from the HIVE mainframe as possible, the jump drive will wirelessly transmit said data to Robin," said Starfire, having as much difficulty with navigating the computer's systems as a Renaissance painter would have drawing a stick figure. "And specifically, we send him the coordinates of where Donna Troy is being held."

"And the rest of Queen Bee's guys?"

"Ease your nerves," Starfire said calmly. "They are being dealt with as we speak."



The HIVE team carefully navigated the corridors of their facility, looking out for the rebellious students as they went. Splitting up was hardly the best option, but with so many possible target locations to cover, it was really the only solution.

Mammoth skulked towards the armory, his massive frame nearly filling the entire hallway. He couldn't wait to get his hands on these brats, teach them a few manners.

Sure enough, down at the end of the hallway, he saw Skitter crawling along one of the walls, trying to scuttle out of sight.

"Rrrrrrrrghh.....squash the bug," he snorted, before charging like a rhino.

As he rounded the corner, Mammoth barely noticed the buzzing in his ear, until Bumblebee fired her energy stingers right into his eardrum. The massive brute fell over, his equilibrium completely shot, and collapsed in a dizzy, nauseous heap.

"Well, I guess this bug squashed you," said Bumblebee, a satisfied grin on her face.

"Can we please never make those kinds of puns ever again?" said Skitter, before sprouting a pair of wings and flying down the hallway to their next point.



Shimmer stalked through the dormitories, keeping her eyes peeled. Her brother, the big idiot, was probably going to just charge in and start smashing the first person he laid eyes on. But not her; she was always the brains between them, having to think and plan and improvise thanks to Mammoth's....aggression issues. She often wondered where he'd be without her, but not for very long.

Behind her, she heard a whistling noise, as something flew through the air towards her. Shimmer turned and, on instinct, turned the incoming arrow into a harmless cloud of fresh air.

"Come on, Arsenal," she said in a lecturing voice to the young man with the composite bow as he nocked another arrow. "I can manipulate matter at will. Do you really think you'd be able to hit me with an arrow?"

"Not really," he said as Shimmer turned the rows of bunk-beds that were providing cover into water that splashed across the floor. "That's why that arrow contained a tracer bug, for a highly advanced targeting computer to hone in on its last location."

"What do you--" was all Shimmer could manage before an arc of bright blue plasma struck her from behind. As she fell stunned to the floor, Arsenal carefully stepped over her and out of the dormitories to meet up with his partner.

"Nice shooting, Cyborg," he said to the cybernetically-enhanced teen, a plasma cannon retracting into his artificial arm.

"Back at you," Cyborg replied before they moved on.


Jinx grinned as she strolled towards the facility's library. If the students were attempting some kind of uprising, she figured that the wannabe witch girl Raven would be looking for a few last-minute spells to throw at her. Jinx knew that the newbie had a lot of raw power behind her inexperience, which is why she made it a point to set up roadblocks in her training.

Not that Jinx's abilities were actual magic, in the same sense that Raven's were. She could manipulate probability, but it helped her get the desired effect by focusing her 'luck-warping' through the rules of various magic orders. The fact that Raven also relied on these rules to focus her own emotion-fueled power allowed Jinx to sabotage her progress, for just this occasion.

Sure enough, a cold breeze and a flurry of wind-blown pages all but beckoned to Jinx from within the library. Rounding the corner and stepping into the doorway, she saw Raven sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, surrounded by old spellbooks, the rest of the room darkened, all but blacked out in the shadow of the witch girl's power.

"Raven," Jinx said with a smirk.

"Jinx," Raven replied, her voice disturbingly calm compared to her usually brooding self. "We know what you've been doing to us."

"Oh, really?" she asked mockingly. "Then you know that I've been subverting your powers so that you can't outdo me? That you can't beat me in a duel?"

"That's debatable," Raven answered, still eerily calm. "But I don't actually need to beat you. I just need to keep the room nice and dark."

"Why's that?"

"So you don't see this coming."

Jinx wasn't able to respond before Artemis leaped from the shadows and smashed her fist into Jinx's face.


"You've all disappointed me, children," Psimon said in a mock-lecturing tone. "I thought you would have learned by now that you are far better off doing what you're told."

He reached out with his mind to feel the thoughts of his teammates, and was not terribly surprised to see that all of them were in various states of unconsciousness. Well, the fact that he was better than the rest of them was why he was put in charge.

"Queen Bee believed she could entice you into obeying her with gentle persuasion, with honey," he said, searching for the students. "I think you'll find my corrective methods more like vinegar."

At close range, his psychic abilities were devastating. From a distance, however, the best he could do was sense the presence of other minds. One by one, he located the members of Titan Squad and Cerberus Squad, and saw they were heading for the detention center.

One thing that bothered him, though, was no matter how hard he tried, he could not detect the mind of Changeling. However, that was because he was looking for a human mind......

.....and not, say, the gnat that flitted and buzzed behind him, before landing gently on the back of his neck and taking a different form.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Psimon screamed out as an unimaginable pain shot through his body.

Paraponera clavata, or as it's more commonly known, the "Bullet Ant," is infamous for having the most painful sting of any animal on the planet. Victims of the Bullet Ant's sting describe it as being as bad as being shot with a gun, hence the animal's name, as causing "waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours"

Reverting to his humanoid form, Changeling gave Psimon a cold glare before making his way to join the others, leaving the immensely powerful psychic rolling on the ground in agony.

 

[Andy C.]

HIVE Detention Center


With Psimon and his goons out of the way, it's up to me to do the hard part: breaking into the HIVE's detaining cells, find Donna Troy, and free her. The rest of the team will hopefully be along to help me break out once I've gotten that far.

This part of the HIVE facility actually has a pretty big staff, as it's patrolled by heavily armed guards and manned by various technicians to make sure the cells hold. And considering the cells are meant to hold extremely powerful metahumans, keeping the various restraints active is a tricky thing to do.

Since I want to avoid detection, I'm sneaking through the air ducts. It's uncomfortable, cramped, and honestly a total cliche, but so far it's been working.

The jump drive I gave Starfire is supposed to wirelessly transmit data to my modded smartphone, and sure enough, I get a notification that a massive data transfer is underway.

Soon, I'm given tons to look over.

Maps of HIVE's areas of operation.

Shipping manifests.

Memos and notes on Queen Bee's indoctrination programs.

Roster sheets for the facility's staff, and the staff of every other HIVE facility around the world.

Overlapping that, names and dossiers on other organizations that HIVE apparently interacts with.....like the international terrorist organization Kobra.......and something called the "League of Shadows."

Apparently HIVE has also been dealing with the Society, the cabal of super-rich and super-intelligent leaders and power-brokers run by Lex Luthor of all people. If the Society's being duped by Queen Bee......or worse, if they're backing her......then we could all be in very big trouble.

But first things first, the most immediate piece of information I can use: the location of Donna Troy's cell.

Looking at the schematics, it looks like I can't reach the cell from the air vents--their ventilation system is independent from the main one, presumably to keep people like me from getting in or out of them. So I'm going to have to exit the ducts at some point and make the rest of the way there on foot. Where all of the armed guards are.

I navigate the labyrinth of ducts, turning through one juncture after another, until I'm at the right corridor. I pull a small extendable camera from my utility belt, and look through the vents to see if the coast is clear. Two guards pass by, and then I carefully remove the vent covering and drop down behind them.

I shadow their footsteps, ducking out of sight when one of them glances over his shoulder, then continue following them. I wince slightly when I see a security camera in the corner--I can ghost these two for a little bit, but someone up there sees me. Just stay focused--the cavalry is already on the way.

"Bingo," I say as we reach the cell where Donna is being held. The two guards finally notice I'm there, and swing their assault rifles around to meet me, but I'm already on them with my collapsible batons ready. They don't even have enough time to squeeze the trigger before I knock them both out cold.

The lock mechanism on the cell is key-card based, but I'll bet good money that the cards these guards have won't work on it--with someone as powerful as Donna, it's likely that only the head warden or Queen Bee herself has the key.

Fortunately, the key-card system means that the lock has an internal computer. And I'm very good with computers.

"Okay, let's open you up," I say to the lock as I pull out a toolkit from my utility belt and begin to pry open the mechanism's housing. Once I've removed the outer cover, I wire the device up to my smartphone and start running numbers.

If there's an alarm system triggered by my presence, it's a silent one; there aren't any sirens going off as I sit here hacking into a high-security cell, completely exposed, with at least three cameras on me. And Psimon and the rest of his team are already down, so--

The door slides open before I'm even done hacking the lock.

[blackout]"I suspected you would be the first one here, Robin,"[/blackout] says Queen Bee as she stands over the comatose form of Donna Troy. [blackout]"I'd say the rest of your team is about two minutes away from this location. Which is plenty of time for me to finish cleaning out the girl's mind....and then do the same to you."[/blackout]

I pull out my batons, ready to fight......but then am overcome with the urge to fall to my knees.

[blackout]"Sooner or later, everyone will kneel before their Queen,"[/blackout] she says. [blackout]"But it seems you and your friends need to be brought to your knees by force."[/blackout]

 

[Spike_x1]

Attacking Bane outright didn't do me any good last time, and that was even when I had what I would call, for lack of a better term, luck on my side in the fact that he preferred to engage me alone instead of combining his efforts with those of however many enforcers he has on hand as Gotham's newest mob boss.

Sure, I've been working out and increasing my training regimen since that night all those months ago, but I'm still not going to take any chances when I finally meet him again face to face. I need to wear him and his operations down, or else some new gangster will just step in to claim his throne when I bust him. Still, with that basic backbone of a plan in place, I have to pause and wonder at how effective it may ultimately end up being when all is said and done. With all of the heavy mob activity in Gotham lately, Bane has been surprisingly laid back and apparently unwilling to make a move in response to any of the actions of his underworld rivals. It's almost as if he's just... lost interest? Even with his inactivity, he still holds the largest numbers at his disposal. And, not even counting the manpower he has, the lethal skill that he alone showed at the Maroni Wedding is still talked about to this day, not to mention his cutting a swath through everyone who even tried to touch him back when he was active. A reputation goes a long way in these circles, and no one wants to get on the wrong side of big bad Bane.

Except for me.

I barely made an impression on him at all last time, but things will be different, starting tonight. Which is why I'm here: The Zombie's Den. If I want to make an impact on Bane's operations and get his attention, this is where I need to make my start. The dirtiest of dirty nightclubs, but with an "anything goes" policy and the fact that cops tend to steer clear of the vicinity, it's incredibly popular with the right crowds. Of course, the reason for my interest in it is that it's owner and operator is one of Bane's highest lieutenants: Ulysses Stewart, otherwise known around Gotham as Zombie. I've been scoping him out over the past couple nights and learning his nocturnal habits. He's a skinny guy with really sunken features, so I think I can put two and two together to figure how he got his nickname. Doesn't seem overly fond of bodyguards, although he has a couple. Carries one gun in a shoulder holster, and seems to be a crack shot from what I've overheard people say about him. And he keeps a collection of cylindrical objects attached to his belt. I can only conclude that they're containers for syringes full of God knows what, although I haven't yet seen him partake.

Should be an interesting night.

The glowing fire of my blades signals my approach long before I make my official greeting, and I see the regular bouncer stick his head inside the nightclub, no doubt to call for some help to persuade the costumed weirdo with flaming bladed gauntlets to call it a night. Now, you can do this, Valley. You've made all the right moves so far, now's the time to finally make your impression. "Good evening, fellas" The bouncer steps aside to let his reinforcements come out with assault rifles trained on me.

"I saw your boss stopped by the office tonight, and was wondering if I could make an appointment while he's here."

I don't bother waiting for a response from the bruisers at the door. I already know the gist of what they'd say, but it wouldn't stop me from seeing Zombie. Not in a million years.

The fight is over in seconds, and only one small burst of machine gun fire rings out, but the patrons of the nightclub seem to have been oblivious to it over the noise of the music inside. I have the element of surprise on my side, but am consciously choosing not to use it. I'm just walking right in like an idiot, but I tell myself that it's all for effect. Bane sent a message to Gotham by destroying Wonder Tower, and I'm here to tell him that we're not afraid.

Grabbing one of the unconscious guards and hoisting him over my head, I give it all of my strength and heave him straight through the club's front window. Smoke and music come pouring out, mingled with the startled screams of girls and cursing of tough guys. A moment later, the blaring music cuts out and the party goers inside all try to crowd around the window, stumbling over themselves to get a good look at me.

I need to say this loud enough that my voice reaches even the people at the back of the club from here. After all, for all I know, Stewart could be in his back office instead of on the floor. "Ulysses Stewart! Zombie! I want a word with you!"

The crowd seems dumbstruck by my words, but after a few moments I start to hear commotion moving through the people towards me. "Step aside, ladies. Zombie's coming through. Make way." Finally, a tall figure steps forward with two burly bodyguards at his sides. "I'm Zombie," he says with a smile, but with blatant annoyance in his voice. "What can I do for you, friend?"

"You can help me send a message."

"To whom?"

"Bane."

Zombie's eyes narrow and I hear hushed whispers in the nightclub behind him at the mention of the name. Touchy subject in these parts, I'm guessing.

"No. I'm afraid he's unavailable." With a flash of his practiced hand, Zombie has pulled out the cylinders that I noticed before, and uncapped them. I guess I'll finally see what he's got in there. Some super steroid that he'll fight me with? Grenades? I can't wait to... what the?

Throwing knives. Okay, I admit that I would not have called that one.

"Gentlemen," he motions for the men beside him to engage me, and more enforcers begin to emerge from the crowd as well.

I'm beginning to think that this night may not be as productive as I had originally thought.

 

[Spike_x1]

Spoiler

I watch as Steel smashes through a crumbling wall, and then picks up the woman and carries her to safety. Now that they're out of harm's way, it's just me and the Parasite.

"Heh. Well, ain't that a surprise. It's not every day that your meal wraps itself. What's with the getup, Kent?"

I can feel the rays of his vision pounding away with both force and fiery heat. Thankfully, Steel was able to incorporate reflective plating into his armors that deflects large portions of the full effect of the blast. The fact that Jones' stolen powers are getting noticeably weaker doesn't hurt, either.

But he still knows who I am.

"I just tore Irons apart like he was covered in tissue paper. And out of the two of you, he's the one who's experienced at piloting one of those tin cans. You really think you can beat the odds and take me in a rematch?"

He's still stronger than I am, but I can't let him run loose, with or without my powers. Combined with my own returning speed and strength, I surprise both the Parasite and myself with how quickly I take off and slam into the monster, sending us both smashing through piles of debris and into the street. When we hit the pavement, the force of the impact dislodges me from my opponent and we both skid apart.

"Alright. Still got juice left in the batteries after all, huh?"

He tries to act tough, but I can hear it in his voice. He's frustrated. Not so sure of himself anymore. Not far from acting out of desperation.

I need to end this now, before lives are lost.

I described to Steel how the Parasite stole knowledge from me as well as my powers, and he wondered if that might be the cause of so little loss of life at Rudy Jones' hands. The villain doesn't care one bit about the fragility and sanctity of human lives, but he hasn't killed anyone except for Hellgrammite since gaining my abilities. Maybe my... essence, for lack of a better term, has been making him pull his punches around those who can't take it. And then there's the question of whether or not he's even aware of that influence, and if it will fade away as my powers slowly return to me. Either way, I'm not taking that risk.

I take flight again with a familiar whoosh of air, forgetting to even activate the suit's jetboots. I can tell that Rudy's reflexes are getting slower as his my stolen invulnerability absorbs the punches that I'm throwing and forces him to involuntarily expend more and more of the energy that he took from me. And then I finally see bruising begin to form beneath his eye, and I stop. Have my powers returned? Does that matter? He's still a towering monstrosity and a danger to everything around him. But can I even punch him again without taking his head off?

"C'mon, I'll give ya one more for free." I can hear the exhaustion in his voice. Whatever mutated organ that used to be his human heart beats loudly in his chest with anxiety. He's shaking, but on the verge of a rage. "Gimme your best shot." I'm taking this window of opportunity while it's still open.

As soon as I throw my fist, I know I've made a mistake. I'm still moving at high speed, but it feels like my arm is moving through molasses. That's when his smile catches my eye, the fanged grin telling me that I just did exactly what he wanted me to, even before his giant purple clawed hand flashes up and catches my fist.

"You got me, Blue. I don't have enough left of your powers to melt you down and sell you and your suit for scrap. But, without your invulnerability shielding my body from attacks, I can soak up a great big load of kinetic energy instead." He plants his foot firmly in my chest and sends me reeling back into a parked police squad car, caving in the passenger side. I'm going to take the fact that the impact didn't hurt me at all as a good sign.

"Everyone hold your fire!" I yell as the SWAT teams take aim now that the Parasite has separated himself from everyone else. "You'll only make him stronger!"

~Now that's usin' the old noggin!~

It's that voice again! The one that told me earlier that I would eventually get my powers back, right before I visited Steel.

~I mean, sure, it won't help you right now. You're sure not fully recharged, and that ugly brute still has enough fight left in him that there'll be an awful lot of collateral damage before we're all through here. And nobody wants any o' that.~

After my work alongside J'onn J'onzz, I recognize the 'sound' of telepathy. ~Who are you? What do you have to do with any of this?~

~Just call me Black. And boyo, I'm your lucky charm.~

As the Parasite and I charge toward each other, a sudden flash of light ignites behind Rudy's eyes and I can see his body go limp and slump to the ground while I jog to a halt by his unconscious body.

"That was... odd."

Lieutenant Inspector Dan Turpin lights a cigar and cautiously emerges from the ranks of his fellow officers and steps to my side. "Whatcha do to 'im?"

It takes several hours for the authorities to get the equipment in place to safely contain and handle the Parasite, with my looking on all the while as reporters try to get a quote and the police having mixed reactions to my presence, and I can't say that I'm not questioning it myself. With me around, the Parasite's potential for destruction is multiplied by untold amounts. But at the same time, if he were to break free from the untested apparatus that's containing him, he's capable of cutting a swath through the police on his own even without my powers at his disposal. I couldn't just stand by and let him destroy the lives of these good men and women in such a situation, could I?

Thankfully it doesn't come that. Once Rudy Jones is secured and in transit to Stryker's Island, I walk towards Steel who has been consulting the STAR Labs technicians here on site. "You're sure that you're okay, John?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he winces as he turns to face me. "Just bruised. The suit's scans show no permanent damage. Give me a week and I'll be back in top form."

"I'm not going to lie. With the Legion of Doom still out there, we may not have a week to spare. Every minute they're running free is a minute too long."

"I hear you, fearless leader. I'll get started on repairing the suit as soon as I get back to the lab, and I'll just have to suck it up when it comes to the pain."

There it is again. Everyone seems to think I'm the leader of the Justice League, and I haven't denied it whenever it's come up in public because I want the public to have the assurance that the team does have some kind of proper structure, but really, me? "Do what you can, John. No one expects anything more. Believe me, it's appreciated" I clap my hand on his shoulder and smile.

I think that most of my strength has returned by now, and it couldn't have happened sooner. Testing my controlled flight without the assistance of the armor, I begin floating upwards without the help of the armor I'm still wearing. "You're going to Stryker's Island to supervise the Parasite's transfer, yes? If you need any assistance at all, contact me through J'onn J'onzz. In the meantime I'll drop this suit of yours off at Steelworks." In full flight now, it only takes me a minute to reach Dr. Irons' lab to put his spare armor back into his inventory, give my thanks to John's niece and take my leave. I still need to talk to Jimmy, although I have no idea what I'm going to say.

Whoever you are that's been speaking to me telepathically, if you're still listening, do you have any words of wisdom to offer?

...

No? I probably wouldn't listen to what he has to say anyway.

 

[MST3K 4ever]

The main conference room is filled to capacity with various board members and media members anticipating the impromptu news conference called by the Board of Wayne Enterprises.

Acting CEO William Earle steps to the podium and says, "If I could have everyone's attention please." Seeing only a smattering of those assembled have calmed down he says again, "Please ladies and gentlemen we are ready to get started. Please find your seats."

Finally everyone settles down and Earle waits for a moment. Once all eyes are on him he says, "Good afternoon and thank you all for coming here today and on such short notice."

He continues after taking a deep breathe, "My name is William Earle and I am the acting CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Ever since Mr. Wayne was taken to the hospital sometime ago and in light of the recent violence that has plagued our city Wayne Enterprises has experienced some downturns in it's economic status and status as one of the premier companies on the planet as many of the contracts we entered into with the Government and various other entites sought to declare them null and void."

Earle clears his throat and continues, "After careful consideration and many discussions the decision to take this company public was made in strict accordance with the bylaws of our company. When it was time to purchase the shares of this company a mystery buyer stepped forth and paid a rather substantal sum for all of the shares. With the assurance that Wayne Enterprises would remain in Gotham. The identity of this person has remained a mystery."

Earle looks up and can barely contain himself. He says, "Until now, ladies and gentlemen it is an honor to introduce to you the new owner of Wayne Enterprises...Mr. Oswald Cobblepot."

There are gasps and rounds of applause in the room as the main door opens and Oswald limps in waving to the crowd, smiling and shaking hands with various employees along the way.

He gets to the front of the room and shakes hands with Earle. Oswald then turns and motions for everyone to sit down and says, "Please thank you. Thank you all."

Everyone settles and Oswald says, "Thank you all for coming here today. I'll make a statement and take a question or two and then I really do need to dash off. There is a matter of the re-opening of the Iceberg Lounge this evening to deal with."

He steadies himself and says, "When I saw what was happening to our city I couldn't believe it. Seeing the violence night in and night out, and then when it touched one of our own leading citizens Mr. Bruce Wayne I was heartbroken. I share everyone's sincerest hopes and prayers for his recovery. Then there were reports of businesses possibly leaving our city in it's hour of need, and many people looking to move to Metropolis, Central City, Star City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Miami just to name a few. This city has been very good to me and many others and Wayne Enterprises is a big reason that our city is able to be so good to us. The thought of it falling off of the business landscape was more than I could stand. So when the company went public I decided to put my money where my mouth was and bank on Gotham City."

Oswald looks directly into a camera and says, "To my fellow co-workers watching on closed circuit, the people who make the difference in our company, rest assured your jobs and benefits are safe. The uncertainty that has plagued you all for months is now over, and I look forward to meeting with you all."

Oswald says, "Now then I will take a few questions."

Several reporters raise their hands and Oswald points at one.

He asks, "Mr. Cobblepot what happens if and when Mr. Wayne recovers?"

Oswald replies, "If Mr. Wayne recovers and is ruled to be competent enough to resume the duties required of him then I am more than willing to sell my shares back to him at fair market value. Also we will not change the name of the company and we will also continue to fund Mr. Wayne's medical care."

She asks, "Mr. Cobblepot is this out of concern for others or just an ego boost for you?"

Oswald smiles and replies with a chuckle, "A bit cynical there aren't you?"

The room fills with light laughter and Oswald continues, "I can see where to an outsider it might appear that way, but I'm doing this for the glory of Gotham. I am getting paid one dollar and any other compensation I might recieve goes back into the company. I see myself as a caretaker of a trust between this company and the city. You see there were others who were trying to take over this company and wanted to move it."

Oswald cuts on a video display showing various news articles of people talking about what Wayne Enterprises would mean to their city.

He discusses the various cities that were mentioned and says, "And yes Donald Trump was even talking about it as well. Possibly to even help bank roll his White House run."

Oswald looks at the crowd and says, "The voters can thank me for preventing that one."

The room errupts and laughter and after about 20 more minutes Oswald finally leaves.

He makes his way through the lobby smiling and waving to various employees. Shaking hands and taking pictures and just enjoying the moment.

Oswald then makes it outside and gives one last wave to those gathered around him as waiting Limo takes him back to the Iceberg Lounge.

 

[MST3K 4ever]

The Atom floats back into the apartment throught he air-duct system and transforms back into Rhiannon Palmer.

She hears Kent in the bedroom unpacking his suitcase. Rhiannon and him kiss one another and embrace.

He says, "I'm glad to be home. San Francisco was nice but without you really dull."

Rhiannon replies, "The feeling is mutual. I missed you too."

They kiss again and when they break Kent asks, "So what have you been up to since I've been gone."

Rhiannon shrugs her shoulders and says, "Not much just getting ready for the semester to start next week, getting settled in here, and doing the superhero gig. Just finished helping out with a hostage situation downtown at the Federal Building."

Kent nods and says, "The place looks great love. You really did great job."

Rhiannon says, "Thank you it was actually a lot of fun. Well the change of address junk was painful but otherwise it was fun getting everything just right."

She looks at the night sky and says, "Hey if you're up for it. You wanna go to the Hall of Justice and check in. Been a while since we've been by there."

Kent approaches and says, "Yeah we can do that, but there is something else we can do for a little while."

Rhiannon smiles and says, "That's always a good option."

The two kiss and embrace and fall onto the bed.

Sometime later they transform into their superhero identities and make their way for the Hall Of Justice.

 

[Spike_x1]

The flight back to the Planet doesn't take long at all, even though I'm still not back to 100% of my full speed. I'm feeling much better and the cause of so much destruction and terror is behind bars where he belongs, so I think I can afford to take time out for a much needed talk with my friend.

After making a discrete entrance and changing back to my civilian clothes, I step out of the supply closet when the coast is clear and calmly walk to my desk. Nothing to see here, folks. Just a mild mannered reporter. As I begin to type, I can hear Perry from here, talking to Lois in his office about her half of the Parasite story before she leaves for Stryker's Island for her followup. Ordinarily, I'd insist on coming along. After all, we're sharing the story. But I have other matters to address. I'm sure that Lois won't object to my leaving it in her capable hands.

"Hey, Jim. How are you?"

"I'm... I'm fine, Clark. Just frustrated."

"Oh? What's up?" Jim's looking at the bulletin board, but whatever it is that's put him in this mood, it's going over my head.

"Newbie's taken my spotlight." He points to one of the clippings on the board from an article by Ron Troupe, with photos by David Conner. The story itself concerns the new superhuman prison having opened its doors several days ago, and the state of the art technology being employed to keep the inmates safely confined in their tailor made cells. It's a good piece of reporting, but I can tell that the highlight of the page is what's gotten Jim's attention: photographs of certain notorious inmates being transported. The Silver Banshee, Blackrock, Neutron, Riot, Toyman, and Bloodsport. All of them strapped into specially constructed containers in a lineup as they're being wheeled into the large doors of the facility. Colorful eye-catching sights like that certainly get readers' attention.

"And it's not the first time that he's upstaged me lately. Perry took his photos of the Toyman's rampage over mine. And Bloodsport's last attempted robbery. And y'know what? I couldn't disagree with the Chief. Dave's photos were just plain better. He's getting more and more of the high profile metahuman-related assignments, and I'm mostly sent along with only you and Lois these days."

As much as I sympathize, I can't fault Perry for recognizing the new kid's potential and wanting to groom his talent. Jim is a good photographer. He's young, but dedicated and willing to do whatever it takes to get a good shot. So I understand his frustration on having a newcomer chosen for certain assignments before him, but we can't exactly rely on only one single photographer around here. Everyone, including Jim, knows that Dave has talent that shouldn't be wasted.

"Sad reality. You know how it is around here. C'mon, we'll call it a night and grab some burgers."

Jim looks at me in surprise. "You just got back from fighting..." he scans the city room to make sure no one is listening, "the Parasite. Don't you have some typing to do?"

"Don't worry about it. I finished it thirty seconds after I got back. Now that I have most of my superspeed again, we've got the time." Don't let yourself get complacent, Clark. There's still a legion of supervillain terrorists out there. As soon as Jimmy and I catch up, I go back to my other job. "You can tell me all about how you figured out what I do in my spare time."

"Really? It's not much of a story. I just saw you cleaning you glasses one day when you thought nobody was looking. I've gotta admit that I facepalmed a little for not seeing it before."

 

[Spike_x1]

I don't bother waiting for a response from the bruisers at the door. I already know the gist of what they'd say, but it wouldn't stop me from seeing Zombie. Not in a million years.

The fight is over in seconds, and only one small burst of machine gun fire rings out, but the patrons of the nightclub seem to have been oblivious to it over the noise of the music inside. I have the element of surprise on my side, but am consciously choosing not to use it. I'm just walking right in like an idiot, but I tell myself that it's all for effect. Bane sent a message to Gotham by destroying Wonder Tower, and I'm here to tell him that we're not afraid.

Grabbing one of the unconscious guards and hoisting him over my head, I give it all of my strength and heave him straight through the club's front window. Smoke and music come pouring out, mingled with the startled screams of girls and cursing of tough guys. A moment later, the blaring music cuts out and the party goers inside all try to crowd around the window, stumbling over themselves to get a good look at me.

I need to say this loud enough that my voice reaches even the people at the back of the club from here. After all, for all I know, Stewart could be in his back office instead of on the floor. "Ulysses Stewart! Zombie! I want a word with you!"

The crowd seems dumbstruck by my words, but after a few moments I start to hear commotion moving through the people towards me. "Step aside, ladies. Zombie's coming through. Make way." Finally, a tall figure steps forward with two burly bodyguards at his sides. "I'm Zombie," he says with a smile, but with blatant annoyance in his voice. "What can I do for you, friend?"

"You can help me send a message."

"To whom?"

"Bane."

Zombie's eyes narrow and I hear hushed whispers in the nightclub behind him at the mention of the name. Touchy subject in these parts, I'm guessing.

"No. I'm afraid he's unavailable." With a flash of his practiced hand, Zombie has pulled out the cylinders that I noticed before, and uncapped them. I guess I'll finally see what he's got in there. Some super steroid that he'll fight me with? Grenades? I can't wait to... what the?

Throwing knives. Okay, I admit that I would not have called that one.

"Gentlemen," he motions for the men beside him to engage me, and more enforcers begin to emerge from the crowd as well.

I'm beginning to think that this night may not be as productive as I had originally thought.

Zombie's enforcers go down without much trouble, and it's hard not to forget about the man himself until one of his knives sinks into my back. "ARRGH!" Instinctively, one of my hands reaches around to try to pull the knife out, which opens me up to a punch in the face from one of the remaining muscleheads that sends me for a bit of a loop. Thankfully, I manage to get my bearings again long enough to block his next punch with one of my flaming blades, burning his hand in the process. As he screams in pain and clutches his smoking hand, I strike him in the throat and watch as he hits the ground, gasping for air. Next, I turn back to Zombie just in time to see another knife flying in my direction and dodge it.

"Bane! Tell me where he is!"

Lunging at Zombie now, a throwing knife grazes the side of my neck, but the uniform shields me from anything short of a direct hit. Before he can ready another blade, I'm on top of him and pressing his face into the dirty street as the crowd from the cub still watches in fear and confusion.

"He cannot tell you because he does not know."

That voice!

On hearing the familiar accented voice of Bane, I step back from Zombie and begin scanning the streets and listening for anything out of the ordinary. Has he been watching this whole time?

"You're hunting me while I've been hunting you? How'd you know I'd be here?"

"Not you specifically." His voice is closer this time. "I stalk the night because I can. Gotham's chief predator is gone, but there are others who seek to fill the void he left behind. Like yourself." It sounds like he's almost on top of me now. "I have my reasons for inaction as of late, but potential challengers to my rule should at least be measured for their worth, no? We have no history, you and I, yet this is the second time that you have sought me out."

That's when I finally hear his heavy boots crunching as they hit the street, and I spin to see him only several meters behind me. How the hell did someone that big get that close to me without my noticing them?!

"Why?"

"You're the personification of all that's wrong in this city, rotting away its very soul. If Gotham is to be saved, you need to die."

"You are different from the Batman, then? You would take my live?"

"People need the safety in knowing that monsters like you get what they deserve."

"For better or worse, I already have."

Once again, Bane surprises me with his movements. Someone that large should not move this way!

I'm almost certain that I blacked out for a moment or two after that hit, but the next thing I know, I'm on the ground and Bane is prying at my gauntlets, hitting the hidden switch to deactivate the flames. How does he know how to do that?

"The Order of St. Dumas. I have not seen tools like these for many years. True, they seem to have upgraded since my last encounter with their assassins, but the principles of their weaponry remain the same."

Without the protective fire around the blades any longer, Bane freely reaches down and grabs both blades and snaps them off at the base on my wrists.

"Surely we have no need for those," he says as he casually tosses the broken shards of metal over his shoulder and into the thick bushes across the street. "Hm? Oh, you're not surprised, are you? I've run afoul of several members of the Order during my travels. In fact, you're not even the first man wearing the mantle of Azrael who I've fought and killed."

Just as I think I've gotten my second wind, I feel his grip of iron around my throat and lifting me into the air.

"I'm not a man given to humor very often, but I cannot express my amusement upon earlier discovering your enthrallment in the circus and being forced to perform tricks for the entertainment of sheep." Even through his mask, I think that I can see him smiling, but his voice sounds more... disappointed, and I can't disagree with the sentiment. "I told you after your defeat last time that I saw great potential in you, and I meant every word."

"Which is why killing you now is so hard."

Ribs feel broken, to say the least. I'm pretty sure that I threw up a little in my mask, but I can't let the pain or inconvenience get in my way. I knew that fighting Bane would be a big deal, but this turned into a fight for my life before I even knew it had begun. After being slammed into the wall, Bane lets go and allows me to slump to the ground. By now the club's party goers have taken their leave. That might be in part because of a fear for getting in the way of either of us, and it might also have something to do with Bane's reputation for not suffering fools or distractions well. The man is all ego and loves to hear himself talk, and I wish I could say that wallowing in his own sense of superiority is not well earned, but I'm not exactly in a position to dispute it. I underestimated him and overestimated myself. Again.

As I get to my feet once more, a simple truth becomes terrifyingly obvious to me as he watches with those red eyes gleaming in the dark. While the fact remains that, no matter what, I will never give up, it's suddenly clear as day that I'm going to die here in this street. Bane is just plain better than I am.

But it changes nothing.

I will fight to my dying breath.

 

[Byrd Man]

​

Previously

Spoiler

The monster... thing, sped around the dinning room. Bart and Mom backed away from it. Me, on the other hand, I rushed forward. As fast as he was, I was just as fast. I slammed into him and drove him to the ground.

"What are you doing here?!" I yelled, punching him in the chest with a sped up fist.
​

"I'mmmm home," he said in reply, his voice distorted and high. "Homeherewithmyfamily. After all, you are mybrother."

"What?"

That was all I could get out. His body vibrated underneath my hands and he slipped under the floor. In the blink of an eye, he was back through the hole in the wall and slamming into me. We crashed through the wall, creating another hole, and into the backyard. I bounced off the grass and hit the apple tree with a solid crack.

While I recovered, my attacker rushed towards me and struck me with a powerful kick to the face. I fell back, crashing into Dad's tool shed. Trying to stand, the mutated assailant just watched me with a sneer.

"What...--," I started before coughing. "What are you talking about? I'm not your brother?"

"Oh, Bart. Butyouare."

He swung at me, but I was ready. I ducked his fist and swung upwards with a uppercut. My fist struck his jaw solidly and knocked him off his feet. He was launched a few feet back where he crashed into the grass.

"I don't know what kind of delusions you're under, but we're not related."

"ENOUGH!" He screamed, looking up at me. "Youdon'tthinkIdon'tknowthetruth?! You don't think I know what our parents did to me? Yoooou haveit all. Acharmedlife, that's whaaaat you've had. Goodfamily, good education, goodjobandyou'rethegoddamnFlash?!"

"I--," I start before stopping. "I didn't ask for any of that..."

"Andyouthink I did? You think I waaanted to havemymother buuurning myarmswithcigarettes?! DO YOU?!"

Gritting his teeth, he sprung up and charged towards me. He lashed out, attacking with all he had. As fast as he had been at the start, I could tell his speed was dipping. I easily dodged his attacks and hit him in the stomach with punch.

The blow sent him stumbling back. He coughed, his cough turning into a retch. Blood came out of his mouth and stained the green grass at his feet. "Oh, God..."

"Look, listen to me... Whatever it is that's happened to you, work with me and I can get you help."

"You thiiiiink I wantyourcharity?" He said before hacking violently. He turned around and began to shuffle towards the hole in the wall we had made. "Iwantedtoshow yoooou and your parents what they had made. Hooow they hadgivenmeup and what it did to me."

He stumbled through the hole and fell on the dining room floor. I came through the hole right behind him. Suddenly, his body began to seize up.

"What's happening to him?" Mom asked frantically.

"I don't know," I said leaning down to look at him.

His wriggling up jerked upwards and then sideways, blood running from his mouth. With a final shake, his body tensed up before going limp.

"Oh, my God..."

"What's going on?!" A voice shouted from behind. We turned and saw Dad and Jay at the hole in the wall, guns out and raised.

"Barry," Mom said, looking at him and then back at me and the attacker. Jay ran over and bent down, looking at the unconscious man. He leaned his head against the man's chest before looking at me and back up at Mom and Dad.

"I don't hear a heartbeat... I think he's dead."

"Who was he? What did he want?"

"He just came in, talking so fast I couldn't understand him and then Bart... He... Disappeared too."

"What?" Dad said, furrowing his brow. "Disappeared? Where?"

"He just," Wally started. "Disappeared. When he reappeared again he was fighting the guy. The guy was talking about us and how... something about Bart. He was talking too fast."

"Bart?" Dad asked sternly. "What's going on?"

I looked at my father, then down at the dead man. Jay made eye contact with me and slowly nodded. I looked up at my father and sighed.

"I--... Dad. I'm the Flash."

The rest of the night is a blur. Even for me. Police come, Dad and Jay deal with them. They tell them that this weird guy came in, tried to attack us and then dropped dead. No mention of me fighting him. No mention of my being the Flash. They lie. They lie for me.

It was almost midnight before Dad and Jay came back from police headquarters. I was sitting on the couch, looking at the patched-up hole in the wall the attacker had left. Mom was on the far end of the couch, Wally laying down between us with his head in her lap.

"Okay," said Dad. He sat in the chair across the coffee table from us. Jay stood standing behind him. "It's time for us to have a talk."

"Before that," Jay said, clearing his throat. "The DNA test came back on the body. Whoever that guy was, Barry, he was your son."

"Barry, do you think--," Mom started.

"No, it couldn't be him."

"We never saw a body, remember?"

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"When you were born," said Dad, turning away from Mom to me. "You weren't the only one we were expecting. Iris --your mom-- was pregnant with twins. Two little boys."

"When you were born... the doctor... he told us that your brother was stillborn. You were just two days old when we buried him."

"But that doctor... that night. He'd had a few. I remember that. It was all I could do not to run him in during the middle of delivering the twins. He could have been the reason the baby was stillborn. Or worse, could have done something else with him."

"We never saw the body, remember? We didn't want to see it."

"I had a twin?" I finally spoke up, overcoming my shock and silence. "All these years, I had a twin brother? And you two never told me about it?"

"Sweetie, that's something that your father and I still hurt over. We never even wanted to talk about it."

"Besides," said Dad with a slight sneer. "You're one to talk about keeping secrets. People in glass houses, Bart."

"Excuse me?" I said, sitting up in my seat.

"You heard me. Don't think I forgot about what you said earlier. Being the Flash, right? How long you been waiting to tell us that?"

"I--... the time was never right, okay?"

"So what? You'd just go on, running around town and getting yourself in trouble? Getting other people in trouble?"

"It was ever about that," I said, standing. "It was about--"

"I know what it was about," he said as he stood. "It was about you running around town in a damn costume, making a damn fool out of yourself and people like me and Jay!"

"What's you problem?!" I shouted. "I'm out there trying to use what I can do to help the people of the city."

"You want to help someone?" He growled. He reached to his belt and pulled off his badge and gun, plopping them on the table in front of me. "That's what you use to help. A gun and badge. You do it the right way. You don't call yourself a superhero ad violate the law."

"Well, in the three years I been the Flash? I've saved more people than you did in your whole crappy twenty year career!"
There was silence in the room. Everyone, including the now awake Wally, watching Dad as he processed what I had said.

"And what about Denny?" He asked with an arched eyebrow. "What about the cop that died in the line of duty while you were off playing grab-ass with those costumed freaks? What about what happened here tonight. You may have saved more people than me, but I don't have anybody's death on my conscience. I never had a criminal come to my house and terrorize my family. Until tonight. So take your ego, take your will to help the people, and try to bring back Denny. Try to bring back your dead brother. Tell me if that works."

I could feel my jaw quivering. Tears stinging my eyes, threatening to come out and run down my face. Swallowing the lump that had now formed in my throat, I turned away and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Jay asked, standing in my way.

I shook my head and sped up, run past Jay and out the door. I kept going, running as fast as I could out the city and across Missouri. I headed east at the speed of sound. Tears rolling off my face and falling to the ground at incredible speeds.

 

[Andy C.]

Happy Harbor, Rhode Island


J'onn J'onnzz sat meditatively at one of the many computer terminals of the Justice League's headquarters, scanning the globe for crises that may require the League's intervention. While there was never a shortage of local emergencies, most were usually within the capabilities of local authorities to handle. Others were dealt with by fellow heroes, from within the League or not. Others still, J'onn took care of on his own.

Still, the Martian did his due diligence, always on the lookout for threats that no single member of the League could handle alone.

Since the League's formation, the amount of emergencies that required their direct attention in full force was precious few.

For days, weeks on end, the world map on the JL computer monitors would remain a few scattered dots of yellow--possibly requiring assistance-- to orange-- requiring moderate assistance. Even J'onn's vast telepathic reach led him to minor incidents, rarely even approaching anything requiring the awesome power of the League in full.

And so J'onn sat, vigilant in his duties, hearing the mental noise of billions, which in turn raised his understanding of the map he saw, the pinpoints of green and yellow.

Most of the thoughts he intercepted were the typical day-to-day thoughts of the inhabitants of this world.

Jumbled flows of words that would form into sentences when spoken.

Half-remembered segments of songs.

Images of old memories.

Thoughts of sexual reproduction.

Pangs of wild emotion as result of any number of stimuli.

J'onn sifted through them all, his mind temporarily experiencing the mental states of each mind he viewed. If they were happy, he was happy. If they were angry, he was angry. If they were sad, he was sad.

Then suddenly, all at once, the Martian was overwhelmed, barely able to contain his shape as one single, cold, stabbing emotion drove through his mind.

Fear.

A million thoughts of terror. A million minds screaming.

The map of the globe suddenly lit up, speckled in dozens of places with dots of bright red--each one a full-fledged crisis requiring the League in its entirety.

"By H'ronmeer," J'onn said to himself as he pulled away from the storm of chaos and horror that flooded his mind. "What is happening?!"

Activating the computer terminal, he switched views to a direct news feed, showing live video coverage.....

War machines of fiendishly advanced design, decades--if not centuries-- ahead of human technological curves.

Soldiers encased in state-of-the-art battle armor, armed with laser weaponry.

Swiftly and ruthlessly, they stormed streets, firing high-tech ordinance into fleeing crowds, raiding buildings, gunning down police and military resistance.

Washington, D.C.

London.

Tokyo.

Paris.

Moscow.

Small suburbs and remote hamlets out in the country.

Even there in Happy Harbor.

"A planet-wide assault," J'onn gasped. "But how--"

"Some clever planning, the expertise of the greatest cybernetics genius on the planet, nearly limitless funds, and an extraordinary amount of patience," replied a voice behind the Martian. J'onn turned to see the visage of Vandal Savage, a bloodthirsty gleam in his eye. "I said at the outset that the Legion of Doom was declaring war on you all. Now it begins in earnest."

"Murderer!" J'onn exclaimed, tossing his chair to one side and lunging at Savage, shifting his mass into his fists to strike at the villain in front of him.

"Murderer, tyrant, warlord," said Savage, sidestepping the Martian's attack with almost lazy ease. "I'm all of those, and so much more. But one thing I'm not?"

As J'onn turned to face the madman, he was struck from behind by a wave of blinding pain and intense heat.

"I'm not alone right now, Martian."

Savage chortled with satisfaction as the Atomic Skull slung another blast of radioactive energy towards the alien hero. This time, J'onn shifted his molecular structure to become intangible, and the blast evaporated a nearby computer terminal.

"You cannot hope to win this, Savage," said the Martian, flying through the Atomic Skull before becoming tangible again behind him, and slamming a fist into the small of the villain's back. "Attempting to conquer that many cities at once? No army, no matter how big, could hope to take and hold an entire planet!"

"Who says I need to conquer it?" asked Savage, casually drawing a long thin rapier and slashing at the nebulous form of the Martian.

J'onn cried out in both pain and shock when the blade cut into his flesh, and the Martian fell to the floor.

"A gift from Klarion, one of the Lords of Chaos," Savage explained. "It can pierce quite literally anything, even an intangible alien."

J'onn glared at Savage, before twin beams of intense heat erupted from his eyes.

Before the beams of heat could reach their target, they were stopped by a wall of ice. J'onn turned to find Killer Frost, grinning with sadistic glee.

"As I was saying," Savage continued as he, Killer Frost, and the Atomic Skull circled J'onn like predators, "Those soldiers out there-- all conscripts subjected to Professor Ivo's cybernetic reprogramming and mind-control, if you're wondering--don't have a set objective. They're not out of capture and hold anything of any sort of strategic value. They're just out there to destroy everything and kill everyone they see, indiscriminately. And once they leave, what's left of the world's nations will kneel before us, for fear that we'll do it again."

"I will not allow this!" J'onn roared, growing in size and shape to physically overwhelm his attackers. He grew long, scythe-like claws, powered by massive bulbous muscles, and towered over Savage and his cronies......

......until the ceiling of the Justice League headquarters caved in over him, smashed through by the colossal fist of Giganta.

"The point of the matter is this," said Savage as J'onn tried to pull himself from the wreckage. "The Legion of Doom can strike anywhere, at any time, and wreak destruction unlike anything the world has ever seen. An attack on this scale, victory or no, will have struck fear into the entire world for generations to come. No matter where your Justice League rallies, innocents will die. No matter how many you defend, others will fall."

As the Martian swatted away Killer Frost and the Atomic Skull, his form was sliced by blindingly fast claws. J'onn could barely make out the orange blur as the Cheetah, fangs and claws bared to fight. He flew away from the villainness to put some space between them, and readied his heat-ray vision again.......

.......only to have the cold, dead fist of Solomon Grundy smash through him like a wrecking ball. Green Martian flesh splattered across the ruined chamber.

"No matter if you somehow manage to defeat us.....we win," said Savage triumphantly.

J'onn J'onnzz began to pull his body back together, the flecks and splats of flesh flowing back together.

Before they could solidify, however, Killer Frost held out her hands and released beams of cold, freezing the Martian from the inside out.

"If you can still use your telepathy to call for help," said Savage in mocking concern, "Now would probably be the best time."

As the Legion of Doom stood over him, J'onn, wracked with pain, called out to the minds of his allies.

Someone.........anyone............help...........

 

[MST3K 4ever]

"No matter if you somehow manage to defeat us.....we win," said Savage triumphantly.

J'onn J'onnzz began to pull his body back together, the flecks and splats of flesh flowing back together.

Before they could solidify, however, Killer Frost held out her hands and released beams of cold, freezing the Martian from the inside out.

"If you can still use your telepathy to call for help," said Savage in mocking concern, "Now would probably be the best time."

As the Legion of Doom stood over him, J'onn, wracked with pain, called out to the minds of his allies.

Someone.........anyone............help...........

The Atom and Dr. Fate are moments away as she hears the telepathic pleas of J'onn.

Her eyes widen in horror as she shakes her head.

Ouch! I realize that telepathy as it's place and is a useful tool, but there are times when makes my worse migraines feel like pleasant memories.

She says to Fate, "I have to use the vent system. It's about 100 yards west of the entrance we're used to using. It's off the grid and only "

Fate asks, "What's wrong?"

The Atom replies, "The Hall of Justice is under attack and J'onn is in trouble. If we go in without knowing what's going on we could be in serious trouble This will give me a chance to use the vent system to give you on-site recon."

Fate says, "Shouldn't I go in there to help."

The Atom says, "Not yet no one outside of me really knows what you're capable of. They know but they don't at the same time. They only know you on a computer file, and that's it. I want you to be the ace in the hole."

Fate replies, "Very well."

They land and Fate releases the orb around The Atom. He kneels down and opens his hand as she walks to a vent and shrinks to about 2 inches.

Fate says, "You got five minutes. After that I don't care I'm coming in."

The Atom nods as she begins to make her way through the vent.

 

[Byrd Man]

India


The Ganges flowed down below as I sat cross-legged on a bluff overlooking the river. In my right hand was a half-empty bottle of vodka. Don't even know why I was drinking it. My metabolism is so fast, the alcohol burns up before I can get anything close to being drunk.

I took another sip off the bottle, my face squishing up at the bitter taste. The words of my father were still ringing in my ears. I was too slow to save Denny. Too slow to save my own brother. Sure, I can run around and crack jokes when it's a bunch of crackheads holding up a grocery store. But when the chips are down and it's crunch time, I fold under pressure.

Someone.........anyone............help...........

The voice tickled in the back of my mind. I quickly stood up, dropping the bottle in the process. I was brought back down to my knees as psychic backlash hit my mind, images flashing through my head.

J'onn in trouble. Death and destruction all across the world. One single word.

Doom.



Moscow
2.5 Seconds Later


The mechanized soldiers stomped down the street, walking through the shadow of the Kremlin as they terrorized. A group of two dozen citizens had been backed into a corner by the six cyborg men. In a bright flash, they opened fire. Thousands of rounds poured out of their guns.

And didn't hit anything.

"Congratulations!" I said, appearing between the soldiers and the citizens. Hundreds of bullets were cradled in my arms. "You six just won first place the Giant Jerkass Sweepstakes!"

"Switch to lasers," one of them said. Their machine guns shifted, turning into lasers that began to glow red-hot.

"Let me give your prize! Tell them what they've won, Johnny! You've won a bona fide asswhuppin' - not whipping - from an actual superhero!"

My hands were blurs, flicking the bullets out of my palms at superspeed. The bullets cut through the air, surpassing the speed of sound as they riddled the mechs. In just a few seconds, the mechs were on their side, bullet holes racked up and down their protective skeleton.

"Get out of here," I said to the citizens. "Find a safe place to hide and stay there."

They scampered off and I inspected the disabled soldiers. This was high tech stuff. Really, really high tech stuff. Sighing, I activated my commlink and uplinked with the rest of the team.

"This is Flash calling out to anyone on the Justice League channel. I'm in Moscow, taking care of these robot jerk guys. When I'm done, I'm hitting up Tokoyo. Whoever's in America still, get to Happy Harbor as soon as you can. J'onn's in trouble. Flash out."

With that, I took off through Moscow. Taking down any and every bad guy I could find. I wanted to prove my dad wrong, I wanted to show him and myself that I could do more good than harm.

Mostly, I wanted to beat up as many sons of *****es as I could find.
​

 

[Batman]

Well, this is certainly what you'd call a fine mess.

Nevermind the fact that despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I still can't pin anything that's happened here directly on Oberon Sexton. Deep down, even if I want to strangle the life out of the guy, I know that it'd just be sloppy to blame the only publicly known associate of the church behind it's dealings. True to form, Gotham has a way of turning any establishment that sets itself on the streets into a cesspool for every vermin to crawl to whenever they've ran out of places to hide. The men in suits, the rambling vagrant. They're hardly churchgoing hail mary catholics, but something about all of this seems, I don't know. It seems kinda off. If these guys were meant to meet with Sexton, I haven't seen a damn trace of him in the entire building.

Then again, that could be because they're currently busy trying to turn Catwoman and I into a pound of swiss cheese. With her wrist still firmly clasped in my palm, I run as fast as I can from the oncoming gunfire and try to keep her running level beside me. I don't owe her much of anything to be risking my life for her's, but I'd still feel better if a stray bullet caught me in a wider armor plate than anything she's wearing on her thin frame. Eventually, trying to shake up the direction of our run, we come across the same confessional booths that she found our degenerate book enthusiast in. Wood's thick enough to hold under the rate of fire for at least a minute. Mid-run, I look at her and she nods, evidently thinking the same thing.

"GOT ANYTHING TO DISTRACT THEM?!"

I glance down at the belt strapped around my waist. Well ****, I didn't think about that until just now. Guess I'm not used to having so many other options available to me beyond a jacket holding a couple of toys. Wearing Bruce's belt is like having the whole damn store. Which is problematic, because I still haven't completely memorized the inventory.

C'mon! Gas pellets! Flash grenades! Anything?!

Without the time to assess the proper location of any items nessecary, I dig my fingers into the forefront left pocket of the belt and retrieve a round metallic ball. Squeezing it in my hand, I feel something pivit and sink down. Then it starts beeping. My eyes immediately widen as I realize what exactly it is, to my horror, quickly tossing it towards the idiots still trying to kill us in the background.

"THAT SHOULD DO IT!"

We both dive into the wooden box ahead and I slam the door shut behind us, holding it closed, waiting for what inevitably comes next. Catwoman's head spins around in shock as she hears the small explosion and the subsequential screaming. It's funny, Bruce never told me he carried actual freaking grenades. I'm thinking of at least a dozen potential scenerios where that information would have been particularly helpful, especially when we were still working together. I don't think any of Falcone's cartels carry that kind of firepower on them.

"Did you just---?!"

I think I did. But I don't let her know that, in all honesty, I really hope I did. I hope I blew all of them away and splattered their remains across the walls. But I haven't really gauged her reaction to my newfound mentality on our line of work yet. Whether she'll admit it or not, her recent actions speak of vigilantism more than thievery. So if she's anything like Bruce, making any thought known on what I just did would only complicate matters, and we don't have the time to argue. I grab her by the shoulders and stare back, keeping her trained on me.

"We'll talk about that later. We need a plan. Suggestions?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Hey, you're the one that practically shoved me in here. Figured you already had one."

For a brief second, I smirk. Really, it's her fault for giving me that much credit.

Unfortunately, the moment is interrupted by the unwelcome return of gunfire barraging the wood of the panelling. Guess I didn't kill them all. Wrapping my arm around her back, I forcefully pull her in close and shield her from anything that pierces the wood, keeping the cape lined against the wall that's taken the most damage. She looks back up at me, more a little annoyed.

"Y'know, the other Batman wasn't nearly as touchy."

I sneer. "You're welcome."

Scanning the top lining of the booth, an idea seems to form in her head just as the gunfire begins to really start ramping up. I feel a tug at the door between shots, signifying that they're trying to make their way in. Fortunately, none of them are quite as strong as I am.

"Got any more of those mines on you?"

"At least a handful."

Raising her right hand, I'm surprised to see that actual cat-claws unsheathe out of the fingertips.

"Then follow my lead."

Effortlessly tearing through the material above with the claws, she visibly instructs me to give her a boost. As she begins to crawl upwards, I listen in with the cowl-mic to see if I can hear anything being said amongst the chaos. Particularly from our interrogation suspect, who immediately dashed for the goons in suits as soon as I tossed him in the opposite direction. Remembering that now, I find it to be an astute observation whenever I hear the next exchange.

"---very important date. Oh dear. I'm so terribly late. Terribly, terribly."

"Look, it's fine. Boss knows you're late, but he said he'd be willin' to forgive if you just come with us."

"Oh dear. Will there be tea?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure. There'll be tea. I guess."

So that's what he's doing here. Waiting for a ride straight to whoever employed these hapless triggermen. Dammit. I hated to be right, but there it is. Despite everything, there's a chance Sexton may be innocent in all of this. Provided, of course, that whoever he's being taken to is the man really responsible for the kidnappings. Just as Catwoman makes it to the top, I leap up and grab onto the side, following her into an ascension. It's alot darker up here, making it virtually impossible for them to see us escaping. Wood splinters beneath us, until the entire wall of the confession booth caves in.

Catwoman nudges me in the gut, her eyes trained on the pouch full of mines. I was too preoccupied with what I'd just learned about "White Rabbit" over there to remember the plan, but I nod, scooping up a palmful of the miniaturized grenades and activating them simultaneously with a squeeze of my fingers. They all start to beep, and I toss them into the air, throwing the cape across me and Catwoman as they soar above the gunmen.

P-WHOOM!
P-WHOOM!P-WHOOM!
P-WHOOM!P-WHOOM!
P-WHOOM!

All of them go flying from the force, though none of them seem to recieve any serious damage from the blasts. Should've aimed lower than I did. One collapses into a registry desk, another three suffer through having their spines smack onto the walls. The rest hit the floor, some still holding their weapons. Both Catwoman and I look at eachother and smile, taking pleasure out of their momentary pain and knowing exactly what has to come next. The fun part of the evening.

Leaping out of the shadows, we both somersault back onto the stage floor and dart directly for our downed attackers. She leaps over one of the seats and knocks a guy down with a hard kick across the face. I dive into the fray and sweep one's legs out from under him, catching him in the back of the head with a hard elbow. Taking her whip, Catwoman unwraps it from her waist and begins smacking it across the ground, intimidating the few that advance. One goes to punch me, but I sidestep him, grab him by his tie, and send a knee into his chest that's enough to send him back. Then immediately smash my fist into another's nose, sending the blood flying.

The rest are absurdly simple. Some come at us in packs, we effortlessly cut them down. Five of them gather around us, it takes little more than a coordinated attack involving the two of us physically altering the impact of eachother's hits. I kick one across the jaw, she punches another in the head. We trade enemies, and I find myself following up on her attack with a jab to the throat, disorienting the opponent long enough to grab him around the waist and use most of my strength to fuel a vicious suplex. She slashes my former opponent across the face with the claws and slams both of her heels into his body, forcing him over the seats.

Damn. Her coordination there was the best I've ever seen of it. With a little bit of training, she might actually end up being a hell of a fighter. I'm impressed.

Not impressed enough to lose focus on what matters, however, because just as we dispatch the other eleven, I begin to realize that the twelve and final member of the group has made his way back outside, along with the White Rabbit. Catwoman stops brushing herself off long enough to notice as I rush past her and make it to the church's front entrance, just to see a getaway van burning rubber to escape us. Catwoman runs up to join me from behind, just as I reach back into the belt. There's something in here that'll help us, if I can find it in time.

"I'd say we did well, all things considered."

"Not well enough. At least until..."

Feeling it brush against my hand, I grin, kneeling down and slipping it out of the pouch. A small, technologically advanced airgun armed to the brim with a recent Waynetech innovation. Cobblepot may have gotten his filthy hands on Wayne Enterprises, but the Waynetech subsidiary R&D is far from out of our ours.

"Ah. Here it is."

I press down on the handle and the airgun fires something so fast that neither Catwoman or I see it. But we hear something small impact the rear fender of the van, just as it turns a corner and barely makes it out of sight.

"What the hell was that?"

"Tracer unit. Military grade, just developed. Sensitive to the tech in my cowl."

She raises an eyebrow, watching the van as it completely disappears in the distance.

"Why bother? What makes you so sure that they're the ones we're after? I thought the missing girls were being delivered here."

I turn back around, looking at the various unconscious men that we've left on the floor at the front of the Church. If I were even the least bit religious, I'd be tempted to call it sacrilege.

"Our vagrant wasn't all that he appeared to be. The girls were being delivered here, that doesn't mean they were being kept. He was working for someone else."

Catwoman steps closer, a tense look about her. She's got some kind of stake in this, but she hasn't told me what. And to be fair, I don't really know if I'd care enough to ask. All I know is that the look in her eyes is beginning to make me respect her all the more.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

 

[Spike_x1]

After catching up with Jim and having a few laughs, I decide that it's time to go back on patrol and check in at Happy Harbor. I'm tempted to stop in and see John Henry on my way, but I imagine he's more than a little busy with lending STAR Labs and the Special Crimes Unit a hand for a while. It only takes a moment to change and hit the skies, but I'm suddenly taken aback by the sounds of violence coming in from all over the world.

Describing me as having an enhanced sense of hearing is an oversimplification, as it goes hand in hand with what I can only surmise is a completely alien way of perceiving the world around me. And all of that is then enhanced by the way that my body processes the sunlight of this solar system, and somehow overcomes the limitation of the relatively long time with which it takes certain sounds to reach my ears. More than simply knowing the general direction that a sound is coming from, I can filter out sounds and zero in on the source of a particular noise with pinpoint accuracy. So you can imagine my shock when I hear so much of the same carnage coming from so many different directions.

They haven't hit Metropolis yet. What's the closest--

Someone.........anyone............help...........

J'onn! Can you hear me? This is Superman, I'm coming!

I immediately take off with speed in the direction of Happy Harbor when I hear the Flash's message over the comm link, but it's fuzzy with static. "This is Superman." I hope he can hear me and the tech in the comm devices cancels out the noise of the wind rushing by. "I'm on course for the Hall of Justice now. Do we know what the situation is?" If it were anyone other than the Flash, I'd doubt that I would receive a reply before I arrive at Happy Harbor. "I'm hearing attacks in every direction and J'onn isn't responding! What's happening?"

 

[Byrd Man]

I immediately take off with speed in the direction of Happy Harbor when I hear the Flash's message over the comm link, but it's fuzzy with static. "This is Superman." I hope he can hear me and the tech in the comm devices cancels out the noise of the wind rushing by. "I'm on course for the Hall of Justice now. Do we know what the situation is?" If it were anyone other than the Flash, I'd doubt that I would receive a reply before I arrive at Happy Harbor. "I'm hearing attacks in every direction and J'onn isn't responding! What's happening?"

Tokyo

I tore through another robotic soldier, disassembling the cyborg at super speed. The parts clattered around my feet in a heap.

"The situation? There's an old WW2 term that comes to mind, Supes, and it's called FUBAR."

The strong stench of argon and ozone hit my nose. I turned around just as another killing machine opened fire with a laser. I moved as fast as I could and ducked just as the laser singed the top of my cowl. Recovering from the near-miss, I charged forward at Mach 3 and blew a hole through the robot with my bare hands.

"I got Moscow under control and I'm doing the same for Tokyo right now."

"Ahoy," a voice interrupted me on the comm. "Green Lantern here. I'm in LA, trying to get a handle on whatever the hell these things are. Any tips?"

"Yeah," I said, looking down at the smoking and disabled cyborg. "Blow their damn guts out. That seems to do the job."

"I can dig it. Going offline to focus. GL out."

"If you're headed to Happy Harbor, Supes, I can take care of Tokyo and be there to back you up in about a minute. Just say the word."

 

[Spike_x1]

Spoiler

Zombie's enforcers go down without much trouble, and it's hard not to forget about the man himself until one of his knives sinks into my back. "ARRGH!" Instinctively, one of my hands reaches around to try to pull the knife out, which opens me up to a punch in the face from one of the remaining muscleheads that sends me for a bit of a loop. Thankfully, I manage to get my bearings again long enough to block his next punch with one of my flaming blades, burning his hand in the process. As he screams in pain and clutches his smoking hand, I strike him in the throat and watch as he hits the ground, gasping for air. Next, I turn back to Zombie just in time to see another knife flying in my direction and dodge it.

"Bane! Tell me where he is!"

Lunging at Zombie now, a throwing knife grazes the side of my neck, but the uniform shields me from anything short of a direct hit. Before he can ready another blade, I'm on top of him and pressing his face into the dirty street as the crowd from the cub still watches in fear and confusion.

"He cannot tell you because he does not know."

That voice!

On hearing the familiar accented voice of Bane, I step back from Zombie and begin scanning the streets and listening for anything out of the ordinary. Has he been watching this whole time?

"You're hunting me while I've been hunting you? How'd you know I'd be here?"

"Not you specifically." His voice is closer this time. "I stalk the night because I can. Gotham's chief predator is gone, but there are others who seek to fill the void he left behind. Like yourself." It sounds like he's almost on top of me now. "I have my reasons for inaction as of late, but potential challengers to my rule should at least be measured for their worth, no? We have no history, you and I, yet this is the second time that you have sought me out."

That's when I finally hear his heavy boots crunching as they hit the street, and I spin to see him only several meters behind me. How the hell did someone that big get that close to me without my noticing them?!

"Why?"

"You're the personification of all that's wrong in this city, rotting away its very soul. If Gotham is to be saved, you need to die."

"You are different from the Batman, then? You would take my live?"

"People need the safety in knowing that monsters like you get what they deserve."

"For better or worse, I already have."

Once again, Bane surprises me with his movements. Someone that large should not move this way!

I'm almost certain that I blacked out for a moment or two after that hit, but the next thing I know, I'm on the ground and Bane is prying at my gauntlets, hitting the hidden switch to deactivate the flames. How does he know how to do that?

"The Order of St. Dumas. I have not seen tools like these for many years. True, they seem to have upgraded since my last encounter with their assassins, but the principles of their weaponry remain the same."

Without the protective fire around the blades any longer, Bane freely reaches down and grabs both blades and snaps them off at the base on my wrists.

"Surely we have no need for those," he says as he casually tosses the broken shards of metal over his shoulder and into the thick bushes across the street. "Hm? Oh, you're not surprised, are you? I've run afoul of several members of the Order during my travels. In fact, you're not even the first man wearing the mantle of Azrael who I've fought and killed."

Just as I think I've gotten my second wind, I feel his grip of iron around my throat and lifting me into the air.

"I'm not a man given to humor very often, but I cannot express my amusement upon earlier discovering your enthrallment in the circus and being forced to perform tricks for the entertainment of sheep." Even through his mask, I think that I can see him smiling, but his voice sounds more... disappointed, and I can't disagree with the sentiment. "I told you after your defeat last time that I saw great potential in you, and I meant every word."

"Which is why killing you now is so hard."

Ribs feel broken, to say the least. I'm pretty sure that I threw up a little in my mask, but I can't let the pain or inconvenience get in my way. I knew that fighting Bane would be a big deal, but this turned into a fight for my life before I even knew it had begun. After being slammed into the wall, Bane lets go and allows me to slump to the ground. By now the club's party goers have taken their leave. That might be in part because of a fear for getting in the way of either of us, and it might also have something to do with Bane's reputation for not suffering fools or distractions well. The man is all ego and loves to hear himself talk, and I wish I could say that wallowing in his own sense of superiority is not well earned, but I'm not exactly in a position to dispute it. I underestimated him and overestimated myself. Again.

As I get to my feet once more, a simple truth becomes terrifyingly obvious to me as he watches with those red eyes gleaming in the dark. While the fact remains that, no matter what, I will never give up, it's suddenly clear as day that I'm going to die here in this street. Bane is just plain better than I am.

But it changes nothing.

I will fight to my dying breath.

My vision is lined with red and it's hard to see straight any more. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up.

I came here tonight wanting to prove a point to Bane. A point that one man can make a difference and that this city is still worth fighting for to the right people. But all that crosses my mind now is the question of whether or not anyone has called the police. Of course, I know the answer, but my instincts of self-preservation keep me hoping for the best.

"I will not sully the thought of your admirable resolve by suggesting that you stay down. We both know that you're made of sterner stuff."

He gives me space to get back to my feet, and I don't know if it's pity he's feeling for me, or simply a twisted sense of eagerness to see if I'll really go the distance. Nevertheless, he makes the first move once again.

His knuckles hit nothing but empty air this time, but I can't let myself get too confident. Every moment and movement counts against this man. Even when I've managed to get in a solid hit so far, it's barely even fazed him.

Just as he begins to pivot to see where I land, I strike him in the back of the neck. It's no exaggeration to say that my life depends on never again underestimating how fast he is, despite his towering and bulky size, but I still remain the more agile combatant between the two of us.

I need to use that advantage.

With that blow, I finally manage to raise a pained grunt from this monster!

Now! Now is when I need to lay it on!

I spring back into the air and snap my leg outward and into Bane's masked face, setting him stumbling backward before I lunge forward and crack my heavy metal gloved hand against his jaw. I can't say that it's not satisfying to see his head recoil back. Another slam to his head and I at last feel as if I'm getting into the zone here.

He's stuck on the defensive, rolling with my attacks and trying to absorb my hits when possible. I might actually stand a chance! I--

Oh s**t!

 

[MST3K 4ever]

After catching up with Jim and having a few laughs, I decide that it's time to go back on patrol and check in at Happy Harbor. I'm tempted to stop in and see John Henry on my way, but I imagine he's more than a little busy with lending STAR Labs and the Special Crimes Unit a hand for a while. It only takes a moment to change and hit the skies, but I'm suddenly taken aback by the sounds of violence coming in from all over the world.

Describing me as having an enhanced sense of hearing is an oversimplification, as it goes hand in hand with what I can only surmise is a completely alien way of perceiving the world around me. And all of that is then enhanced by the way that my body processes the sunlight of this solar system, and somehow overcomes the limitation of the relatively long time with which it takes certain sounds to reach my ears. More than simply knowing the general direction that a sound is coming from, I can filter out sounds and zero in on the source of a particular noise with pinpoint accuracy. So you can imagine my shock when I hear so much of the same carnage coming from so many different directions.

They haven't hit Metropolis yet. What's the closest--

Someone.........anyone............help...........

J'onn! Can you hear me? This is Superman, I'm coming!

I immediately take off with speed in the direction of Happy Harbor when I hear the Flash's message over the comm link, but it's fuzzy with static. "This is Superman." I hope he can hear me and the tech in the comm devices cancels out the noise of the wind rushing by. "I'm on course for the Hall of Justice now. Do we know what the situation is?" If it were anyone other than the Flash, I'd doubt that I would receive a reply before I arrive at Happy Harbor. "I'm hearing attacks in every direction and J'onn isn't responding! What's happening?"

Tokyo

I tore through another robotic soldier, disassembling the cyborg at super speed. The parts clattered around my feet in a heap.

"The situation? There's an old WW2 term that comes to mind, Supes, and it's called FUBAR."

The strong stench of argon and ozone hit my nose. I turned around just as another killing machine opened fire with a laser. I moved as fast as I could and ducked just as the laser singed the top of my cowl. Recovering from the near-miss, I charged forward at Mach 3 and blew a hole through the robot with my bare hands.

"I got Moscow under control and I'm doing the same for Tokyo right now."

"Ahoy," a voice interrupted me on the comm. "Green Lantern here. I'm in LA, trying to get a handle on whatever the hell these things are. Any tips?"

"Yeah," I said, looking down at the smoking and disabled cyborg. "Blow their damn guts out. That seems to do the job."

"I can dig it. Going offline to focus. GL out."

"If you're headed to Happy Harbor, Supes, I can take care of Tokyo and be there to back you up in about a minute. Just say the word."

The Atom makes her way through the outside vent system and finally reaches the Main Control Room

If J'onn is in trouble then it has to be bad. He can....

Just then she looks through the vent and sees The Legion of Doom in the Hall of Justice.

She rolls over to the side to gather her thoughts and try to understand what she is seeing.

It can't be! They've attacked us on our home turf!

The Atom activates her comm-link and says as calm as she can, "Atom here The Legion of Doom is attacking the Hall of Justice! They are all here. War has been declared on our home ground. J'onn is in pretty bad shape. Dr. Fate get in here NOW!"

Not knowing who is on en-route or who maybe responding The Atom pauses for a moment.

Okay Atom this is it. You wanna be a hero...time to put up or shut up.

She continues with great resolve in her voice, "I'm on my way in!"

The Atom shrinks to microscopic size and floats into the room.

Okay now what?

She sees the trouble J'onn is having.

If I can help J'onn that's one more ally to help us out. She might be made of Frost or ice or whatever...but I'll bet biologically she has the same basic concepts within her as the rest of us.

The Atom floats over to Killer Frost and manages to get inside her to her inner-ear. She then proceeds to pound away causing her great distress.

Come on fall down! Come on!

 

[Andy C.]

The Atom makes her way through the outside vent system and finally reaches the Main Control Room

If J'onn is in trouble then it has to be bad. He can....

Just then she looks through the vent and sees The Legion of Doom in the Hall of Justice.

She rolls over to the side to gather her thoughts and try to understand what she is seeing.

It can't be! They've attacked us on our home turf!

The Atom activates her comm-link and says as calm as she can, "Atom here The Legion of Doom is attacking the Hall of Justice! They are all here. War has been declared on our home ground. J'onn is in pretty bad shape. Dr. Fate get in here NOW!"

Not knowing who is on en-route or who maybe responding The Atom pauses for a moment.

Okay Atom this is it. You wanna be a hero...time to put up or shut up.

She continues with great resolve in her voice, "I'm on my way in!"

The Atom shrinks to microscopic size and floats into the room.

Okay now what?

She sees the trouble J'onn is having.

If I can help J'onn that's one more ally to help us out. She might be made of Frost or ice or whatever...but I'll bet biologically she has the same basic concepts within her as the rest of us.

The Atom floats over to Killer Frost and manages to get inside her to her inner-ear. She then proceeds to pound away causing her great distress.

Come on fall down! Come on!

"NNNNNnnnnnnnggghhhhh!" Killer Frost exclaimed painfully, staggering to one side, grabbing onto a railing to keep herself on her feet.

"Frost?" Vandal Savage asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hnk! Something's......in......*ngh!*.....in my ear!" she said in between pained grunts.

Savage casually walked over to her, looking at her with an analytical eye.

"Not something, my dear," he said in a condescending tone, "but someone. I think we have ourselves our first counterattack. That would be the Atom."

Killer Frost spasmed in pain again as the Atom attacked her inner ear.

"What....what do I do?!"

"Concentrate," said Savage. "You can use your cryogenic powers to regulate your own body temperature, can't you?"

Frost nodded.

"Then lower it to below zero, and keep lowering it until the pain goes away," he said coolly. "Either you'll kill her, or she'll fly out when she can't withstand the cold."

"Or I'll freeze myself solid and die," she said through gritted teeth.

"Well, either way the pain will go away," said Savage with a smile. "Do it, Frost."

Killer Frost nodded, and turned her freezing touch to herself. Her skin began to sparkle as a layer of ice began to cover her body. The villainness's skin went from white to pale blue.

As Killer Frost attempted to freeze out the Atom, Vandal Savage looked over at Giganta.

"If the Martian starts moving, crush it," he said, before stepping over to the JL computer terminal and activating his comm link.

"Ivo," he said, "Any sign of the others?"

"It's taken me a bit longer than expected to hack into their systems," said Professor Ivo from a remote location, "But I've triangulated their locations via their comm system. Superman is inbound to your location--he could be there within thirty seconds. The Flash is in Tokyo, but he could be anywhere in the world at any second. Green Lantern is in Los Angeles. Batman and Wonder Woman are nowhere to be found."

Cheetah scowled, disappointed that she wouldn't be able to face off with her favorite prey in their grand confrontation.

"Cheetah," said Savage, apparently noting her dejection, "Head West and see if you can herd the Flash and Green Lantern toward us. Skull, Grundy, be ready to intercept Superman, and try to keep him alive if it's possible."

"Why not just kill him?" asked the Atomic Skull, irradiated flames blistering what remained of his skin.

"We need them alive just long enough for Ivo's favorite toy to get what it needs," he said. "Then we'll wipe them out in a single stroke."

 

[Spike_x1]

'Ivo's favorite toy?' I know of a supervillain genius by the name of Professor Anthony Ivo, although I've never encountered him personally. If he has some sort of trap for us, then I might need to cut short Dr. Irons' rest and relaxation. "Superman calling all Leaguers," I say as Happy Harbor rushes towards me. "Flash and Green Lantern, they're going to dispatch Cheetah to engage you. Be on guard. I'll try to cut her off before she can leave, and give you time to save lives without having to worry about her. Wonder Woman and Batman, if you can hear me, we need you in the field now!"

I quickly scan the Hall of Justice and see J'onn and the Atom in jeopardy. Whether there's a trap to spring or not, reinforcements can't wait.

"And Steel, I'm sorry to say this, but some tech specialization would be a definite asset right now. I can hear them talking about some sort of device prepared for me, but J'onn and the Atom are in the thick of things at HQ, and they can't wait. I'm going in now."

Instead of coming in from above or through one of the established entrances, I make my way underwater and down through the rocky ocean floor, tunneling the way to my destination before finally forcing my way back upwards and exploding through the floor of the Hall of Justice to take the villains by surprise.

At superspeed, my entrance lasts little more than a heartbeat and sends a number of my opponents staggering back in surprise. First thing's first: I need to give J'onn some breathing room to recompose himself, so I rocket up and punch the giant woman in the face. I don't enjoy hitting anyone, and hitting a woman instinctively seems especially wrong, but I haven't exactly been given much choice here.

The villainess stumbles back, freeing my favorite Martian from her grip as I turn to him. "J'onn, fall back and recover. I'll hold them off." Nodding in agreement as he begins to take humanoid shape once more, J'onn phases down through the floor and out of sight. I just hope that he regains his composure sooner rather than later.

Now I just need to find the Atom. At her size, it could be--

"GRAAAGH!!"

Suckerpunched by the Atomic Skull. I know that he's often treated like a joke on the internet and in the tabloids, but the threat that Joe Martin presents should never be taken for granted. The last time we fought, his strength was close enough to rival my own that I couldn't afford the mistake of letting my guard down.

A mistake that I just made.

Striking me to the ground, Martin manages to get in a few more hits before the glowing red power starts to fill my eyes.

"Back off!"

Pushing off the ground, I look around the room and see the apparent ring leader of this gang of monsters. Scanning him with X-ray vision doesn't seem to indicate any kind of abnormality. He looks like an ordinary human being, but his monstrosity is apparent nevertheless as I recognize him from the news footage of his terrorist actions.

"Savage."

 

[MST3K 4ever]

"NNNNNnnnnnnnggghhhhh!" Killer Frost exclaimed painfully, staggering to one side, grabbing onto a railing to keep herself on her feet.

"Frost?" Vandal Savage asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hnk! Something's......in......*ngh!*.....in my ear!" she said in between pained grunts.

Savage casually walked over to her, looking at her with an analytical eye.

"Not something, my dear," he said in a condescending tone, "but someone. I think we have ourselves our first counterattack. That would be the Atom."

Killer Frost spasmed in pain again as the Atom attacked her inner ear.

"What....what do I do?!"

"Concentrate," said Savage. "You can use your cryogenic powers to regulate your own body temperature, can't you?"

Frost nodded.

"Then lower it to below zero, and keep lowering it until the pain goes away," he said coolly. "Either you'll kill her, or she'll fly out when she can't withstand the cold."

"Or I'll freeze myself solid and die," she said through gritted teeth.

"Well, either way the pain will go away," said Savage with a smile. "Do it, Frost."

Killer Frost nodded, and turned her freezing touch to herself. Her skin began to sparkle as a layer of ice began to cover her body. The villainness's skin went from white to pale blue.

The Atom feels the temperature begin to drop at a dramatic rate.

Not too worried the suit is designed to stand extreme temps. She can try all she wants to freeze me out.

Just then suddenly Atom notices that the suit is starting to get tighter and tighter.

Uh-oh hadn't planned on this part. The suit is trying to seal in my body temp making it harder and harder to move at this size. Gotta get going before I'm stuck in here.


She escapes from Killer Frost and the suit begins to return to normal as she grows back to 6 inches.

Well that was...UGH!

Killer Frost nails her with an ice blast that causes her to stick to the wall.

Killer Frost still somewhat shaky and says, "Well hello there little *****! Ready to feel some serious payback for what you did?"

The Atom struggles as Frost gets closer and says, "Give it up little girl. I got ya. Can't say killing you will be a major challenge but hey killing one of you saps is pretty good on the old resume."

Dr Fate contacts through telepathy < I'm on my way to you!>

The Atom responds, <No. Giganta is your issue. Take care of her. I got this one. Trust me. I got a plan to take care of her.>


She looks up and sees Fate battling Giganta who is recovering from a punch from Superman.

Oh yeah he's got her. She doesn't stand a chance.

The Atom says to Frost, "You know one thing I love about you all. Your arrogance it blinds you."

With that in a matter of seconds The Atom shrinks and is able to slip away from a icy prison.

Frost is stunned and just then Atom grows back to 6 inches. She is now floating in front of Frost and proceeds to nail her on the jaw sending her backwards.

Frost shakes her head and The Atom smirks and motions "come here."

Frost is now growling as she fires several ice bolts at The Atom who is heading down the hall.

Frost in pursuit says, "You ain't gettin' away from me!"

 

[Andy C.]

'Ivo's favorite toy?' I know of a supervillain genius by the name of Professor Anthony Ivo, although I've never encountered him personally. If he has some sort of trap for us, then I might need to cut short Dr. Irons' rest and relaxation. "Superman calling all Leaguers," I say as Happy Harbor rushes towards me. "Flash and Green Lantern, they're going to dispatch Cheetah to engage you. Be on guard. I'll try to cut her off before she can leave, and give you time to save lives without having to worry about her. Wonder Woman and Batman, if you can hear me, we need you in the field now!"

I quickly scan the Hall of Justice and see J'onn and the Atom in jeopardy. Whether there's a trap to spring or not, reinforcements can't wait.

"And Steel, I'm sorry to say this, but some tech specialization would be a definite asset right now. I can hear them talking about some sort of device prepared for me, but J'onn and the Atom are in the thick of things at HQ, and they can't wait. I'm going in now."

Instead of coming in from above or through one of the established entrances, I make my way underwater and down through the rocky ocean floor, tunneling the way to my destination before finally forcing my way back upwards and exploding through the floor of the Hall of Justice to take the villains by surprise.

At superspeed, my entrance lasts little more than a heartbeat and sends a number of my opponents staggering back in surprise. First thing's first: I need to give J'onn some breathing room to recompose himself, so I rocket up and punch the giant woman in the face. I don't enjoy hitting anyone, and hitting a woman instinctively seems especially wrong, but I haven't exactly been given much choice here.

The villainess stumbles back, freeing my favorite Martian from her grip as I turn to him. "J'onn, fall back and recover. I'll hold them off." Nodding in agreement as he begins to take humanoid shape once more, J'onn phases down through the floor and out of sight. I just hope that he regains his composure sooner rather than later.

Now I just need to find the Atom. At her size, it could be--

"GRAAAGH!!"

Suckerpunched by the Atomic Skull. I know that he's often treated like a joke on the internet and in the tabloids, but the threat that Joe Martin presents should never be taken for granted. The last time we fought, his strength was close enough to rival my own that I couldn't afford the mistake of letting my guard down.

A mistake that I just made.

Striking me to the ground, Martin manages to get in a few more hits before the glowing red power starts to fill my eyes.

"Back off!"

Pushing off the ground, I look around the room and see the apparent ring leader of this gang of monsters. Scanning him with X-ray vision doesn't seem to indicate any kind of abnormality. He looks like an ordinary human being, but his monstrosity is apparent nevertheless as I recognize him from the news footage of his terrorist actions.

"Savage."

"Superman," said Vandal Savage, smiling eagerly as he unsheathed his magically-enhanced rapier. "I've been looking forward to this."

The immortal madman sank into a fighting stance, the tip of his blade pointed towards the Man of Steel. He smirked, waiting for the Kryptonian to make the first move.

"You have your limitless strength, you incredible speed, your energy projection," said the warlord, circling the caped hero, "Whereas I have over ten thousand years of combat experience, and an army that will slaughter millions by the end of the day."

Before even finishing his sentence, Savage began to let the blade of his rapier drop slightly, anticipating Superman's attack. Sure enough, the hero became a red and blue blur, closing the distance between them faster than the blink of an eye.

With the alien's incredible speed, he could come at Savage from virtually any angle. However, with the enclosed space, it left him little room for course correction....and Savage could predict from milliennia of warfare what angle he would attack from.

As Superman attempted to rush him, Savage's magic blade snapped back upwards and slashed the alien in the side. The enchanted steel bit into flesh that could repel bunker-busting bombs, drawing a line of bright red blood onto the gleaming blade.

"Ha! So the Man of Steel can bleed," he said, mockingly, before brandishing the blade again. "You know, as long as there are no cameras around to record what I'm saying.....Luthor told me how he nearly killed you. How he had you on your knees, begging for your life."

The warlord flicked Superman's blood off of his sword, watching it spatter on the floor.

"Imagine the look on his face when I cut out your heart and hand it to him."

 

[Byrd Man]

The Pacific Ocean


The waters of the Pacific were underneath my feet as I skated across the water at incredible speeds. I blew past the Big Island in Hawaii, not stopping until my feet hit the coast of California and the streets of Los Angeles.

Explosions lit up the sky above the city. An emerald green fighter jet flew through between the high-rises of LA. The jet fired a bright green missiles from its right wing. A group of robotic soldiers on the street went up in a dazzling fire.

Acting, I moved quickly and pulled unconscious men from their burning power suits. I laid them on the ground and looked up as the controller of the jet floated down from the sky.

"There you are," Green Lantern -- real name of Hal Jordan, a former Air Force lieutenant -- said as he touched down beside me. "I thought you were supposed to be fast."

"Sorry about that, I was a bit busy saving all of Asia from certain doom."

"No need to be dramatic," he said, creating a green Tommy Gun in his hands. Hal turned the gun towards a group encroaching soldiers and lit them up with bright green bullets. The soldiers dropped to the ground and GL held the smoking gun up proudly, blowing the smoke from the barrel.

"And you say I'm dramatic..."

"Machine Gun Jordan's my name, kicking ass is my gam--"

Hal was cut off as a bright blur crashed into him, knocking him back into a parked car. He slammed into the car door and out the other other side. Flat on on his back in the street with a woman on his chest.

"Hi there," Cheetah said with a soft purr. She flicked open her claws and ran them down Hal's chest. "I think I'm gonna like butchering a strapping young man like yourself."

That's when I went into action, racing towards Cheetah and striking. She moved and dodged my blow, picking her speed up to match mind.

"You know, Cheetah," I said, dodging one of her claws and trying to sweep her legs out from under her. "You really break my heart. I thought we had something special. I just don't engage in mortal combat with every girl I meet, you know. But you don't write and you don't call. It's almost as if you don't like me!"

"God, do you ever stop talking?!" She snarled.

Before I could answer, Cheetah was knocked off her feet by a giant green fist.

"See, now that's something her and I can agree on...," Hal said, moving to contain her inside a protective bubble. "You know, she's kinda hot."

"Didn't know deformed house cats were your thing."

"Dude, I patrol the depths of space on a regular basis. Deformed house cat is tame compared to what I've seen."

GL starts to wrap Cheetah in a projection of a padlock. Before the bonds can fully attach, she shrugs them off at super speeds and runs at a break-neck speed east.

"Dammit. Next time, less talky, and more capturey the bad girly. Finish up stuff here and I'll go after her."

Hal nodded and flew away as I ran after Cheetah, heading outside the city and giving chase towards the east.
​

 

[MST3K 4ever]

The Atom heads deeper and deeper into The Hall Of Justice with Killer Frost still in pursuit firing at her.

Come on keep coming at me that's it!

Frost yells, "You know how this is going to end Atom so give up now and spare us a lot of needless back and forth."

The Atom veers upward into a nearby vent and heads into a room where she kills the lights. She quickly re-enters the vent and comes out at another vent.

She looks at Killer Frost who is trying to freeze the vents and says, "You know our A-C here works fine you don't need to help it."

Frost glares at her and begins firing with much more anger and focus.

Atom bolts to the room where the lights are out and takes refuge in a corner near a control panel as her night-vision sensors slide into place.

Frost enters and the door behind her closes. She says, "Do you really believe the dark is going to save you from me. I'll turn this room into a giant freezer little girl. Think of it as a scorched earth tactic in a way."

The Atom waits and doesn't say a word as Frost walks deeper into the room.

Gotta time this just right. In order for her to get off a wide spread she has to be in the center of the room. Just a little more and she's dead-meat.

Frost stops and says, "Last Chance Atom before I turn you into an Atom-sicle. 3,2,1! Here it goes!"


She sees Frost building up energy and The Atom presses a button and suddenly Killer Frost is screaming in agony and writhing on the ground in pain.

"AHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHH!"

The Atom removes her night-vision sensors and cuts on the lights. Killer Frost is now under a large heating vent which shooting out several hundred pounds of steam.

The Atom presses another button that slows the blast to a steady stream.

The Atom floats nearby and watches Killer Frost laying on the ground as she twitches and whimpers in pain.

The Atom says, "Welcome to the Hall of Justice's boiler-room. You were so intent on getting me you never thought about where I was leading you and also without Savage to guide you I knew I could take you out."

Killer Frost reaches up with her right hand but she collapses and The Atom says, "Now in a few minutes it'll get noticeably cooler up there and they'll all think you got me. That steam release will keep going for about another 10-15 maybe minutes, but if nothing else those steam burns will keep you out of action."

Frost says in a very ragged voice, "One day...you little...*****...one day...I will get you..."

Atom replies, "Yeah yeah and you'll get my little dog too. If I ever see you again Frost consider it your last mistake."

The Atom starts to float away when she notices that she is very dizzy.

She quickly lands and almost falls over.

Whoa...what happened there? Must be the heat getting to me....gotta get out of here before Frost sees me in a vulnerable state.

She gets outside and closes the door. The Atom leans against the wall and regains her senses.

Not sure what that was...but...hope it doesn't happen again. Time to go check in on the others.

The Atom takes to the vents and heads back to the control room.

 

[Spike_x1]

"Superman," said Vandal Savage, smiling eagerly as he unsheathed his magically-enhanced rapier. "I've been looking forward to this."

The immortal madman sank into a fighting stance, the tip of his blade pointed towards the Man of Steel. He smirked, waiting for the Kryptonian to make the first move.

"You have your limitless strength, you incredible speed, your energy projection," said the warlord, circling the caped hero, "Whereas I have over ten thousand years of combat experience, and an army that will slaughter millions by the end of the day."

Before even finishing his sentence, Savage began to let the blade of his rapier drop slightly, anticipating Superman's attack. Sure enough, the hero became a red and blue blur, closing the distance between them faster than the blink of an eye.

With the alien's incredible speed, he could come at Savage from virtually any angle. However, with the enclosed space, it left him little room for course correction....and Savage could predict from milliennia of warfare what angle he would attack from.

As Superman attempted to rush him, Savage's magic blade snapped back upwards and slashed the alien in the side. The enchanted steel bit into flesh that could repel bunker-busting bombs, drawing a line of bright red blood onto the gleaming blade.

"Ha! So the Man of Steel can bleed," he said, mockingly, before brandishing the blade again. "You know, as long as there are no cameras around to record what I'm saying.....Luthor told me how he nearly killed you. How he had you on your knees, begging for your life."

The warlord flicked Superman's blood off of his sword, watching it spatter on the floor.

"Imagine the look on his face when I cut out your heart and hand it to him."

Grunting in pain as much as surprise when Savage's sword digs into me, I stumble backward but keep my eyes on the man. I should have suspected something more of the sword when I saw it in my scan, but I thought that it might simply be ornamental. If it's magic, then I can probably guess with some degree of accuracy that it's protected from my simply trying to melt it down with heat vision. So I won't even try to destroy it.

"I don't take kindly to threats on the best of days, Savage."

I can already feel the cut in my side mending itself, and move my hand away from clutching at the wound for him to see.

"So you can cut me. Big deal."

With my next breath, arctic winds meet Savage's hand and freeze it in position locked around the sword. It all hits the floor in the next instant with a heavy clunk! in the form of a large solid block of ice, too heavy for an ordinary man to lift.

Meanwhile, the hulking zombified corpse of Umberto Maroni tries to get the drop on me from behind, but he practically sounds like a tank trying to sneak up on me. "I hear you call yourself 'Solomon Grundy' these days," I say, turning to face him. "Regardless, you're a long way from Gotham, Umberto. Why don't I give you a lift back?" Roaring like the monster he is, Grundy throws his massive fist at me, but I dodge it at speed to grab him by the wrist and throw him through the hole in the roof caused by Giganta.

In the direction of Gotham City.

I doubt he'll make it all the way there, but without the power of flight, he'll probably land in the ocean and have a long walk to shore. I'll get back to him later, but at least he'll be out of our hair for now.

I turn back to Vandal Savage. "You've got the sword, you've got the skills, and you've got the army. But I don't care." I made the mistake before of rushing him in a blunt surprise attack, but now I'm going to take my time. My perceptions shift into superspeed, but I'm in no hurry. Frozen in time from my point of view, Vandal is defenseless as I simply stroll forward and slap him hard enough across the face to send him careening into the far wall, his features instantly bloody and bruised. I came close, but I can see that I didn't break his jaw. Too bad.

"I don't care who you think you are, and I don't care what kind of pedestal you've put yourself on. You're a murderer who's going to answer for his crimes."

I can finally hear the approach of Steel's jets. With some technological know-how around here, I'll feel a lot better about whatever trap is waiting in the wings from Ivo.