Epic World: Civil War

by KingInDaNorf98

In this fifth book of the Epic World series, a civil war amongst superheroes is triggered when a being of pure evil manipulates Spider-Man into believing the DC heroes plan on vanquishing Marvel from the face of the Earth. Friends battle friends in this gruesome war that might leave the galaxy in shatters. Not for the light-hearted.

Epic World Book 5 Civil War

Chapter 1 Fallen Hero

"Dylan, slow down!" Gwen cried as I zoomed across the Sahara Desert and leapt over the Himalayan Mountains in under a second. I ran back to Africa across the Indian Ocean and scooped Gwen up into my arms. I kissed her as we zipped past all the wonders of the world and made our way to Nevada. Once there, we reached our house and I burst through the front door carrying Gwen in my arms. I threw her onto my bed and made love to her. Once we were done I lay next to her and whispered, "I couldn't bear to lose you, Gwen." She gazed into my eyes and said, "You don't have to worry about me, I can take care of myself." "I know," I smiled and kissed her before getting out of bed and walking up to the mirror on the wall.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and said, "I have made many enemies in my life and lost everyone I've ever loved." I turned towards Gwen and smiled before saying, "Except for you, of course." A sudden flash of images sliced through my mind depicting the Red War. I screamed as flames rained death and destruction from the sky and waves of orcs slaughtered countless innocents. Three billion human beings had lost their lives that week. A floodgate of images rushed through my head showing Sauron beating me to the edge of death. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed and slammed my fist through the wall. Gwen rushed to my side in a flurry and she cried, "What is it?" My knees gave out from under me and I fell to the carpet in despair. "I can't protect this world, I'm a failure, and I'm mortal!" I bellowed and my powers went out of control, summoning a storm that lifted the house off its foundations and we were swept up into a vortex of darkness. "DYLAN! PLEASE…" Gwen was cut off as a gust of wind threw her out the window, which shattered in a shower of shards. I immediately regained control of my powers and shot through the window faster than a lightning bolt as I grabbed ahold of Gwen. I enveloped Gwen in my arms as I ceased the storm with great concentration.

I floated in the air with Gwen wrapped in my arms and said, "I'm so sorry!" Gwen gazed into my eyes and said, "You didn't mean to…" "BUT I DID MEAN TO!" a dark voice screamed and my mind and body split in two: one light and one dark. My original light body fell from the sky and I crashed to the ground in a large crater. Smoke swirled around my dark twin as he grabbed Gwen by the neck and hissed, "You can't have a hero without a villain!" He consumed her in flames and let Gwen go. I screamed, "NOOOO!" and splashed Gwen with a giant wave of water and created a trampoline under her and as she bounced off the trampoline death overcame me. The evil twin cackled, "The world will know my name, Drakon, as I make it burn!" He laughed an evil laugh before flying away with great power and the sound of two worlds colliding. Gwen ran to my side and screamed, "Dylan! Don't die on me! Please." I brushed her cheek with my hand and whispered, "Listen, Gwen. That's not me… whatever you do don't believe that's me. You have to tell the others… stop him at all costs or the world will burn." I coughed up a mouthful of blood and gazed into Gwen's eyes as I whispered, "I love you." Darkness replaced Gwen's face and I died.

"NOOOOO!" Gwen cried and she cupped Dylan's head in her hands as she cried a waterfall. After a moment she stared at her hands to find Dylan's last act had stopped her from being scathed by his evil twin's flames. She realized he sacrificed himself to save her life and Gwen was determined to put an end to Drakon and she called Superman and the other Light Savers to assemble a strike force. They were going to kill him.

Chapter 2 Visions

Superman faced the other Light Savers and said, "We have to put a stop to this Drakon before he gains more power." The Light Savers sat around a long rectangular table in the meeting hall of the new Light Savers headquarters. The team consisted of longtime members Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Buffy, and Gwen along with new recruits Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Hawkman, Shazam, Constantine, Hal Jordan's Green Lantern, Superboy, and Punisher. Constantine said, "I agree, mate, but before that shouldn't we assume he's convincing people that he's really Dylan as he turns everyone against us." Martian Manhunter said, "You are right, John. This imposter has probably poisoned a dozen powerful beings' minds already."

Barry Allen suddenly shot up from his chair and zoomed to the Martian's side. The Flash said in rising anger, "How do you know this?" and J'onn J'onzz responded in a calm voice, "Precognition becomes very useful in situations like this, I'm afraid." Superman asked, "What do you see, J'onn? We need to know what is ahead of us before facing it head on." J'onn closed his eyes and clenched his fists in concentration. When his eyelids flashed open he said, "I do not want to worry everyone based on a mere vision." Clark gestured for everyone to leave the room, Flash with complaints and Wonder Woman with a glare directed towards the Man of Steel. What has gotten into her? Superman wondered as everyone trickled out of the room. When the two powerful beings were alone in the room J'onn said, "Kal, I suggest you take a seat. There's good news and bad news. Which would you prefer first?" "Bad," Clark immediately answered and J'onn sighed. "Are you sure?" Clark nodded his head and Martian Manhunter placed a hand on his head.

J'onn's vision invaded Superman's mind and Kal-El screamed in agony as flames licked the ground and volcanos spewed forth deadly magma and poisonous gas. Flashes of light erupted in the red sky as hero fought hero and innocent blood spilled across the earth. Two forces of opposing superhero armies met in the streets of many cities. The super powered battles created waves of destruction as buildings collapsed and continents sunk under the ocean depths. Above it all hovered Drakon with arms spread wide and a cruel smile splayed across his malformed face. The evil version of Dylan laughed as he clapped his hands with such a force that a chorus of explosions rocked the Earth and everyone Clark knew and loved died an excruciatingly slow death. The nightmarish vision vanished in a flash of white light and the Man of Tomorrow stumbled to his knees crying out in despair.

J'onn said, "I knew that would be your reaction, which is why I sent everyone out of the room. Now do you want the good news?" Clark nodded his head vigorously in hopes of replacing the bad with the good. "Ok, here it goes. You marry Wonder Woman and have a child that brings the world peace and prosperity." Superman stared at Martian Manhunter in disbelief and shouted, "You lying sack of green shit! Diana hates me, why would she ever want to get it on with me?" J'onn pounded Superman in the face and Clark retaliated by shooting him with heat vision. Martian Manhunter was thrown into the wall by the force of the blast and he bellowed, "Stop this right now!" as he jumped to his feet. Fury welled up within Superman but he forced it back and calmed himself with deep breaths. When the red left Kal-El's eyes Martian Manhunter said, "It seems as though you want to be the one who makes the vision come true." "You started it," Superman said in exasperation but J'onn just shook his head saying, "Words hurt just as much as fire." "I doubt that's true for you seeing how fire is your only weakness. So is it really possible that I can be with Diana?" Superman asked. J'onn put a hand on Clark's shoulder and said, "If you really want her all you have to do is be honest and…" Clark disappeared with a whoosh and J'onn pondered, "What have I just done?"

Diana Prince walked down the hallway towards her bedroom when she heard air blowing by her face as Clark pinned her arms to the wall. He whispered, "Superheroes are about to have a civil war and I'm going to put a baby in you before that happens." "How dare you think that just because you're the strongest and most powerful man alive I would have personal relations with you? I would rather…" Wonder Woman was interrupted as Kal-El kissed her. She surprisingly found herself kissing back and Superman lifted her up and ran through the wall into her bedroom while moving his hand up her short skirt.

BANG. POW. CLINK. CRASH. SMACK. SMACK. . KRAKOW. BANG. BING. BANG. BANG. SMACK. In the room next to Wonder Woman's Black Canary sighed in frustration at the lack of sleep. Diana's probably sleep-fighting again, Black Canary assumed. The room on the opposite side held Hal Jordan who wondered what in God's name could be going on. "That chick is crazy… but hot," he said and put a pillow over his head as he tried to catch some shut eye amidst all the crashing and banging. He eventually fell asleep dreaming of making love to Wonder Woman.

The next morning Superman and Wonder Woman awoke naked and cuddling with each other while the entire Light Savers team watched through the hole in the wall. "Dude, high five!" the Flash said to Clark and Superboy just stared in shock at the two superheroes. "Would you mind giving us some privacy?" Wonder Woman said with her bare chest perked up. All the guys stared in awe at Wonder Woman's body and Constantine said in his mind, the things I'd do to that woman are unspeakable. J'onn glared at him as he read his mind and John immediately bowed in apology, not wanting to anger the powerful being further than he already was. Hawkman said, "I don't think that's going to be possible." That's when the two lovers looked around at their surroundings. The room was a complete mess with numerous holes in the walls and the ceiling was mysteriously missing while dressers lay on their side and tables were flipped over. The headboard behind the bed was cracked into a thousand pieces while the window was shattered and the ceiling fan was lying broken on the ground.

"That must have been one epic night; did you two have a battle naked or something?" Shazam asked. He was in his thirteen year old Billy Batson form and everyone sighed at his innocence. "By the way, those are some nice hoo-has you got there," Billy said and blushed. Green Lantern stared longingly at Wonder Woman and gave Clark a death stare. "So I guess you two are a thing now, am I right?" Black Canary asked. Superman and Wonder Woman stared into each other's eyes and said, "Yes." Clark and Diana kissed with passion and everyone cheered for the couple except for Hal and Superboy.

Chapter 3 Spidey Fight

Spider-Man stared at the vast expanse of the broken New York City. The city was scarred with burnt rubble and cracked pavement. Construction was slow going. The Empire State building was the only finished structure while all the other buildings lay broken and split on their sides surrounded by shattered glass. He sighed as he remembered the day he died in this city and how Faora had mocked him as she ripped his heart out. Scientists had found him in the wreckage of the city and fused his heart with an electronic pacer that kept his heart beating. He gingerly touched his chest where the scarring was from where they had cut open his chest and placed the half-robotic heart in his body. If they found him any later, he would have truly been dead.

Peter Parker stared across the city at Manhattan where Stark Tower stood half crumbled. Iron Man was dead and along with him dozens of other superheroes. Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, Wolverine, Batman, Colossus, Sif, Storm, Beast, Hawkeye, Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Kitty Pryde, Professor X, Iceman, Jean Grey, Human Torch… "Johnny, why did you have to go and get yourself killed?" Spider-Man sighed at the loss of his friend and all his other comrades; and Gwen… Dylan Strohaker had taken her from Peter after Spidey's supposed death. Spider-Man had held up the guise of being dead for a while after his revival to protect the ones he loved. He had even pretended to be an angel while fighting in the Red War to keep up the act, but no more. Peter was determined to get Gwen back no matter what, even if he had to put an end to Dylan. Nothing was going to stand in his way.

Spider-Man prepared to swing away on his web-slinger when all of a sudden his spider-sense went on the fritz. He spun around and held his fists up defensively. What he saw was a dark shadow in the darkness of the building, which spoke in a deep voice: "Peter Parker, what a mess you've turned out to be. You should have stayed dead." Black constructs in the shape of chains struck out of the darkness and Spidey leapt over them before shooting the shadow with a web blast. Spider-Man swung over to the mysterious figure and struck him with his feet, sending the man flying back through several walls before free falling to the street below with Spider-Man swinging down not far behind. The man shot up towards the sky before he could splatter on the pavement and he crashed into Spider-Man at the speed of light. The two opponents threw punches at each other as they streaked across the Manhattan skyline. Peter stared into his eyes as they throttled each other and realized that the man was Dylan Strohaker himself. Spider-Man roared in anger as he kicked Drakon with all his might, forcing his nemesis to fly away so as not to get injured. Peter released a web string that stuck to the man's foot and he pulled with all his might. The evildoer fell towards Spider-Man and the superhero let out all his anger with a powerful punch in the face that threw the so-called Dylan through several buildings before landing hard on a crane, which began falling towards the cracked streets below.

Spider-Man swung over to Drakon, thinking himself victorious, only to find him levitating the crane with his mind. Drakon hissed in anger as he flung the giant crane at Spidey, but Peter dodged it at the nick of time as the crane whooshed by his head. Drakon didn't let up as heat vision streamed out of his eyes and struck Peter in the chest, sending the superhero crashing into the Daily Bugle. The Dylan imposter laughed evilly and blew the building off its foundations with super breath. Spider-Man leaped over a desk and swung towards a shattered window in hopes of escaping only to have a filing cabinet slide across the floor and smash into him as Drakon levitated the building upside down. Spider-Man cried out in pain as more debris crashed into him and Drakon waved his hand in a swooping motion, throwing the Daily Bugle across the city skyline at a hundred mph. As the building sloped down towards the cement, Spidey braced himself for the end. The falling building came to a sudden halt and Peter gazed outside to find Wonder Man holding the building aloft. "Get out, Spidey!" the superhero bellowed and grunted in exertion as Spider-Man swung through a window and emerged into the morning sunlight.

Drakon yelled in frustration and flew towards Wonder Man at the speed of light but Spidey blinded him with web blasts to the eyes. Wonder Man heaved the building at Drakon and it rammed into the evil twin with the force of a freight train. The Daily Bugle crashed with a resounding BOOM to the streets of New York City. The two superheroes made their way down to the rubble and found a bloodied Drakon buried amidst it. Wonder Man threw aside a huge chunk of stone and masonry that lay atop Drakon. "Who sent you?" Spider-Man asked and Drakon wore a sly smile as his wounds healed and he said, "The Light Savers." "WHAT?!" Wonder Man roared and lifted Dylan's twin up so they could stare eye to eye. "Are you telling the truth?" the burly superhero asked and there was a mischievous glitter in Drakon's eyes as he said, "I'm afraid so. They insisted I take out as many heroes from the Marvel dimension as I could so only DC superheroes thrive on this world." Spider-Man gaped at the evil twin in horror and asked, "Why would they do such a thing?" Drakon hissed, "This world has room for only so many heroes. Also, they believe DC superior in every way. Now I must depart!" He disappeared in a black mist and Spider-Man and Wonder Man looked around in wonder. Drakon was gone. Spidey grimaced at not being able to kill the one who took his girlfriend. "Does this mean what I think it means?" Wonder Man asked and Peter said, "Yes, it's time to assemble the Legion of Heroes. At sunrise tomorrow morning we go to war."

Chapter 4 King of Atlantis

Arthur Curry, King of Atlantis, sat upon his throne with his wife Mera by his side. She held his hand as they stared down at Arthur's advisor Vulko, who had just reported that Orm was plotting to take the throne because of Arthur's refusal to attack the Marvel dimension's Atlantis, which resided only ten knots away. "Orm says his sister Tula, along with the Drift, were scouting the area when they saw King Attuma preparing a legion of his Atlanteans to go to war," Vulko addressed Arthur with head down. Arthur said, "We don't know who they plan to go to war with. It could be the surface dwellers or an uprising within their walls." "Yes, but it could also mean they wish to eradicate us so they can rule the entire seven seas," Vulko replied as he gazed up at the King of Atlantis.

Arthur stood and boomed, "I'm not risking my men on one of Orm's whims! Now bring my brother to me so he can answer for his crimes against my right to rule the ocean!" Vulko said, "Are you sure you want to…" He was cut off as Arthur swiped his trident from his back and pointed it at Vulko. "Arthur, stop it!" Mera screamed and he replied, "This has to end now before it festers even further, Mera. Orm is intent on starting a rebellion to overthrow me and I want you, my trusted advisor, to bring him to me so he can be imprisoned." Vulko bowed before the menacing sea king and said, "I will do as you command, my king." He scurried away and Arthur sighed as Mera enveloped him in a comforting hug. "Don't do anything you'll regret, husband," Mera whispered. With that being said, she kissed Aquaman on the lips before thirty soldiers burst into the throne room with Orm in the lead.

"What is it you want, brother?" Orm asked in exasperation and Arthur leveled his trident at him. "You will address me as king, Orm. I want you to rot in a prison cell for the rest of your life for conspiring the treasonous act of dethroning me so you can rise to power and send my Atlanteans to a bloody war with other Atlanteans for some idiotic reason." Orm laughed and said, "Oh, please don't hurt me. I'm so scared of your trident and petty reasons to send me to prison." Half the soldiers surrounding Orm began slaughtering the other half loyal to Arthur. Aquaman bellowed in outrage and Mera raised her arms, using water to fling the treacherous soldiers through the ceiling of the throne room, sending blocks of masonry raining upon Orm's remaining soldiers. She flew up through the hole in the ceiling to find the courtyard ringing with steel as Atlanteans fought each other.

Orm placed a conical helmet upon his head and boomed, "I am the Ocean Master and you are nothing, Arthur!" The King of Atlantis roared as he leaped into the air and slashed his trident down towards his brother. Orm blocked the trident with a glowing sword and energy burst out of the tip of the blade, crashing into Arthur, who withstood the strike and swung his trident in an arc towards Orm's neck. Ocean Master ducked under the blow and slammed into Arthur with such a force that he flew back into the steps leading up to the throne. Arthur grunted in pain and elbowed Orm in the face before kneeing his brother in the gut and punching him with the strength of a god, throwing his brother through a wall. Arthur walked through the blood washed throne room and emerged outside, where a battle was fought amongst loyalists and Orm's soldiers. Orm was nowhere in sight and Aquaman decided to leap into battle for his throne and the protection of his men.

Aquaman slit a soldier's throat and thrust his trident through three other soldier's bellies, one prong for each man. He pulled his blood soaked weapon free and ducked under the wild swing of a sword and spun around to punch his trident through the wielder's face, puncturing his brain. He decapitated another solider and beheaded another one who leaped out of the swarm of combat. Arthur scanned the courtyard to find Mera wiping out a tenth of the soldiers loyal to Orm with a wave of water. Her moves were fierce and her eyes aglow as she dealt death to enemies. Aquaman shook his head, amazed at his wife's powers, before finding a dozen soldiers charging towards him with Orm not far behind. There he is, Arthur thought and prepared himself for a last stand when his remaining men, consisting of only twenty soldiers, crashed into Orm's men and were gaining the upper hand until Ocean Master joined the fight. He sliced off three heads and his blade met two throats, one of them being Vulko's, draining their lifeblood.

Aquaman bellowed in anger and began rushing towards Orm when a spear pierced his back and he fell to his knees. Tula hovered above Arthur and she said, "How you doing, dead man?" and pulled her spear out of his flesh. He gasped in pain and she cupped his head in her hands and was about to snap his neck when a blur slashed through her throat and Tula's head spun away as her body slumped to the ground. Mera wielded a sword and she helped Arthur to his feet before crying, "Honey, watch out!" But it was too late as a mailed fist smashed Arthur's face in. The hit sent Aquaman flying through a statue of his mother, which collapsed atop the sea king. The last thing Arthur saw before darkness overcame him was Orm thrusting his blade through Mera's belly, collapsing her to the ground amidst all of his fallen men.

Arthur awoke to find himself chained to a wall facing the courtyard, where thousands of Orm's followers were lined up and geared for war. He looked over and found Mera slumping against the same wall, chained as well. She had survived. Thank God, Arthur thought as he inspected the wound to her stomach and found it had been stitched up by one of the Atlantean doctors. Orm walked past his men and found Arthur conscious. He strolled over to the deposed king and said, "You're lucky I didn't kill Mera for murdering Tula. The only reason I spared her was because Murk insisted she could be my wife to boost everyone's feelings of me being king." Arthur struggled against his restraints and roared, "I'm going to kill you!" Orm struck him with the back of his hand and boomed, "That's no way to speak to your king!" Ocean Master said with a crooked smile, "Now you will watch as I win the war of Atlantis!" "People will die!" Arthur cried and Ocean Master replied, "So?" and relayed orders to his troops to march to the field of battle and attack with everything they had. Ocean Master left Arthur and Mera where they slumped and boomed, "The oceans will run red today!"

Chapter 5 the Legion of Heroes

Spider-Man stood facing the remaining Marvel heroes in the midst of the rubble of the Baxter Building in Manhattan. Thor, Wonder Man, Falcon, Blade, Cable, Ghost Rider, Ms. Marvel, Doctor Strange, Deadpool, Ant-Man, Daredevil, Black Panther, Vision, Banshee, Emma Frost, Sunspot, Gambit, Havok, Red Hulk, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Jubilee, Ka-Zar, Moon Knight, Nightcrawler, Nova, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, Star Brand, Sunfire, Silver Surfer, Angel, Warpath, Black Cat, Wasp, Winter Soldier, White Tiger, Bishop, and Blink. These were the superheroes Spider-Man intended on using to crush the Light Savers and the entire DC Universe. They were the Legion of Heroes.

Spider-Man bellowed, "We will destroy these heathens who think they can confront us without retaliation. They will cower before our fire, lightning, webs, speed, strength, magic, weapons, and power!" The entire Legion cheered except for Thor, who had a worried look on his face. Peter continued, "We will bathe the world in blood if we have to in order to eradicate DC!" Half the heroes hesitated before cheering as if they were unsure it had to go that far. Spider-Man said, "Now I know some of you are thinking I'm being rash but let me tell you, and Wonder Man can attest to this, the Light Savers have plotted behind our backs according to their leader Dylan Strohaker. Tomorrow will be violent and deadly, and heroes on both sides will die, but this is our only option if we are to survive in the long run. This will be tough; they have powerhouses like Superman and Shazam on their side. But we have Thor, a Hulk, and Wonder Man among others that can stand toe to toe with those two. WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!"

"NO!" Thor boomed and he slammed his hammer to the ground to amplify his disapproval. All of the heroes were thrown back by the force of the hit and Thor was about to shoot lightning at Spider-Man when Red Hulk and Luke Cage restrained him. The god of thunder broke free from the two heroes and pointed his hammer at Spidey. "This is not what we do! Heroes don't fight heroes. I've battled hordes of orcs with the Light Savers by my side and they wouldn't do something like this!" Thor bellowed. "Their leader himself confirmed it!" Spider-Man screamed. "Now will you fight with us or against us? Will you turn against your own universe, your own brethren for these so-called Light Savers? Or will you join us in the light in casting these soulless creatures to the abyss where they belong? It's your choice, Odinson!" Thor bowed his head and lowered his hammer before proclaiming, "I won't turn against you, but I won't help you either." He took off into the sky and flew into outer space, where he could watch the carnage unfold without having to choose sides.

"Well, we're screwed." Spider-Man glared at Gambit as he made that comment and said, "Just a minor inconvenience on our part." "He was our best fighter!" Havok said. "He was our only hope," Black Panther noted. "No he wasn't!" Red Hulk boomed; "I am!" Spider-Man laughed at the Hulk and patted him on the shoulder. "We are all essential in stopping this threat," Spider-Man said. "Now prepare for war because on the eve of the morning we strike at their base in Nevada and will leave no survivors. Meeting disbanded!" Spidey concluded. The Legion of Heroes dispersed and Spider-Man walked down from his podium to find Black Cat slinking over to him. She wrapped her arms around Peter's waist and kissed him on the lips before purring, "Are you coping well with being the leader of the entire Marvel universe?" "I'm getting along; I just want to beat Dylan Strohaker to a bloody pulp for stealing my girl," Spider-Man replied. Black Cat stepped back from him and whispered, "I thought I was your girl?" Peter laughed and pulled Felicia by the arm, sending her falling into his embrace. "You're my whore," he whispered into her ear and took her from behind amidst the crowd of superheroes. She cried and he hissed, "Shut up!" and pulled her head back by her hair as he continued having his sadistic fun.

Quicksilver zoomed into the armory and placed a new suit on his speedy body. He heard a door close sharply behind him and he spun around in a blur to find his sister standing in the dark room. Scarlet Witch said, "I don't want to fight. It feels wrong." Pietro Maximoff sighed and said, "Our parents are dead and the world has gone to shit. How can another war make it any worse?" Wanda Maximoff said, "Superheroes will die fighting other superheroes. That is worse than anything that this world has gone through." Pietro laughed and said, "I was trapped for a week straight in a building in Russia as friends were beaten and consumed by orcs and when the evil army had finally left the village I was staying at I zoomed out of the building and found the sky red. Corpses were strewn about the village and I searched but there wasn't one living person within a hundred mile radius. After discovering that my cowardice had cost the lives of countless innocents I made my way to the last battle. In saw our father, Magneto, get blasted out of the sky by Storm, a fellow mutant from the Marvel universe. When the angels joined the fight I was near a dozen of them when they were torn in half by towering trolls. Angels were crying out in pain, Wanda!"

Quicksilver began weeping as he said, "I was in the midst of Armageddon and I survived. We may be twins but there's one difference between us. I'm immune to death after watching Storm murder our father and witnessing the bloodbath Sauron caused. I will kill everyone who gets in my way no matter the cost." Scarlet Witch said, "You have some serious problems," before walking out the door to leave Quicksilver to his rage.

Black Panther gazed at the city from atop a skyscraper with Ka-Zar by his side. "My instinct tells me Spider-Man is being foolish for instigating a war with the Light Savers," T'Challa told Ka-Zar and he nodded his head in agreement. "I wish to abandon this Godforsaken city and swing amongst the vines of the wild," Ka-Zar said and a voice boomed, "Treasonous words for a member of the Legion of Heroes." Doctor Strange strolled across the rooftop with Emma Frost by his side and he pointed at Ka-Zar. Emma unleashed two lances of ice that pierced the Tarzan-like hero in the heart and neck. He gaped at her in shock before tumbling off the edge of the roof and splattering on the street below. Black Panther cried, "No!" and charged towards the two superheroes. Doctor Strange held a hand towards T'Challa and Black Panther found himself lifted off the rooftop by a force that began constricting his windpipe. "You speak blasphemy, old friend. I should kill you for what came out of your mouth, but we need as many fighters as possible for the coming war," Doctor Strange said and he released Black Panther with a clenched fist. The superhero toppled to the roof and glared up at Stephen Strange and Emma Frost. "Then why did you kill Ka-Zar?" T'Challa asked in exasperation and Doctor Strange said, "To teach you a lesson. And he was weak." With that, the two corrupt superheroes walked away from the shocked Black Panther. As doubt grew about Spider-Man and his followers' morality, Black Panther swore he would have his revenge.

Chapter 6 Love-Struck

Hal Jordan gazed off into the distance of the desert and spun around when he heard footsteps. Superboy walked up to the Green Lantern and said, "I saw how you looked at Wonder Woman and Superman together. It revolts you because you want Diana for yourself." Hal was about to protest but Superboy grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and glanced behind him to make sure nobody was around. When he saw the coast was clear, Superboy growled, "Don't deny it. I want Wonder Woman as well and am planning on killing Superman and claiming the Amazon as my wife. If you get in my way I will end you!" He threw Green Lantern to the ground and Hal glowed as his power ring gave him strength. He floated up into the air and said, "I will admit I have strong feelings for Diana but I wouldn't kill Clark just to have her. My God man, you're willing to murder your own clone just to get some action. Is it because you're jealous or are you just a dick?" Superboy took to the sky so he was level with Green Lantern and he bellowed, "Don't make me destroy you!"

Hal laughed and green light emanated from his body as he prepared his power ring for a deadly blast. "You are really dumb, you know that?" Hal said. Green energy burst out of his power ring and struck Superboy in the chest, sending the boy spiraling to the ground. His body created a crater the size of a house and he shot up out of it with heat vision streaming out of his eyes. Green Lantern constructed a wall in front of him that rebounded the blast towards Superboy, but Kal-El's clone swerved to the right and the heat vision flew by him and struck a town a mile away. Screams could be heard from the town and Green Lantern made to go after them and help when Superboy slammed into him with the force of a wrecking ball. Green Lantern was knocked across the dusk sky and before he could fall into the Grand Canyon he regained his composure and flew towards Superboy as fast as a jet. Superboy was a blur as he flew straight at Hal and before they struck Green Lantern created a battering ram that rammed into Superboy's stomach.

The clone gasped in pain as he streaked above the desert and crashed into the Light Savers' headquarters. The team had left the building to go help the town that was burning from Superboy's heat vision. Hal constructed a jet which he used to fly towards Superboy and he opened fire. Green bullets riddled the headquarters and bounced off Superboy's bulletproof chest. The boy superhero hissed in anger and raised his hands, using telekinesis to shatter the jet into tiny shards that rained upon the desert floor. The attack caught Green Lantern off guard and he immediately plummeted into a crater in the desert. Superboy zoomed to his opponent's position and socked him in the face with a powerful fist and he continued raining blows, giving Green Lantern no reprieve from the assault. Green Lantern finally managed to catch one of the punches in the palm of his hand and he yelled in exertion as he channeled all of his strength into an uppercut that launched Superboy into the sky once again.

After rising about 10,000 feet in the air, Superboy fell towards the ground like a falling meteor. Time seemed to slow down for Green Lantern as anger overcame his injuries and he shot towards Superboy at the speed of sound. Hal tackled the clone and beat him endlessly as they flew horizontally above the ground, not caring that they were flying at a dangerous speed towards the blazing town. After they flew through several bars and blasted out of a shopping complex Hal constructed a sword which he thrust down towards his enemy. Superboy blocked the blade with his steel forearms and grunted in pain as the blade began tearing through skin. He kneed the Green Lantern in the gut and Hal buckled in surprise before Superboy punched him across the face and kicked him into a wall. The Green Lantern slowly got to his feet and glared at Superboy, who faced him with the same hatred in his eyes. The clone blew ice shards towards Hal, who constructed a shield just in time to block the deadly barrage. Superboy let loose with heat vision and Green Lantern bellowed as he charged towards the superhero with shield held out in front of him. The flames licked relentlessly against Hal's construct, which shattered just as he reached Superboy. Green Lantern ducked under the blast of heat vision and used all of his willpower to create a Kryptonite sword that slid through Superboy's heart.

Superboy stared in shock at the blade and pulled it out of his chest. He cried in pain when he saw the mortal wound and collapsed to his knees. Hal Jordan lifted his hands to his face and stared in horror at what he had done. The Light Savers rushed over after taking out the fire and saving everyone who had been in harm's way with Superman and Wonder Woman in the lead. "What happened?" Clark asked and lowered himself next to his clone, resting Superboy's head in his arms. "He was going to kill you, so I made a rash move and fought him. I didn't mean to take it this far!" Green Lantern said. Superman's voice took on a serious tone as he asked Superboy, "Is he telling the truth?" The dying clone drew a huge intake of breath and whispered in a raspy voice, "No, I would never have… hurt you. Why… would I want to? You have… welcomed me into your team... with open arms." He coughed, sending bloody spittle flying out of his mouth, and Superman rested his clone on the ground before stalking towards Hal with eyes ablaze. "He's lying! Superboy tried to get me to join him in taking you out so he could get together with Wonder Woman!" The Man of Steel stopped two feet from Hal and asked, "Why is there a faint glitter in your eyes when you say her name?" Before Green Lantern could answer Superboy sputtered, "Because… he likes her… as well!" and gasped in pain before dying.

Superman let out his fury in a single punch that threw Green Lantern into an oncoming bus. The driver veered out of control and the large vehicle flipped over in the air, about to crash into the road. Wonder Woman flew over to the bus and caught it just in time before there could be casualties and set it safely on the ground. Hal staggered to his feet and limped his way towards Diana while using his ring to construct crutches. She rushed to his side and said, "You need to get out of here now before Superman hurts you even worse." "But I love you," he said and kissed her on the lips. Wonder Woman smacked Hal across the face and said, "Don't you ever touch me again. I was trying to help you and that's what I get? I don't ever want to see your face again!" And with that, the Amazon princess stormed away from a dejected Green Lantern. Hal mended his wounds with a burst of energy and took off into the night sky, leaving the Light Savers in a cloud of dust.

Wonder Woman walked over to a furious Clark who roared in sadness and anger at the betrayal of his two close friends. Diana embraced him in a hug and said, "It's over. Hal left and will never return." She kissed Superman on the lips and led him and the rest of the Light Savers to their headquarters. Drakon watched them depart from the shadows of a tavern and smiled slyly as his plan came to fruition. The Light Savers were being torn apart one by one, evening the playing field for Marvel. It was going to be a gruesome war.

Green Lantern flew to the moon, where he found Thor sitting on a rock contemplating the future. "What's up, god of thunder?" Hal asked after landing in front of the Asgardian. "Nothing good, my friend. The leader of your team, Dylan Strohaker, confronted Spider-Man and caused the web slinger to declare war on your universe," Thor answered. "WHAT?!" Hal bellowed in confusion, "Dylan's dead, replaced by his evil twin Drakon." Thor stood up at that and faced the Green Lantern with a worried expression on his face. "So the Light Savers don't want to eradicate everyone from the Marvel universe?" Thor asked. "Um, why the hell would they do that?" Green Lantern replied. "Why do you say 'they' as if you're not a part of the Light Savers?" Thor asked and Hal said, "Because they don't want me anymore, so can we just leave it at that?!"

Thor bobbed his head and said, "Of course; I won't dabble in things that don't concern me. But this Drakon does concern me. We must put a stop to him before he has our friends tear each other to pieces!" The Green Lantern held his ring aloft and sound waves echoed from it as Hal said, "I think I have a solution. Planet Oa, this is Hal Jordan reporting from Space Sector 2814. I require assistance in taking out a high power level threat. At least a hundred Green Lanterns are needed." When the transmission was over Hal Jordan faced Thor and said, "Drakon's in for a world of pain. The Green Lantern Corps are coming to kick his ass!"

Chapter 7 the War Begins

The morning sunlight bathed the Legion of Heroes as Blink summoned portals to send the Marvel superheroes through to the Nevada desert, where the Light Savers resided. Spider-Man led his troops around the enemy headquarters and when the entire base was surrounded he boomed, "Come out and face us, you cowards!" His summons was met with a resounding BANG as Superman slammed open the front door and stalked out into the open with the rest of the Light Savers trailing close behind. The two superhero teams faced off in the middle of the desert. Punisher and Gwen looked at the ground, not wanting to meet their old friends' eyes. Ghost Rider hissed, "Why would you side with another team?" and Punisher replied in a rough tone, "These guys are better and cooler. Plus they're a lot more powerful than you noobs!"

Spider-Man stared with longing across the gap between the two teams at Gwen, who kept her face towards the ground. "Where's your boyfriend, Gwen?" Peter bellowed and Gwen finally met his gaze. "He's dead," she responded in a cold tone and Peter and the rest of the Legion of Heroes stared at the Light Savers with blank expressions. "No, Wonder Man and I fought Dylan and he ran away like a bitch," Spider-Man said loudly. Martian Manhunter spoke up, "You're probably talking about Drakon, Dylan's evil twin. He killed Dylan and vowed to sow chaos on Earth and it looks like he succeeded seeing how you came here looking for blood." "Now you're making up stories!" Nova yelled and Richard Rider gathered blue energy in the palm of his hand.

"It's the truth!" Wonder Woman screamed and Nova ignored the Amazonian, releasing all his power towards Diana while Havok unleashed a deadly barrage of his energy blasts at Superman. Diana blocked Richard Rider's energy with her indestructible bracelets, rebounding the energy towards Nova who took the blast to the chest. Richard staggered to the ground in pain as Havok's energy bounced off Superman's chest harmlessly. Clark zoomed to Havok's side, lifting Cyclops's brother up by the neck. "TURN BACK NOW OR FACE MY WRATH!" the Man of Steel roared and in response Spider-Man bellowed, "Attack!" The Legion of Heroes charged towards the Light Savers, outnumbering them five to one. Superman snapped Alex Summers's neck and dropped Havok to the ground before flying after Spider-Man only to get tackled by the Red Hulk. The Light Savers stood their ground as the Legion of Heroes met them in flashes of light. Energy streaked across the Nevada skyline as hero fought hero. Black Canary unleashed a piercing scream that caused everyone except for Superman to cover their ears in pain. This gave Superman the opportunity to blast Red Hulk with heat vision and beat him bloody. Banshee screamed as well, his voice battling Black Canary's voice, and the two sound waves cancelled each other out. As Clark swung another fist at Red Hulk, the red monster blocked the strike with his arm and he punched Superman in the chest, sending him into the clouds.

The Legion of Heroes converged on the Light Savers, boxing them in. Blasts of energy struck both teams as they fought relentlessly. Hawkman swung his sparking mace, clobbering the Vision who crashed to the ground twenty feet away. The Thanagarian was about to go after the android when Sunspot and Sunfire unleashed two beams of white hot fire and they combined before striking Hawkman in a powerful blast, flinging the feathered superhero into Shazam. They both toppled to the ground and found Warpath standing above them. The brute brought back a fist and slammed it towards Shazam and Hawkman flew away on a gust of wind before Billy bellowed, "SHAZAM!" Right before the fist could drive Shazam into the ground a tremendous burst of lightning fell from the sky and struck Warpath. The strong Marvel hero was thrown back by the force of the blast while the lightning transformed Shazam into the young Billy Batson. Nightcrawler took advantage of the opportunity and teleported behind the boy, piercing his back with the end of his sharp tail. Billy gasped in pain and stumbled to his knees as blood pooled around him. Nightcrawler smirked triumphantly before he heard "SHAZAM!" and a bolt of lightning struck him dead. Shazam, now fully healed, lie in the crater carved by his second lightning strike, which turned out to be twice as large as the first had been.

Heroes - friend and foe alike - lay on the ground recovering from the blast and Shazam fell upon one of the superheroes who had been dazed by the lightning: Star Brand. Shazam ripped the hero's head from his body and tossed it aside, looking for other enemies to beat. Wonder Woman wove between Marvel heroes, hamstringing Jessica Jones and slicing her blade through Deadpool's neck, severing head from body. Jessica Jones almost immediately overcame her injury and plowed into the Amazon warrior. Jessica Jones grappled onto Wonder Woman as they flew above the two warring armies and Diana threw a punch that connected with Jessica's abdomen. Jessica released the Amazon and crashed to the ground in pain. Diana floated down to her enemy and held her sword above Jessica's neck, preparing to execute her opponent. When she swung down Jessica grabbed the blade with her bare hand and slammed her other hand against Wonder Woman's chest, sending the Amazon bulldozing through Black Cat and Sunspot.

Wonder Woman managed to climb to her feet just as Jessica came swooping in with a high blow to the head. Wonder Woman stood her ground and fire from Hephaestus's forge shot out of her right bracelet, piercing Jones' shoulder. Jessica cried out in pain as she was flung to the ground and Wonder Woman stomped on her stomach and leveled her sword at Jessica's face. Diana plunged down, thrusting her blade through Jessica Jones's open mouth. She looked up to find a fully healed Deadpool glaring at her. "I really don't like people severing my head. I'm going to take you out to dinner and afterwards I'll bang you two ways in a specific order." Wonder Woman just stared blankly at the Merc with a Mouth, looking as if she had no idea what language he was speaking. Deadpool sighed, "Let me give you a hint; the first time I'm going to bang you will be with my no no square and the second time it'll be with a .22 bolt action rifle." Diana bellowed in anger and the two rushed each other and swords met in a ferocious CLANG that echoed across the battlefield.

When Buffy recovered from the second lightning strike Shazam had created to save his life and kill Nightcrawler, she found Gambit and Emma Frost staring at her in anticipation. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come and get some of this!" Buffy purred as she pointed to her body and Gambit leaped towards her with magic cards in hand while Emma Frost created a wall of ice. Buffy dodged Gambit's thrown cards and pointed her wooden stake towards the rushing wall of ice, which shattered the moment it met the blade. Gambit landed on the ground in front of the vampire slayer, swinging a fist towards her head. Buffy blocked the swing with an arm and flung her dagger through Gambit's wrist, severing hand from limb. Gambit bellowed in pain and while he crumpled to the ground Emma Frost roared in fury as she created a tornado of ice shards that swept Buffy up in a swirling vortex of death. Sharp icicles sliced all across Buffy's body and she cried in pain, about to succumb to her injuries, when Superman plummeted from the sky and plowed into Emma Frost, burying her in the dirt. Buffy gasped in shock as the tornado ceased to exist and she fell towards her death, but Superman shot up into the air and caught her right before she could splatter on the ground.

Ms. Marvel dove out of a sea of battling superheroes and slammed into Martian Manhunter, but J'onn held his ground and grasped the heroine by the neck. "You dare to confront me!" he hissed and flung her into the sky and he jumped into the air as his skin rippled. The next instant Martian Manhunter was a dragon that engulfed the falling Ms. Marvel in flames. She crashed to the edge of the Grand Canyon and gasped in surprise as she slipped off level ground and tumbled down a steep cliff to the bottom of the canyon. She lay on her back sprawled in the canyon as Martian Manhunter floated down to the Kree superhero. Red fire blazed in J'onn's eyes as he stomped a foot towards her chest, but Ms. Marvel dodged to the side and performed an uppercut. The maneuver launched the Martian into a cliff wall, creating an avalanche. A great rumbling echoed from above as a wave of rocks and dirt cascaded down the side of the Grand Canyon. Ms. Marvel immediately took flight, leaving J'onn to be buried alive. Martian Manhunter stumbled to his feet and gazed up at the giant avalanche, which neared to within fifty feet of his position. Right when the avalanche was about to bury him J'onn closed his eyes, raising his hands above his head and telekinetically lifting the jumble of rocks and dirt above the Grand Canyon with him floating beneath. He found Ms. Marvel streaking towards Gwen and J'onn swiped his arm in her direction, sending the avalanche above her head.

A shadow appeared over Carol Danvers's head and she looked up just as Martian Manhunter slammed his hand down. The avalanche plummeted into Ms. Marvel, burying the superheroine along with Red Hulk. Silver Surfer swooped across the sky and struck Martian Manhunter with the force of a god, flinging him into a crater. Martian Manhunter crawled out of the giant hole to find Bishop aiming an absorbing gun at him. J'onn let loose with a ray of heat vision which struck the mutant in the chest. The energy surged through Bishop's body and coursed into his gun before the heat vision exploded out of the barrel ten times as powerful as before. The heat vision seared through the Martian and he crashed into battling superheroes before becoming a pillar of light. The pillar soared horizontally above the ground and slammed into Bishop, who began to glow. He screamed in pain as his body exploded in a tremendous burst of light, flinging all the superheroes fighting near him to the ground. Martian Manhunter flew back into the fray, determined to win the battle.

The Flash pummeled White Tiger across the face and slammed a fist into her gut in rapid succession, throwing her to the ground. Barry zoomed across the battlefield and punched Moon Knight and Jubilee, knocking them out in the blink of an eye. Another blur streaked across the battlefield and Flash noticed he was wearing grey before being kneed in the stomach and thrown into the air with an uppercut. The Flash plummeted down through the clouds and positioned his feet under him just in time and when he landed a piercing jolt coursed up through his body and he collapsed to the desert in pain. Quicksilver stood before the Flash with a grin on his face. "It looks like I'm better than you, Barry!" Pietro said and he zoomed towards the Flash. Barry spun his arms around in a blur, creating a vortex that swept Quicksilver up right before he could reach the Flash.

The Flash made the tornado larger and larger, sending Quicksilver higher into the air. The Maximoff twin ran out of the tornado and fell straight for the Flash at the speed of light. Flash dodged Quicksilver and ran away from the grey speedster, throwing dust into the mutant's eyes. Quicksilver tumbled to the ground, blinded momentarily by the billowing dust and dirt, and sat on his butt staring after the red speedster. I'll beat you one of these days, Barry, Pietro thought and he got to his feet to continue fighting the Light Savers. Constantine flung a spell at Black Cat, trapping her in a box of magic, and spun around to fling a multitude of curses at Daredevil. The blind superhero dodged all of the curses except for one, which struck him in the head, knocking him out. The magician laughed as he flung a spell at Spider-Woman, entrapping her.

A sudden force struck Constantine, throwing him to the ground. Doctor Strange's weave had singed Constantine's coat and the British man bellowed, "Bollocks! Now I've got to buy me another coat all because of your bloody idiocy!" Constantine wove fifteen spells in rapid succession, sending the weaves at the corrupt magician. They blasted Doctor Strange but he stood unharmed as a shield formed around him and fire surged from his hands, scorching the dry sand and slamming into Constantine. The superhero was thrown across the battlefield as his skin burned and he cried in pain as he fell towards the ground, weaving a bubble around him to cushion the landing. Water spouted out of the magician, quenching the flames licking his skin, and he stood facing Doctor Strange with anger in his eyes. "You bloody fool!" Constantine yelled and he called upon all his powers before throwing them in a brilliant ray of light at Doctor Strange, who raised his hand and ceased the spells with a mere thought. Constantine stared in shock at his enemy and charged towards Doctor Strange in a sudden frenzy only to be demolished by a wave of earth. Doctor Strange floated away from the buried corpse of John Constantine to find another Light Saver to kill.

Cable shot at Punisher in a burst of rapid fire, but the Light Saver ducked behind the cover of the headquarters and came out shooting a sniper. The bullet pierced Cable's skull and dropped him to the ground, his life blood pooling around his body. Punisher smirked in victory only to be run over by a flaming motorcycle. Frank Castle grunted in pain and he climbed to his feet to face Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider. "Bring it on, demon!" Frank bellowed and Ghost Rider roared towards him swinging his deadly chain in a circle. As the fiery bike neared Punisher, the mercenary took out a death machine and a thousand bullets burst out of the barrel, riddling Johnny and his bike. The motorcycle flipped end over end and the Ghost Rider toppled to the ground, Punisher stalking towards the flaming skeleton. When Frank reached Johnny, he put a pistol to Ghost Rider's skull and placed his finger on the trigger. "Burn in hell, Devil's bitch!" the Punisher bellowed and he pulled the trigger, the bullet piercing through Ghost Rider's flaming skull. Johnny laughed, unharmed, as he lifted Frank Castle by the throat. The holes of his eyes bored into Frank's gaze and Punisher screamed in horror as the Penance Stare drained his life away.

Ghost Rider dropped the soulless body of Punisher to the ground and got on his bike before riding away, leaving a trail of hellfire in his wake. Spider-Man swung over the raging battle looking for Gwen Stacy. When he caught sight of her in hand-to-hand combat with Black Panther he dropped from the sky. Spidey landed on the ground ten feet from the fight, watching as Gwen held her own against T'Challa. When Black Panther gained the upper hand and backhanded Gwen across the face, sending her to her knees, Spider-Man shot web blasts at the superhero. The blasts took him off guard, pinning the Wakandan to the outside of the Light Saver headquarters. Peter walked to Gwen's side and offered his old girlfriend a hand, but she brushed him aside and said, "Stay away from me; you started this war!" Spider-Man replied, "Your lover started it when he tried to end my life. Now would you tell me how you turned into a ninja in the course of only a year?" "Dylan hired a martial arts master to teach me all the important moves so I can defend myself against bad guys like you!" Gwen bellowed and head-butted the web slinger in the nuts. Spider-Man crumpled to the ground in pain and Gwen jumped to her feet and kicked Peter in the face. His head was thrown back by the force of the strike and he roared in anger as he punched Gwen with all his might.

Peter pulled his hand out of a shocked Gwen's belly and cried, "NOOOOOOOOO!" as the girl of his dreams slumped to the ground unconscious. Blood seeped out of the wound and Spider-Man tried his best patching it up with webs before swinging away in horror of what he had just done. Wonder Woman fought Deadpool with skill. As the mercenary shot his pistol at Diana's head the princess batted away the bullet with a millisecond to spare. She then tried wrapping her lasso around Deadpool's torso, but the Merc with a Mouth severed the lasso at the tip with his ninja blades. He launched into a series of strikes with his swords and Wonder Woman dodged and parried with the grace of a goddess. At the end of one of his strikes that was batted aside Deadpool swept a rocket launcher from his back and shot the explosive weapon between the two of them. The blast threw both superheroes into the air where Deadpool positioned himself so that he was falling vertically above Diana and the mercenary plunged a ninja sword towards Wonder Woman. The warrior blocked the blade with her own, the swords creating a cross as the two opponents struggled against each other's strength and plummeted through the clouds. When the ground came into sight Deadpool brought his other blade around to slice towards the Amazon's throat.

Wonder Woman thrust her head back and the blade soared above her with a whoosh, barely missing contact with flesh. She wrapped her legs around Deadpool and twisted so that the mercenary was below her when they made landing. Deadpool said, "Ow!" when they crashed to the ground with him taking the brunt of the hit. Diana plunged her blade through Deadpool's head, silencing him for a while. She gasped for breath as she looked around the battlefield. Superman fought Wonder Man in the sky while below them the Flash battled Blink, who kept sending him through portals to other places and back to Nevada. Black Canary fought Iron Fist as Shazam held his own against both Luke Cage and Red Hulk. Martian Manhunter fought Angel and the Vision in the clouds while Buffy struggled against the Winter Soldier. Hawkman kept trying to crush a tiny dot (who was a shrunken Ant-Man) with his mace, but never managed to actually land a blow. Then something very bad happened as a shadow flew above Wonder Woman and swooped down towards its prey.

The shadow enveloped Diana and black tendrils began strangling her, choking the Amazon princess into submission. The being then shot across the desert and transformed into Drakon, plowing through Wonder Man and Superman and shooting the Flash with heat vision before kneeing Blink in the blink of an eye. He grabbed Hawkman and threw him through one of the teleporting mutant's portals, sending him into a windy, dangerous wasteland. Drakon defied gravity with shocking power, leaping into the clouds and knocking Martian Manhunter into Vision, causing both of them to crash to the ground. He hovered above Angel and stomped on the winged superhero with the strength of a giant and while Warren Worthington III spiraled towards the ground Drakon flew towards Shazam's battle. Dylan's evil twin bulldozed through Red Hulk and threw Luke Cage into Shazam just as the superhero shot lightning from his hands. Drakon swerved to the right of the arcing lightning and he used his mind to direct it towards Buffy. The vampire slayer punched the Winter Soldier into the lightning's path and leaped away as the lightning struck Bucky Barnes, knocking him out. Drakon fell from the sky and plummeted into Iron Fist and he stared at Black Canary from atop her opponent's body.

Black Canary let loose with a scream that forced Drakon to cover his ears in pain and Spider-Man swung into the evil twin's path. He kicked Drakon in the side, throwing the evil being to the ground. Peter Parker landed in front of Drakon and boomed, "Face me, Dylan Strohaker. I have nothing else to lose!" Drakon spat blood as he got to his feet and hissed, "You still have your life." He leapt in for the kill just as a hundred shapes flew from the sky with green light emanating from them that could be seen from a thousand miles away. Hal Jordan led the Green Lantern Corps and he bellowed, "Fire!" His corps responded with a wave of green bullets that streaked across the sky before striking Drakon. He was flung into a crater and the Green Lantern forces hovered above the surrounded villain. "Drakon, you will answer for your crimes, which include murder and instigating a civil war among superheroes," Hal boomed, his voice augmented by a constructed megaphone.

Drakon sneered at the Green Lantern force and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The Green Lanterns landed on the ground and Hal glared at Spider-Man, who stared at his forces in a mixture of awe and anger. Hal bellowed, "Retreat with your heroes or face our wrath!" and Spider-Man hissed, "You win this battle, Light Saver, but I will win the war!" "I'm not a Light Saver anymore, just a Green Lantern. Now get the fuck out of here!" Hal screamed and Spidey ordered Blink to summon a portal to send his army back to Manhattan. When all of the surviving members of the Legion of Heroes departed, the surviving Light Savers and Green Lantern Corps found a pale Gwen Stacy lying in the middle of the battlefield. Superman used x-ray vision to see that she was still alive, but was only living by a thread. Wonder Woman called upon Hera to give her the strength to heal Gwen's wound, which sealed up almost immediately.

Gwen coughed and opened her eyes to find everyone gathered around her and Superman asked, "Who did this to you?" Gwen stared off into the distance as she said, "Peter." This was met with an outburst of anger and Shazam bellowed, "I'm going to tear that guy's heart out!" The Light Savers and Green Lantern Corps nodded in agreement and Superman called upon other DC superheroes and Hal called upon the entire Green Lantern Corps to come to Earth. It was time to assemble their forces. The war had begun.

Chapter 8 the Battle of Atlantis

Aquaman struggled against his bonds and with great exertion finally managed to break free. He broke the chains trapping Mera and they swam towards the other Atlantis, where Orm's forces, Arthur's forces, were heading. After an hour of fast swimming the king and queen came upon Marvel's Atlantis, which was fortified and half of Attuma's army was on the field of battle while the other half remained inside the walls to defend the city from Ocean Master's army. Orm and his troops stood facing Attuma and his forces across a mile-long expanse of open sea. Mera raised her hands and pointed them at two archers at the back of the army and used water to knock them unconscious and drag their bodies to her and Arthur's position. They took the archers' armor off and placed it on their own bodies so they could sneak up in disguise on Ocean Master and kill him. If they didn't accomplish this then they would at least be able to fight the other Atlantis in the battle without being impeded by Orm and his men.

Arthur and Mera snuck around the outskirts of Orm's army and made their way towards the commander himself. Attuma boomed, "We don't have to fight; just surrender now and there won't be any bloodshed, Orm!" Ocean Master laughed and bellowed across the expanse, "You false Atlanteans have been trying for a while to take over my Atlantis and I won't stand for it anymore! My men are better trained and will defeat you on this battlefield where you will go down in history as having been the first Atlantean king to be killed in a civil war. Now let the battle begin!" Orm raised a clenched fist in the air and brought it down, signaling his men to charge. Arthur and Mera were fifty feet away from him when the cavalry surged around them, forcing the two to charge with them. Attuma boomed, "Release the arrows!" and his archers in the back and crossbowmen in the front of his army let fly waves of deadly projectiles that struck Orm's men on the first three lines dead. Ocean Master's archers released their own volley of arrows that pierced Attuma's cavalrymen, killing and wounding over a hundred men.

Aquaman hefted his trident in the air as he swam with Mera by his side towards battle. The two Atlantean armies met in the middle of the battlefield with a resounding CLANG that echoed across the seven seas. Orm was a blur as he sliced his way through enemy Atlanteans, creating a path for his infantry to pass through and breach Attuma's army. Arthur met the first enemy soldier and he gashed a hole in the man's throat before spiraling towards a dozen enemies with his trident leading the way. He plowed through six of them, ramming his trident through their chests. Arthur pulled his blade free and decapitated three more soldiers before plunging his trident through two ribcages and spinning around to slice the last man in half. Mera severed an enemy's head and cleaved her sword through another soldier's armpit, severing arm from body. She spun, splitting the man in half across the waist. Mera thrust her sword through another enemy's heart and parried a thrust made by a burly Marvel Atlantean wielding an axe. She sliced her blade towards his throat, but the man stepped aside and punched Mera in the gut while he swung his axe in a semicircle, determined to crush her head in. Mera ducked under the blow and rammed her blade through the axe wielder's chest with a grunt of exertion.

Mera left her blade in the large man's chest and pointed her hands at a hundred soldiers bearing down on her position. Water controlled by Mera enveloped the men and she slammed the palms of her hands together, crushing all the men to death. Arthur swept his trident under a soldier, knocking him off his feet so that he landed on his back and Arthur plunged his trident down. The ancient weapon pierced through the fallen man's chest, ending him just as a thousand enemy infantrymen attacked him and seven hundred of Orm's pike men. Aquaman spun around, slicing his sword through a dozen enemy soldiers as Orm's men leveled their pikes and half of the infantrymen impaled themselves on the sharp weapons. The other half swept around the deadly weapons and attacked Orm's pike men from behind and killed two hundred of Arthur's brethren before Orm's right flank struck the infantrymen from the east. There was a brutal skirmish and Arthur killed thirty soldiers before the last infantrymen fell to one of Orm's crossbowmen. The surviving DC Atlantean pike men and right flank charged into another fight, this time against Attuma's cavalry.

Orm's right and left flank joined together as they gradually pushed the enemy cavalry towards Atlantis's walls, where they would be pressed against the city. Murk sliced a man's head off and flung a knife through another enemy's skull. Orm fought ten paces away from his friend and his sword forms were astonishing as he killed a hundred of Attuma's cavalrymen in fewer than five minutes. Ocean Master was a force to be reckoned with. Swinging his sword back and forth, severing heads and hamstringing limbs, Orm allowed none of Attuma's soldiers to escape his wrath. Ocean Master's cavalry fought Attuma's men behind Orm and he flung an enemy cavalryman back with a clenched fist, impaling him on a trident. The glorious weapon pierced through the soldier's back, killing him on impact. Orm looked closely at the man and noticed he wore archer's armor but there was no mistaking who this man was by his build. The height and girth matched exactly to that of his brother Arthur.

Ocean Master was about to attack his brother when a wave of enemy cavalrymen charged towards his position. Orm gripped his sword with two hands and slammed his blade into the ground just as the enemy surrounded him. A wave of destruction rolled forth from Ocean Master's kneeling form, shredding the two hundred cavalrymen to pieces. Arthur cut a stray soldier down the middle and gazed in shock at his brother and the power he had displayed. Orm stood to his full height and eyed his brother with fire in his eyes. He leapt at Arthur in a burst of motion and soared towards the former King of Atlantis with weapon at the ready. Orm released a surge of energy from the tip of his blade and it flew towards Arthur, who spun his trident at the white hot energy. There was an explosion followed by Arthur's trident clattering to the sea bed and Orm landed on the ground in front of Aquaman, blocking the superhero from reaching his powerful weapon. "Prepare to meet your fate, Arthur!" Orm bellowed and Aquaman tore the helmet from his face, throwing it aside as he said, "And I hope you're ready to meet yours." They leapt at each other and attacked with fury like none other. Aquaman punched Ocean Master in the face and dodged a wild swing before throwing his knee into him, knocking Orm to the ground. This gave Arthur time to scoop up his trident and face his brother again.

Attuma sliced his blade across an enemy soldier's throat and punched a spiked fist into Orm's friend Murk. The fist struck Murk in the nose and he cried out in pain as he grabbed for a knife at his belt which he flung towards the King of Atlantis. Attuma batted aside the small blade with a long spear which he thrust through Murk's chest. Murk tackled Attuma to the ground as he slowly died and he gripped the King of Atlantis by the neck, strangling him. After thirty seconds Attuma stopped struggling and Murk slumped to the ground beside him. He gazed to the side and saw the battle raging on before darkness overcame him.

Mera flung enemy soldiers through the water until they struck spears and died. She swept her hand in a fluid motion, decapitating an enemy archer with a sword she controlled and she flung the blade through several more soldiers before coming across the dead King of Atlantis. Attuma lie bleeding on the ground with Murk slumped over him. It looked like they had killed each other in a violent struggle. Mera thrust her head back and boomed so everyone could hear, "King Attuma is dead, slain by Murk. Now retreat or meet the same fate as your king, Marvel Atlanteans!" The dwindling enemy force scurried back towards the city but before they could reach the walls a larger force rushed out of Atlantis with Namor in the lead. It was the other half of the Marvel Atlantean army! Namor boomed, "I am now your king. If you flee from this fight then you will become traitors of the crown. Now bring me Orm's head!"

The Atlanteans who had begun to retreat turned around and faced Orm's army, which had lost a quarter of its men. Namor's reserve forces backed the Marvel Atlanteans and they combined as they charged towards their last stand. DC and Marvel Atlanteans met in a storm of swords, spears, arrows, pole arms, and axes. Mera watched the carnage from the periphery of the battle and she unleashed a vortex of death. The water tornado swept up a large chunk of Namor's forces and flung them to their deaths. Mera created a dozen more tornadoes that tore across the battlefield killing large amounts of soldiers on both sides.

Arthur's orange chain male glistened as he fought Orm with his ancient trident. Arthur thrust his trident towards Ocean Master, who sidestepped the prongs and swung his sword towards Aquaman's waist. Aquaman leapt over the blade and slammed his weapon down towards Orm's face, but the sea king blocked the trident and elbowed Arthur in the gut. He punched Aquaman across the face, sending the Atlantean superhero through ranks of enemy and ally soldiers alike. When Arthur regained his composure he picked up his trident and sent lightning from the heavens to strike down his brother. Lightning arced through the ocean waters and struck Ocean Master's sword, which released a shield that protected its wielder. As the lightning dissipated Ocean Master ran towards Aquaman and shot a white hot bar of energy at his brother, who deflected the blast with his trident. When the siblings met once again sword fought trident and both brothers grew weary as the drawn out battle took its toll.

Namor sliced his sword through a charging enemy Atlantean, cutting him to pieces. He lunged at a formation of enemy crossbowmen, tearing through them one by one until they all lay bleeding at the king's feet. Namor watched as two dozen of his brethren were swept up by a vortex and killed and he roared in anger when he caught sight of who created the tornadoes. The lone figure had long flowing red hair and she stood to the side of the battle as she issued death from her hands in the form of relentless water currents and swirling wind. The bitch is too cowardly to fight close combat and chooses to murder from a distance. I'll show her who she's messing with: the true King of the Seven Seas! Namor thought as he swam towards Mera with blade at the ready.

Only half of both the armies remained. Bodies covered the battlefield and Namor growled at the loss of his brethren and the Sub-Mariner shot at Mera and crashed into her with the force of a titan. Mera tumbled to the sea bed floor and looked up to find Namor swinging his blade towards her neck. She ducked and as the sword flew over her head she used a current of water to fling Namor into Atlantis. The Sub-Mariner struck the walls of the city and crashed through the fortifications before landing at the bottom step leading up to the castle. He regained his bearings just as Mera swam and drove a fist into his face, throwing him into the door leading to the throne room. Namor got to his feet, standing before his throne just as Mera floated into the throne room and gathered all her strength in the form of a concentrated ball of water. She threw it at Namor and the Imperius Rex tried blocking the ball with his sword, but the concentrated water disarmed him and slammed into his chest. Namor was thrown into his throne, where he slumped in exhaustion as Mera walked up the steps to execute him.

Arthur thrust his trident towards Orm, who knocked the weapon aside and brought his sword around to slice through Arthur's neck. Aquaman blocked the blade just in time and kneed Ocean Master in the gut crumpling him to the ground. Orm tried to get to his feet only for Aquaman to drive a fist into his face, knocking him back down. Arthur plunged his trident down towards Orm only to be blasted by a stream of hot energy that threw him into soldiers wielding pole arms riding narwhals. He telepathically told the narwhals to attack Orm and Ocean Master slaughtered all of the beasts except for one, which stabbed him through the back with its horn. Ocean Master gasped in pain as he crumpled to his knees, where Arthur executed him with a downward strike. Aquaman picked up his brother's head and held it aloft in the ocean water for everyone to see. The fighting armies stopped their battle to stare at Arthur, who boomed, "Orm is dead! I reclaim the throne of Atlantis! Now destroy Namor's forces before they kill every single one of us!" He chucked Ocean Master's head into the midst of his army to prove he truly was dead. Arthur then led his troops for one final assault to take over the enemy Atlantis.

Arthur's forces battered Namor's forces against the walls of the city with newfound strength. When Namor's Atlanteans were pressed against the walls Arthur and his troops slaughtered the entire enemy force. Two thirds of Arthur's men lie dead on the battlefield and King Arthur surveyed the aftermath of the bloody battle. There were no Marvel Atlantean survivors. Aquaman boomed, "Men, let's invade the city and take it by storm!" Arthur and his troops broke through the city walls and began fighting their way through Atlantis towards the castle. Guards and archers were all that stood in their way and in under half an hour Aquaman stood before the castle door with all the enemy Atlanteans dead in his wake.

Mera prepared to execute Namor when the castle doors burst open and Arthur stood facing the two Atlanteans. Mera spun towards him and smiled in relief that he had survived the battle. The moment of distraction was all Namor needed as he sliced his blade through Mera's neck. The head spun away from her body, which slumped to the ground in a pool of blood. King Arthur stared in horror at his wife's corpse and he cried out, "MERA!" and he rushed towards her headless body. He caressed Mera and glared up at Namor, who stood from his throne smiling cruelly. "I win, Aquaman!" Namor boomed and he brought his sword above his head before leaping down the throne steps to go in for the kill. Arthur blocked the blade with his raised trident and smacked the back of his weapon against the Sub-Mariner's face, flinging him into a wall. Arthur charged towards Namor with trident at the ready.

Aquaman swung his trident down towards Namor's head but the powerful Atlantean rolled away from the passing prongs, which clanged against the floor. Namor threw himself at King Arthur and flew them through the castle corridors before emerging on a parapet outside, where he pummeled Arthur in the chest and kicked him off the ledge. Aquaman managed to grab ahold of a stone pillar and drag himself back up onto the parapet. Namor kicked Arthur in the face before he could stand up and lifted him by the neck above the city a thousand feet below. The Sub-Mariner thrust his sword towards Arthur's chest but Aquaman knocked the weapon aside with a strong arm. He then released a telekinetic summons and slammed a fist into Namor's throat, crushing his windpipe. Arthur slammed an elbow towards Namor's head, but he blocked the strike with his forearm before head-butting Arthur to the stone floor. Aquaman stood up only to get beaten bloody by the Sub-Mariner, who vented all his power and strength at Arthur. "This is my home, sea king! NOW GO BACK TO YOURS!" Namor roared as he smashed a fist into Arthur's nose, breaking it and crushing his face.

Aquaman fell to his knees and yelled, "You murdered my wife!" He tackled Namor to the ground and beat him across the face five times before thrusting his trident down towards his heart. Namor caught the trident between two hands right before it could slip through his flesh and he roared in exertion as he threw the weapon away from Arthur's grasp. The Sub-Mariner then pulled Aquaman to the ground and pummeled him, breaking three ribs. He slammed his knee into Arthur's abdomen and elbowed him in the chest before gripping Aquaman by the head. Namor began squeezing Arthur's head and the DC superhero's skull was about to be crushed when a large growl washed over the two fighters. Topo swept Arthur up in one tentacle and slammed another limb onto Namor, crushing him and breaking the castle. Namor fell with the collapsing castle to the streets of Atlantis below. He heaved a chunk of stone off of his chest and stood up amidst the rubble of his castle.

Arthur thanked Topo as he caught sight of his trident drifting aimlessly through the ocean water. He grabbed the trident and looked down at the broken castle, searching for a surviving Namor. When Aquaman spotted the Sub-Mariner he summoned sharks and followed them, swimming down towards his Marvel counterpart. Namor punched one of the sharks as it snapped at him and tackled another one to the sea bed, strangling the animal. He looked up just in time to find a dozen other sharks surrounding him with King Arthur in their midst. Aquaman pointed at Namor and bellowed, "Burn in hell, you monster!" The sharks attacked, biting and chowing on him. When they were done chowing, Namor floated with two missing legs and one missing arm with a hundred cuts across his chest. He drew in a deep, gargled breath as Arthur swam to his side. Aquaman yelled in anger before slamming his trident down through Namor's heart, killing him.

King Arthur allowed the sharks to finish their feast as he walked towards his forces, which were amassed in the city facing the collapsed castle. He ordered three of his men to retrieve Mera's body and he stood before his army, contemplating what should be done. There was a sudden buzzing in Aquaman's ears, which turned out to be a transmission from Superman ordering all DC superheroes to gather in the Watchtower. There was going to be a civil war against Marvel superheroes on land as well. Arthur addressed his men: "It appears that the civil war has extended to land. We have other battles to fight, Atlanteans! Now prepare for our journey to the surface, where we will join our allies in eradicating the Marvel universe!" Arthur watched as his men prepared for another war, this time on a much larger scale. Nobody will survive, Aquaman realized as he led his men to the surface world.

Chapter 9 the Gathering

Superman stood in the Watchtower with Wonder Woman by his side facing most of the DC superheroes. The Flash, Hal Jordan, Cyborg, Supergirl, Swamp Thing, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Red Hood, Shazam, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Robin, Red Robin, Batgirl, Grifter, Black Canary, Buffy, Gwen (who had insisted on fighting even though she almost died in the previous battle), Artemis, the Atom, Captain Atom, Lobo, Spectre, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Deadman, Dr. Manhattan, Doctor Fate, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Guy Gardner, Huntress, Ice, John Stewart, Jonah Hex, Katana, Kid Flash, Nite Owl II, Ozymandias, Plastic Man, Raven, Red Arrow, Rorschach, Starfire, Star Girl, Silk Spectre, Zatanna, and Orion were all in the Watchtower assembled before the two lovers.

Outside in outer space, the entire Green Lantern Corps prepared for war. Down below on Earth on the coast of Rhode Island, Aquaman's Atlanteans prepared for battle with Marvel. Wonder Woman's Amazons stood by their side, ready to march for Manhattan to attack the Legion of Heroes. Hawkgirl had found Hawkman in the Himalayas with a thousand Thanagarians by her side. The Thanagarians now flew over the Atlantean and Amazon forces as they marched towards battle. Superman faced the assembled heroes standing before him and Diana wrapped an arm around his shoulders comfortingly as he drew in a deep breath. "Today we charge towards war and despair, but we will emerge victorious! WE ARE DC! Nothing can destroy us, not even Marvel. I never wanted this, but the time has come to wipe out Marvel before they exterminate us. For now, we will watch how Spider-Man positions his troops and attack from different fronts if we have to. This meeting is dismissed!" Everyone scattered and Clark hardened himself, determined to survive. He looked down from the Watchtower's glass window and used his super vision and hearing to spy on Spider-Man.

Down in Manhattan, Spider-Man stood before the remaining members of the Legion of Heroes. Wonder Man, Falcon, Blade, Ghost Rider, Ms. Marvel, Doctor Strange, Deadpool, Ant-Man, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Moon Knight, Blink, Angel, Daredevil, Vision, Black Panther, Banshee, Emma Frost, Sunspot, Gambit, Red Hulk, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jubilee, Nova, Spider-Woman, Sunfire, Silver Surfer, Warpath, Black Cat, Wasp, Winter Soldier, and White Tiger were all that remained after the battle with the Light Savers in Nevada. Spider-Man had gotten into contact with other Marvel superheroes (and villains turned heroes) and they stood beside the Legion of Heroes.

They included the Guardians of the Galaxy (Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Drax) who had found Tony Stark drifting through space and had added him to their team. Other superheroes in Spider-Man's army were She-Hulk, Adam Warlock, Agent Zero, Azazel, Batroc the Leaper, Ben Reilly, Black Bolt, Medusa, Boomerang, Blizzard, Blockbuster, Cannonball, Captain Britain, Crossbones, Daken, Darwin, Dazzler, Dracula and a legion of vampires, Enchantress, Fin Fang Foom, Giant Man, Grim Reaper, Kallark the Gladiator and an army of Shi'Ar soldiers, Ink, Yondu and ten spaceships filled with Ravagers, Ironclad, John Wraith, Kraven the Hunter, Master Chief, Snake Eyes, Mysterio, Riptide, and Smasher. The entire Nova Corps hovered above the Marvel army, following Spider-Man as well.

"We will fight in three different locations so there isn't a huge mess. Here in Manhattan, Atlanta, and Hong Kong," Spider-Man told his army. He was about to say who went to what battlefield but was interrupted by a burst of light. Out stepped five figures; one of them was bearing a hulking form, the other four average heights. As the bright portal vanished their faces became clear and everyone gasped when Apocalypse and his four horsemen came into view. Wolverine was Death; the Phoenix, Famine; Sauron, War; Batman, Pestilence. "It's him!" Ink cried out and Giant Man said, "I'll be damned, it's truly Apocalypse." Moon Knight said, "And there's Wolverine! He looks a little on the rough side, but he's still alive." Grim Reaper muttered, "People these days really enjoy cheating death." "OH SHIT!" Quicksilver screamed when he caught sight of Sauron with a dark mist shrouding him. "Why is Batman here? HE'S DC! KILL THAT UNDEAD BITCH!" Dazzler shrieked. The Marvel army kept bickering and Spider-Man bellowed, "SILENCE!" as he stared with fear and anger at the five powerful beings.

"What is it you want, Apocalypse? Why would you revive these people? Actually, first I want to know how the hell you're still alive when Dylan Strohaker killed you in the second battle of New York?" Spider-Man asked and Apocalypse smiled. "Nothing can kill me, Spider-Man. You should know that by now. I revived these useful heroes and villains so that I can help you eradicate DC. Batman was hard to convince, but he finally gave in to my powers after a week of torture. My four horsemen are 'alive' but not truly. The only thing giving them life is me and my abilities." Spider-Man tried wrapping his head around Apocalypse's words and finally asked, "How do we know if we can trust you." "You can't, but please note I don't plan on being eradicated by the DC universe and will do anything in my power to stop them," Apocalypse replied.

Spider-Man thought for a moment and nodded his head. "I know I'm going to regret this. You're on the team!" Peter said and Apocalypse clapped his hands and asked, "So what's the plan, 'sir?'" Spider-Man said, "There will be three battlefields, as I've already told everyone else. I want at least one of your horsemen at each location and you to be in the biggest battle, which will likely be here. Dracula and his vampires, Blade, Wonder Man, Banshee, Blink, Sunspot, Agent Zero, Adam Warlock, Batroc the Leaper, She-Hulk, Ink, Blizzard, Iron Fist, Emma Frost, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Fin Fang Foom, Red Hulk, Moon Knight, Crossbones, Dazzler, Darwin, Ben Reilly, Snake Eyes, and Boomerang will go to Hong Kong with Death and Pestilence. Wolverine and Batman nodded and collected the chosen heroes in a group before Blink summoned portals to transport them to Hong Kong. When that group left Spider-Man faced the remaining superheroes and villains. "Yondu and the Ravagers, Gladiator and your Shi'Ar forces, Smasher, Captain Britain, Quicksilver, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Ironclad, John Wraith, Daken, Cannonball, Black Bolt, Medusa, Master Chief, Gambit, Jubilee, Black Cat, and Ghost Rider will go to Atlanta with War." Sauron teleported the force to Georgia's major city and when he disappeared Spider-Man faced the remaining Marvel characters.

"Richard and the Nova Corps, Blockbuster, Enchantress, Riptide, Mysterio, Azazel, Falcon, Deadpool, Scarlet Witch, Giant Man, Grim Reaper, Angel, Winter Soldier, Kraven, Ant Man, Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel, Silver Surfer, White Tiger, Warpath, Daredevil, Vision, Sunfire, Wasp, Luke Cage, Famine, Apocalypse, and I will fight here in Manhattan," Peter said. Jean Grey and Apocalypse stood by Spider-Man's side as the three positioned their troops across and over the city.

Superman released his super senses and turned from the wide window to stare at his fellow superheroes. "THAT BASTARD!" he roared and the Man of Steel smashed a fist on one of the computer screens, shattering it. The Flash asked, "What is it?" and Superman growled, "Spider-Man's decided to allow supervillains into his army." He began sobbing as he said in a distraught voice, "Apocalypse is back and he has turned Batman, Wolverine, and Jean into three of his horsemen." Wonder Woman asked, "So Batman is alive but now evil?" and Superman responded, "He's undead, but not like a zombie. They all have enhanced powers and Batman is wearing the Ring of Power to grant him immense strength and unlimited abilities." Red Hood, Robin, Red Robin, and Batgirl began weeping as Grifter asked, "What about the fourth horseman? In the stories there is always a fourth horseman following Apocalypse." Superman steeled himself as he said in a shaky voice, "It's Sauron. He's back and more powerful than ever. During the Red War he died with the ring on, so now that he's 'alive' he has his abilities he gained from wearing the ring, but is even more powerful because of Apocalypse."

Wonder Woman howled in despair and Barry shook his head, not being able to fully comprehend the revealed horror. "What are we going to do?" Hawkgirl asked and Clark boomed, "We are going to war and likely death and will take out as many Marvel douchebags as possible! Now I overheard where Spider-Man's sending each of his forces and I'll split us into groups to combat this threat at three locations. Diana, you will lead the Amazons to battle at Hong Kong and bring Manhunter, Cyborg, Artemis, Buffy, Black Canary, Ice, Ozymandias, Kyle Rayner, Starfire, Booster Gold, Kid Flash, Huntress, Katana, Robin, and Doctor Fate with you." Wonder Woman nodded her head and kissed Clark before leaving with her group to inform the Amazons to go to Hong Kong with them.

Superman eyed his comrades and said, "This next group will fight in Atlanta. Hawkman, Hawkgirl and the Thanagarians, Supergirl, Swamp Thing, Red Hood, the Flash, Lobo, Captain Atom, Red Arrow, Batgirl, Spectre, Blue Beetle, Nite Owl II, Dr. Manhattan, Guy Gardner, and Raven." Once that group departed Clark faced the remaining superheroes. "Aquaman and the Atlantean army, Hal Jordan, John Stewart and the Green Lantern Corps, Plastic Man, Rorschach, Shazam, Deadman, Gwen, Zatanna, Firestorm, Grifter, Red Robin, the Atom, Elongated Man, Star Girl, Jonah Hex, Silk Spectre, Orion and I will fight in Manhattan. NOW LET'S GO KILL SOME MARVEL SCUM!" They left the Watchtower and went to their battlefront to fight a civil war.

Chapter 10 the Battle of Hong Kong

Drakon flew above the world and gazed down below at the three battlefields where the fates of Marvel and DC would be decided. He stared at the sun and smiled, spreading his arms. The evil twin basked in the sunlight, gaining power, before shooting towards China. He reached Hong Kong in less than ten seconds, where he saw the Marvel forces already assembled as Wonder Woman's forces reached the city. Drakon fell to the top of a skyscraper and landed gracefully. He watched the battle unfold with an evil glint in his eyes.

Dracula's vampires were spread out across the rooftops and as Wonder Woman and her Amazons walked down the main street they watched with anticipation. A sudden screech pierced the night and Banshee flew above the street, diving straight for the DC superheroes. At that moment the vampires jumped out of hiding, landing on the streets and attacking the Amazons. As Artemis led the Amazon army against Dracula and his bloodsuckers, the DC superheroes were attacked from behind by the Marvel superheroes with Wonder Man leading. Black Canary let loose with a powerful scream that knocked Banshee out of the sky and the mutant crashed to the street from the height of a hundred feet, killing him. Agent Zero took aim at Black Canary's back and pulled the trigger, but Martian Manhunter absorbed the bullet and transformed his arm into a sword. He thrust his sword arm through Agent Zero, slicing through his heart and ending him. Fin Fang Foom shot fire at the Martian and J'onn cried out in pain as he tumbled to his knees. The dragon flew straight for the Martian with maw open wide only to get entrapped by Kyle Rayner and his power ring. The Green Lantern flung the dragon across half the city with a giant heave before shooting constructed bullets at Sunspot.

Sunspot destroyed the stream of bullets with fire that struck Kyle, singing him. Kyle bellowed in pain and after recovering fell upon his prey as he constructed an RPG. He pulled the trigger, releasing the explosive which crashed into Sunspot. The Green Lantern was flung back by the force of the explosion, as were duelers Adam Warlock and Ozymandias. When the smoke cleared, Kyle saw the smoldering corpse of Sunspot and looked up to find the building next to the dead mutant falling towards him, the foundations having been broken by the explosion. Kyle Rayner created a protective bubble around his body before Batroc the Leaper and Darwin were crushed by the falling building. Darwin adapted, surviving using a rock-hard back, and he leaped towards Starfire. She destroyed Darwin with a starbolt blast and flew towards Ink, shooting green energy at the mutant. The blast flung Ink to the ground, where she ripped his head off.

Wonder Woman and Wonder Man collided in midair, collapsing the two buildings beside them in a resounding BOOM. They fell away from each other, crashing to the cracked pavement below. Diana recovered first, zooming towards Wonder Man and striking him with an uppercut. The hit sent the superhero gliding above the ground before crashing through the glass window of a department store. The Amazon rushed in after him only to get punched in the face. Diana fell to the ground and kicked Wonder Man with such a force that he went flying up through the ceiling and into the night sky.

Wonder Woman shot through the hole after him with blade at the ready. As Wonder Man fell towards her, Diana pointed her indestructible sword at him and he gasped in shock and pain as the blade seeped through his chest and emerged from his back. The Amazon princess smiled in satisfaction as she pulled her blade free from the corpse of Wonder Man, letting the body plummet to the ground. When Diana landed a vampire jumped out of the shadows of an alleyway and Wonder Woman severed its head before it could bite her. She-Hulk charged towards Diana and Wonder Woman yelled a battle cry as she zoomed towards the powerhouse.

Buffy encountered Blade and flung a dagger at the half-vampire, who ran to the side and kicked the slayer in her ribs. She crumpled to the ground in pain and Blade swung his sword down towards her neck, but Buffy tucked and rolled under Blade's legs, coming up behind the superhero. Buffy plunged a knife through the back of Blade's neck and kicked him in the back, sending him to an early grave. Adam Warlock swung a fist at Ozymandias, who dodged to the side and punched him across the face with lightning speed. Adam kicked the Watchman in the gut, displacing Ozymandias's organs. He crumpled to the ground and Adam Warlock sneered, "You were a fool to think you could beat me, an angel incarnate!" Adam socked the Watchman across the face, knocking him to the ground. He then proceeded to stomp on Ozymandias's head with the strength of a god, killing the DC character. Adam laughed in victory before approaching Robin, who was fighting Dazzler.

Cyborg ran out of a swarm of vampires and spun around using his energy cannon to obliterate a quarter of them. Crossbones and Iron Fist cornered Victor Stone and the cyborg superhero cursed as the mercenary shot him with an AK-47 and Iron Fist threw a fist at his chest. Before the fist could connect Cyborg dodged to the side and shot Crossbones in the head. Iron Fist punched Victor in the back, cracking the metal that sustained his life. Cyborg grunted in pain and he shot rapid fire at the ninja, but Iron Fist dodged all of the bullets before kicking Victor in the face. Cyborg fell to the ground and looked up at the ninja as he brought back a fist to end him once and for all. Iron Fist screamed, "HYAA!" and drove his fist towards Cyborg's metal chest.

Artemis carved her way through vampires to find Iron Fist standing above a battered Cyborg. The Amazon warrior charged towards the ninja and thrust her sword through his back before his fist could pierce Victor's armor. The sword burst out through Iron Fist's chest and the martial arts master grasped at the blade before thumping to the battleground. Artemis helped Cyborg to his feet and he said, "Thanks for the assist. Now let's go kill those fucking vampires." A dozen of them were running towards the two superheroes and they fought in a craze. After a minute all twelve vampires lie dead at Artemis and Victor's feet.

Huntress flung a dagger through Boomerang's eye socket and into his brain. She spun around as Ben Reilly swung across the city skyline and kicked her. The force of the strike threw Huntress to the ground and Spider-Man landed above the Bird of Prey with a web sword at the ready. Huntress screamed in rage as she kicked the web slinger in the balls and tackled him to the ground, where she slit his throat. Ben Reilly gurgled as blood poured out of his neck wound and Huntress ran away from the dying superhero to confront Moon Knight. She threw a knife at the crazy superhero, who caught the blade by the haft and flung it back at Huntress. The Bird of Prey jumped to the side, only getting grazed in the arm by the knife, and rolled towards Moon Knight. She leaped out of the role with dagger leading but Moon Knight sidestepped the blade and pulled out a pistol, shooting Huntress in the head. "Dumb bitch," Moon Knight muttered after spitting on her corpse.

Buffy plunged her stake through a vampire's heart and spun around to stab another one. As the two bloodsuckers disintegrated Buffy found herself facing the king of vampires. Dracula hissed with bloodlust as he swiped sharp nails at the vampire slayer's throat. Buffy ducked under the blow and drove her dagger towards Dracula's heart, but he moved so that it only pierced his shoulder. Dracula screeched in pain as he grabbed Buffy by the neck and threw her into a brick wall. She grunted in pain and flung three daggers in quick succession at Dracula's face. Two pierced his eyes and the king of vampires clawed at his face, blinded as Buffy rushed towards her nemesis and thrust her fourth dagger through his heart. Dracula turned to dust and Buffy continued slaying vampires as the battle raged on.

Kid Flash zoomed around Blizzard's storm, creating a vortex that sucked up the dangerous storm. He punched Blizzard into his vortex, tearing the villain to pieces before grabbing a stake off Buffy's belt. Kid Flash zoomed throughout the vampire army driving the sharpened wood through their ranks until they all exploded into ash. One third of the Amazons lie dead amidst the vanquished vampire army, including Aleka. Kid Flash continued running, thrusting the dagger through Moon Knight's throat and Red Hulk, who grabbed him in anger. The Hulk tore Kid Flash in half and beat his chest just before Booster Gold plowed into him.

Robin beat Dazzler to submission and strangled her to death before a strong hand gripped him by the neck and began squeezing. Before a second could pass Martian Manhunter tackled Adam Warlock to the ground and began throttling him as Robin ran away in fright. "You dare try to kill a little boy? Damian is only ten, you asshole!" J'onn roared and he plunged his fingers into Adam Warlock's eyes. Adam screamed in pain and kicked the Martian with all his might, flinging him into a truck. J'onn picked up the truck and slugged Adam as he dove in to attack, sending him streaking across the city skyline. The angelic superhero burst through several billboards before regaining his composure and shooting towards J'onn, but the Martian had already zoomed over to him and grappled onto the Marvel superhero. They plummeted towards the ground and Manhunter twisted his body around so that Adam Warlock was under him.

Adam head-butted J'onn, but he didn't release him as they crashed through a hotel lobby. People ran away from the scene screaming in fear as the two superheroes rolled across the ground beating each other. When Adam Warlock threw the Martian Manhunter into an innocent bellhop, killing him, J'onn vented out his anger. Manhunter channeled all his power into one strike, which was an uppercut that launched Adam into the sun, burning him to ashes. Martian Manhunter flew outside to battle Fin Fang Foom to the death.

Wonder Woman and She-Hulk both punched each other in the face and were thrown back by the force of the strikes. Diana recovered first, taking to the sky and dropping towards She-Hulk with blade at the ready. She plunged her blade through She-Hulk's chest and stalked away from the corpse to join her fellow Amazons in fighting the Marvel superheroes. Booster Gold threw Red Hulk into a tower, which collapsed on top of the raging beast. The gamma monster leaped out of the wreckage towards him. Kyle Rayner flew out of a collapsed building and constructed a train in midair, ramming it into Red Hulk right before he reached Booster Gold. "Thanks, man. I would be a goner without you!" Booster Gold said and shook the Green Lantern's hand. A blast of heat vision tore a hole through Kyle's heart and he fell to the ground, where he was sliced to pieces by Death's claws.

Booster Gold stared in shock at Pestilence, who was hovering behind where Kyle Rayner had floated. Gold's scream was cut short as Batman snapped his neck. A wall of ice shot from Ice's hands and surged towards Emma Frost, who shattered the wall with ice shards that pierced through Ice's neck and chest. Starfire swooped from the sky and slammed into Emma Frost. They flew through a Burger King and crashed to the ground in a large crater. Emma released an ice storm at Starfire, who withstood the attack and walked right up to Emma. Emma Frost asked, "How are you doing this?" as ice continued to pelt Starfire, who seemed unfazed by the attack. In a blur, Starfire grabbed Emma by the neck and twisted, killing the corrupt superhero.

"You shouldn't have done that, now I have to kill you," Doctor Strange boomed as he floated down from the sky. Starfire shot towards him with the speed of a cheetah, but Strange executed her with a combined weave of fire and wind. Doctor Fate appeared in front of Doctor Strange, magic already leaving his fingertips. Doctor Strange destroyed the stream of blue fire with ice that struck Doctor Fate's hand. The ice absorbed through Doctor Fate's palm and mixed with his ice before shooting from his hands in a flash of white light. Doctor Strange waved a hand, forming a shield in the ice's path.

The powerful magic shattered the shield and the ice struck Doctor Strange in the chest. He gasped in pain as the ice encased him and he bellowed, "Fire!" Strange's body erupted in flames and melted the ice away. Doctor Fate stared in awe at the fiery magician, who was somehow unscathed by the flames. "DIE!" Doctor Strange boomed and a fire storm roared towards Doctor Fate, who combated the flames with a wave of water. The liquid extinguished the fire and fell upon Doctor Strange, snuffing out his flames and throwing him into an office building. Doctor Strange flew out of the building with the speed of lightning and formed a sword, swinging the blade at Doctor Fate's head. Doctor Fate ducked under the strike and used light to create a shield, which he used to block the next strike.

Doctor Strange slashed his sword furiously, determined to gut his nemesis. Fate blocked every swing, slash, and thrust and after a minute of hiding behind his shield he released a ray of sunlight that knocked Strange's blade out of his reach. He followed the spell with lightning, which crackled across the sky and struck Doctor Strange. Doctor Fate watched in victory as Strange burnt to a crisp and disintegrated. His happiness was quickly washed away when he caught sight of Wolverine slaughtering Robin.

Katana flung a knife at Death, who knocked the blade aside with his claws and leaped away from Robin's body towards her. The beast sliced Katana's head off and a black mist shrouded him as he spun around to face Doctor Fate. "Are you ready to die, helmet-head?" Wolverine hissed and Doctor Fate boomed, "It is not I who will die in this battle!" He released a bar of ice, fire, wind, spirit, and earth at the horseman. The powerful beam struck Death, flinging him into the midst of the Amazonian army. Wolverine smiled sadistically as he sliced through the women, killing twenty before coming across Artemis. She swung her sword towards Death's neck, but the horseman leapt above the blade and decapitated the Amazon warrior. He flung Artemis's head in the air in victory and a commanding voice boomed, "STOP THIS MADNESS, LOGAN!"

Death spun around to find a furious Wonder Woman. "What a pleasure to be given this opportunity, Princess," Wolverine hissed and he plunged his claws towards her chest. Wonder Woman blocked the claws with her indestructible bracelets and she socked Death across the face. Wolverine was thrown into a dumpster by the force of the punch and he growled in anger as he ran towards Diana with shocking speed. Death slit four more Amazon throats on his way to Wonder Woman and she lassoed the horseman right before he could gut her. Princess Diana asked, "Can you ever be good again?" and Wolverine replied, "No." He sliced the Lasso of Truth in half and tackled Wonder Woman to the ground. Shank. Diana's blade slid through Wolverine's neck, severing Death's head even as he plunged his claws through her chest.

Cyborg pushed the headless Wolverine off Diana, who was crying in pain as blood poured from her wound. Doctor Fate hovered above the Amazon warrior, inspecting her horrible wound. After a tense ten seconds, Fate said, "It's not fatal, but I'm going to need time to heal her." Red Hulk, Blink, Black Panther, Snake Eyes and an evil Batman stalked towards the tightly packed Amazons. Cyborg, Buffy, Black Canary and the remaining Amazons faced their five remaining enemies and they fought.

J'onn summoned all of his strength and shot towards Fin Fang Foom faster than a speeding bullet. Fire spewed forth from the dragon's mouth, but Manhunter swerved to the right of the flames and morphed into a larger dragon. He slammed into Fin Fang Foom and the dragon was thrown to the ground, collapsing five skyscrapers and creating mass destruction. J'onn was forced to ignore the screams of the dying down below as innocents were trampled and crushed in order to take care of his foe. Ice shot forth from Manhunter's mouth and froze the dragon in a block of ice. J'onn morphed into a giant and stomped on Fin Fang Foom, shattering the dragon to pieces. Manhunter morphed back into his Martian form and streaked across the sky towards the Amazon army fighting their five remaining enemies.

Fifty Amazons surrounded Red Hulk, slashing the beast with their weapons, but nothing seemed to harm the red superhero as he tore through them. That is, until the Martian Manhunter plummeted into him feet first and sliced Red Hulk in half with a long, sharp blade arm. Black Canary directed a scream towards Blink, who threw a portal in front of the sonic wave and created another portal behind Cyborg, flinging the sound wave at him. Victor covered his ears and collapsed to the ground in pain, where Pestilence touched him on the chest. Black veins spread across Cyborg's body and covered his face. When the disease reached his heart, Victor died. Buffy dueled Snake Eyes in an amazing display of skill while Black Panther beat Amazon warriors to submission left and right. Buffy let slip a parry and Snake Eyes' sword cleaved through her neck. "NOOOOO!" Black Canary cried and she leaped at the ninja wielding a spear taken from a fallen Amazon. The spearhead plopped through his neck and Snake Eyes fell to the ground dead.

Blink flung a portal behind Black Canary and Blink slipped through it, prepared to stab Sara. Before she could end the Canary, Black Panther snapped Blink's neck and all the portals vanished. Black Canary turned around and everyone froze, staring in shock at T'Challa, who stared right back at them. "YOU BETRAYED US!" Pestilence hissed and Batman began creating a ball of death in the palm of his hands. Black Panther faced the Dark Knight and growled, "No, Spider-Man betrayed the Marvel universe by having minions kill his own team mates and consorting with Apocalypse and you fucking horsemen!" Pestilence unleashed the ball of death but before it could strike T'Challa a tiara spun in its path, stopping the deadly darkness.

A fully healed Wonder Woman stepped between Black Panther and Batman. "If you want to kill this man you'll have to go through me, Bruce!" Diana bellowed, unsheathing her sword. "Very well then. I'll enjoy crushing your pretty little bones because you never reciprocated my love for you. All you ever wanted was Clark!" Batman hissed and he pointed the One Ring at Wonder Woman. Darkness shot forth from the Ring of Power and Diana flew towards the darkness with sword held out in front of her. When the darkness met her blade Wonder Woman pushed through the powerful force and redirected the darkness at the sky, allowing her to strike.

Pestilence formed his own blade out of darkness and blocked her swing, knocking Diana's sword aside and driving his blade forward. Wonder Woman ducked under the thrust and sliced her blade towards the horseman's torso. Batman blocked the strike just in time and sliced his dark sword in a downward arc, intending to cleave through Diana's skull. Wonder Woman brought her blade up to block the dark sword and she flung her tiara at the Dark Knight's chest. The sharp tiara was shattered by a tentacle of darkness, which shot for Diana. The Amazon pushed her blade up, forcing Pestilence's sword away so she could slice through the tentacle before it met flesh, because if she came into contact with Pestilence she would end up like Cyborg.

Three more tentacles shot forth from Batman's chest and Diana sliced through them all before they could touch her. Pestilence charged towards Wonder Woman in a blur and she had to step back to stay out of the horseman's reach. She parried Pestilence's first strike and dodged the second and spun in the air, leaping above the third strike to fly above Batman. Wonder Woman drove her blade down towards the horseman's head, but Pestilence zoomed to the side so her blade met no flesh. When Diana landed, she saw all the Amazons had formed a circle around the two duelists.

"Watch out!" Black Canary cried and Wonder Woman leaped away from Batman's sword strike. She tapped deep into her speed and strength to fling herself at Pestilence with blade leading and her sword plunged deep into the second horseman's chest. Pestilence tried grabbing for Diana, but the Amazon superhero pulled her blade free of his undead heart and sliced the sword through his wrists. Batman's hands spun free from his arms and landed next to Diana's feet, the One Ring still on the right hand's index finger. "Goodbye Bruce," Wonder Woman said and decapitated Pestilence with a powerful swing.

Diana looked down at the One Ring and slammed her blade onto it, shattering the dark object into uselessness. Everyone clapped and surged towards Wonder Woman, lifting her into the air in praise. Black Panther was cheering Wonder Woman's name even though Marvel lost this battle. She smiled at Doctor Fate, Black Canary and Martian Manhunter. DC had won one battle; two more to go. We might actually win this war, Wonder Woman thought as she gazed at the devastated city.

Chapter 11 the Battle of Atlanta

Hawkman hovered above the Marvel army with Hawkgirl and the other Thanagarians by his side. Down below, the DC army made their way towards the center of the city where the Marvel army waited. Supergirl, Swamp Thing, Red Hood, the Flash, Lobo, Captain Atom, Red Arrow, Batgirl, Spectre, Blue Beetle, Nite Owl II, Dr. Manhattan, Guy Gardner, and Raven walked towards Yondu and the Ravagers, Gladiator and his Shi'Ar forces, Smasher, Captain Britain, Quicksilver, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Ironclad, John Wraith, Daken, Cannonball, Black Bolt, Medusa, Master Chief, Gambit, Jubilee, Black Cat, and Ghost Rider with determination in their step. Yondu and his forces took off with Gladiator and his troops following close behind. The spaceships flew in front of the Thanagarians and Yondu bellowed, "Fire!" Plasma blasts burst out of the spaceships and soared towards Hawkman and his army.

Hawkman and his fellow Thanagarians flew towards the spaceships dodging most of the blasts. A dozen winged soldiers were struck dead and Hawkman slammed a mace into the windshield of the first spaceship, bursting inside with ten Thanagarians following close behind. The Ravager soldiers inside shot bullets at the winged troops, who pummeled and thrashed left and right, killing everyone in the ship in under a minute. Three Thanagarians lie dead inside the hull of the ship and Hawkman roared in fury, slamming his mace into the wall of the ship and sending it plowing through two Gladiator shuttles. All three spacecraft plummeted towards the city and the Thanagarians flew out of the first spaceship just before it crashed. The other two ships landed violently just after the first one, collapsing several skyscrapers and crushing Cannonball.

Hawkgirl led her own group of two hundred Thanagarians against enemy space ships. They destroyed five ships at the cost of thirty Thanagarians. Hawkman and all the other winged warriors attacked the rest of the spaceships with a fury, Hawkgirl and her soldiers joining them after destroying three Ravager ships. Down below the battle in the sky, the battle on the ground was just beginning. War stood at the back of the Marvel army building up his powers. The two sides met in a swarm of death and pain. Red Hood shot at John Wraith, who teleported behind Jason and began pulling his own trigger. The bullet soared towards the outlaw but a blur emerged in the bullet's path. The tiny ball bounced off Supergirl's chest and Kara gripped Wraith by the throat and punched a hole through the mutant's chest, tearing his heart out.

Swamp Thing stood in the midst of the fighting and raised his arms at Medusa, entangling her in the vines of his arms. She began suffocating and Black Bolt slammed into the avatar with a powerful force, throwing him into a warehouse. The avatar of the jungle climbed to his feet and glared at the Inhuman as he flew through the hole in the wall. "DIE!" the swamp being roared and vines sprouted from the ground, cracking the tile floor and lurching towards Black Bolt. The powerful superhero dodged all of the vines before plowing into Swamp Thing and flinging him into the sky, high above the clouds. He flew up after the avatar and unleashed a destructive hypersonic voice. The deadly sound tore through the sky above the battle and Swamp Thing cried out in pain as his body began ripping apart. His remains sloped towards the ground in ten different parts. Black Bolt smirked in satisfaction and plummeted towards the destructive battle.

Batgirl threw a bat-a-rang at Black Cat, who ducked under the projectile and tackled Barbara to the ground. Felicia punched Batgirl across the face and sliced her in the chest with sharp claws. Batgirl screeched in pain and kneed Black Cat in the ribs followed by a head-butt to the face. Black Cat rolled off of Barbara unconscious and Batgirl ran towards Jubilee, preparing a bat-a-rang to end the mutant. Jubilee spread her arms and cackled with laughter as Barbara released the sharp weapon. A sudden concussive blast erupted from Jubilee, shattering the bat-a-rang and disintegrating Batgirl. "NOOOO!" Raven howled and she released a dozen dark energy blasts. The black energy soared towards Jubilee, who flung pyrotechnic energy at the darkness. The two blasts collided, razing the city within a mile radius and killing a hundred thousand innocent civilians.

The two magic wielders were thrown back by the force of the collision and when they regained their feet they noticed all the destruction and bodies. They stood at opposite sides of a gigantic crater with tumbled buildings inside and dust billowing in the air. Jubilee and Raven took flight simultaneously and hovered above the carnage. The mutant released another burst of red energy and Raven levitated a bus in front of her, using it as a shield just as Jubilee's blast struck. The bus was sent careening into Raven, who spiraled towards a top sided crane. About to be impaled, Raven created a portal below her and emerged into the dimension of darkness. She embraced the darkness, black tendrils enveloping her body and making her three times her previous size. When Raven could take in no more dark energy, she flew back through the portal ten times more powerful than before.

Jubilee stared in awe and horror at the armored behemoth that was Raven. Raven hissed, "Miss me?" and shot towards Jubilee wielding a five foot long black blade. Raven swung the sword at Jubilee's neck, but the mutant ducked under the swing and scorched her dark armor with fire. The flames dissipated once they met contact with the armor and Raven smiled in satisfaction as she grabbed a terrified Jubilee by the neck and drove her blade through the mutant's chest. Jubilee cried in pain and Raven tossed the dying mutant into the wreckage of the crater. Raven teleported into the midst of the battle in the sky. Three quarters of the Shi'Ar aircraft remained beside half of Yondu's surviving ships fighting the Thanagarians.

Raven watched the battle, taken in by the grace of the winged soldiers as they dodged blasts streaking across the sky and rammed into spaceships. They tore through enemies with the ferocity of lions and tossed aside slain Ravagers and Shi'Ar soldiers like they were ragdolls. Raven pointed a hand at a Ravager spacecraft and used telekinesis to throw it into a Shi'Ar battleship, blowing up both and killing everyone inside. She then halted a Ravager ship passing by and swept it towards the Guardians of the Galaxy's spaceship. Iron Man and Star-Lord flew out of their ship and riddled Raven with a relentless barrage of bullets. Peter Quill ended the attack with a blast from his element gun, which exploded her and sent blood and guts raining from the sky. Tony asked, "Was that a little too harsh?" and Peter said, "Nah. That bitch deserved it!"

"SOMEBODY NEEDS TO FRACKING HELP US!" Rocket cried from inside the Guardians' spaceship and Iron Man and Star-Lord flew towards the ship in a flash. When they opened the hatch the two Guardians found Dr. Manhattan standing above a beaten Rocket and gripping Drax by the throat. "You finally decided to show up. Well, it's too late; we're screwed!" Rocket whimpered and Star-Lord bellowed, "Put down Drax right now or I'll shoot you in the teeth!" Dr. Manhattan smiled slyly at the aimed plasma weapons and element gun before disintegrating Drax. "NO!" Peter yelled as he and Tony shot at the blue being. He absorbed the projectiles into his body and projected destructive energy that destroyed the entire ship. Rocket disintegrated in the blast along with Gamora and Star-Lord. Iron Man flew away from the explosion and at that moment Captain Atom decided to blow up. The destructive energy expanded and gradually wiped out the entire army in the skies. Tony flew by Yondu and his ship just as the explosion killed the Ravager leader. He also caught sight of an unfortunate Hawkman and most of the Thanagarians disintegrating. Iron Man used all of the power in his suit to boost himself away from the blast radius. Stark saw Gladiator leave Smasher and his remaining Shi'Ar forces behind as he flew away from the expanding field of death.

Down below, the battle still raged on. Spectre ripped Captain Britain's head off and was about to attack War when he noticed the explosion in the sky. He shot up into the air and embraced the explosion, using his powerful mind to direct Captain Atom's entire blast into his body. Spectre gasped as the energy pushed against his insides and he closed his eyes and peacefully spread his arms. He disappeared in the blink of an eye, erasing himself along with the explosion from the fabric of time. Iron Man spun around to find the explosion gone and Dr. Manhattan coming in for him with tremendous speed and strength. "Oh shit," Tony muttered before Dr. Manhattan phased through him, tearing his heart out. Iron Man plummeted from the sky and crashed to the flaming city.

Blue Beetle shot Gambit in the head while at the same time Daken sliced Nite Owl II's head off. Daken drove his claws towards Blue Beetle, but the insect-like superhero dodged to the side and Red Arrow shot Wolverine's son in the neck. Daken slumped to the ground lifeless and Red Arrow shot an arrow at Medusa, who caught the projectile in her hair and flung it back at Red Arrow. Supergirl caught the arrow by the haft and punched a hole through Medusa's chest, killing her. Black Bolt plowed into Kara with anger, throwing her into Blue Beetle. The force of the hit split Ted Kord in two and his mangled body fell to the ground as Supergirl punched Black Bolt in rage. The hit sent the Inhuman flying into a wrecked building, where he zoomed out and pummeled Supergirl across the face before kneeing her in the gut, sending her to her knees.

Black Bolt laughed as he gripped Kara by the head and began squeezing. At that moment a green chainsaw ripped through the Inhuman's neck, decapitating him and spilling blood everywhere. Supergirl looked up at her savior: Guy Gardner. The Green Lantern nodded his head to the Kryptonian and took off to go kill War. Supergirl followed him, determined to take out Sauron before he unleashed his wrath. Red Arrow let fly an arrow that soared towards Master Chief, who rolled across the street and came up shooting the vigilante in the chest. Red Arrow's riddled body thumped to the ground and Master Chief aimed his gun at Red Hood, who tackled the Spartan to the ground before he could pull the trigger.

Red Hood shot Master Chief in the leg and the Spartan growled in anger as he drove his knee into Jason's ribs. The blow crumpled Red Hood, allowing Master Chief to kick him off his chest and stab him through the throat with an energy sword. The lifeless outlaw rolled onto his back and Master Chief aimed his rifle at an incoming Lobo. The biker leapt off his motorcycle and avoided the bullets streaming from the rifle before landing on Master Chief. Lobo wrapped his arms around Master Chief's neck and garroted him after a violent struggle. Lobo threw the Spartan's body aside to find Ghost Rider roaring towards him with speed and ferocity. "This should be fun," Lobo grunted and he charged towards the flaming motorcycle with a battle cry.

The Flash kneed Quicksilver in the ribs and backhanded him across the face, sending Pietro to the ground. The Maximoff twin recovered quickly and zoomed into Barry, throwing him into a tower. The scarlet speedster dodged Quicksilver's next blow to the head and drove a fist into the mutant's face, knocking him into a Volkswagen. The vehicle exploded and Quicksilver ran out of the cloud of flames surprisingly unscathed. He slammed into the Flash at the speed of light, flinging him into a subway station. Pietro zoomed in after him and the Flash tapped deep into the speed force, zipping away from Quicksilver who was hot on his trail. The two speedsters entered a swirling portal and found themselves in the speed dimension.

Barry screamed in exertion as his speed reached a million mph. Quicksilver roared as he jumped forward, tackling the Flash and sending them tumbling back into reality. They crashed to the ground in Gatlinburg, Pennsylvania. Quicksilver spun around in confusion, giving Barry the chance to punch him a hundred times from behind, breaking his back. The mutant cried out in pain as he fell to his knees, where Barry kicked him in the chin with a blur. Quicksilver's head snapped back violently and his limp body slumped to the street of the historic city. The Flash spit on Pietro's corpse and zoomed away from the scene, escaping the horrified onlookers and heading towards Manhattan for the final battle.

Dr. Manhattan was about to join the Green Lantern and Supergirl in fighting the third horseman when Kallark caught him off guard by slamming into him. Dr. Manhattan crashed to the ground below and he boomed in rising anger, "You will pay for your insolence!" He grew to a hundred times his previous size and Kallark muttered, "Well, shi…." His curse was cut off as Dr. Manhattan crushed the last surviving Shi'Ar in the palm of his hand. The giant blue being released the dead Gladiator and flew towards Ironclad with rushing power.

Gut Gardner led the attack on Sauron, unleashing a stream of green bullets from his Power Ring. War laughed cruelly as the bullets bounced off his armored chest and the horseman leaped into the air, sword at the ready. Supergirl crashed into Sauron before he could slice the Green Lantern in half and she threw him into a parking garage. The horseman flew out of the falling garage in a blur and slammed into Kara, flinging her into a billboard. The Kryptonian fell to the ground in pain and Guy roared a battle cry as he swung a constructed blade at War's head.

Sauron ducked under the swing and slammed his elbow into the Green Lantern's face, breaking his nose. The horseman swung around to slice his blade through Guy's throat, but he blocked the strike just in time. The Green Lantern struggled against War's strength and Sauron hissed with pleasure as darkness misted around his body and a dozen spears appeared out of midair. The spears impaled Guy Gardner across his whole body and the Green Lantern gurgled as blood poured from a neck wound. Sauron decapitated Guy with a swift swing of his sword and floated down towards the fallen Supergirl.

Lobo leaped into the air, tackling the Ghost Rider off his motorcycle and sending both of them tumbling across the ground. Johnny hissed, "You are a fool," as he punched Lobo with his skeleton fist, throwing him into the side of a skyscraper. Ghost Rider stalked towards Lobo, swinging his chain around in a circle. He slashed Lobo several times, leaving three burning scars on the DC character's flesh. Lobo cried out in pain and ducked under the Ghost Rider's next swing before kicking him in the chest. Lobo fell upon his prey, but Johnny head-butted him in the ribs and wrapped his chain around his neck. Lobo sputtered as Ghost Rider tightened the chain, strangling him. When Lobo became limp, Ghost Rider let the body thump to the ground and hopped on his motorcycle, flaming away from Atlanta towards the final battle.

Dr. Manhattan plowed into Ironclad, dodging his bullets and snapping his neck in the blink of an eye. The Watchman tossed the body aside and summoned all of his strength before shooting towards Sauron. A sudden force slammed into Dr. Manhattan, throwing him down to the ground. The blue being looked up to find a furious Groot, who extended his arm and thrust it through the Watchman. "I… AM… GROOT!" Groot boomed as he slung Dr. Manhattan side-to-side, slamming him against buildings and billboards for a full minute. Dr. Manhattan tried breaking Groot's arm in half but the walking tree pulled the powerful being towards him. In a blur, Groot ripped the Watchman in half and stomped on his remains. "I am Groot," Groot said as he turned away from the lifeless Dr. Manhattan and made his way towards Sauron to help the horseman take out Supergirl.

Sauron punched Supergirl with all his might, slamming her against a wall. He threw another fist but Kara ducked under the strike and tackled the horseman to the ground. She throttled War, who laughed insanely and gripped Supergirl by the throat. Heat vision burst out of Kara's eyes and struck Sauron, searing through his black mouth. War released Kara and screamed in pain before a black lance shot forth from his hand and pierced Supergirl's heart. Kara faltered, staring in shock at the lance as it dissipated and she roared in anger as sunlight shined down upon her. Kara's chest wound healed in an instant and she slammed into Sauron at the speed of light and punched him twelve times in rapid succession. The combo attack threw War into a gas station, which exploded in a burst of light.

The third horseman dove out of the flames with sword at the ready. He sliced his blade towards Supergirl's neck as he came upon her, but Hawkgirl smashed his face in with a mace. War crashed to the ground in front of Supergirl and he glared up at the winged superhero, who had thirty Thanagarians at her back. "Feel my wrath!" War growled and a dozen swords spun out of thin air, each one impaling a Thanagarian. "ATTACK!" Hawkgirl cried and she and her eighteen remaining soldiers dove down at Sauron. Darkness floated off Sauron's armor as he sliced a winged soldier in half and spun around, severing another Thanagarian's head and stabbing a third one through the neck. A mace cleaved through the armor protecting his back, shattering it and flinging him to his knees. Sauron thrust his blade up, impaling the diving Thanagarian through the chin. He swung his blade in an arc, sending the dead Thanagarian soaring across the sky and crashing into another soldier. They both tumbled to the ground and Sauron plunged his blade through two other Thanagarians and he pulled his blade free, cleaving it through a flying soldier's collarbone.

Only ten Thanagarians remained and Hawkgirl led the renewed assault, swinging her mace at War's face. Sauron parried the sparking weapon to the side and dived under another swing. He jumped out of his roll, thrusting his blade through Hawkgirl's heart. The two opponents came face to face and the Thanagarian cried in pain as the horseman pulled his sword out of her body and sliced it through her neck. War stomped on Hawkgirl's severed head, crunching it beneath his heel. The horseman looked up just in time to find a rushing mob of feathers. The furious Thanagarians swarmed around Sauron, overwhelming him with vicious strikes of their maces. War fell to his knees when a blow struck the back of his neck followed by nine quick but powerful bashes to the head. The horseman's head exploded in a shower of blood and the lifeless Sauron slumped to the body-strewn ground.

The ten Thanagarians stood around the dead horseman when Supergirl cried, "Watch out!" before an arm thrust through five Thanagarians, killing them. Heat vision burst out of Kara's eyes, alighting Groot in a brilliant flash of light. The walking tree cried out, "I am Groot," before dying and splitting apart from the burning flames. Supergirl said, "We won this fight but there's a greater one to be fought in Manhattan. Let's get moving!" The five remaining Thanagarians flew after the Kryptonian, following her to New York and the final battle.

Chapter 12 the Last Battle

Drakon gazed at the Manhattan skyline and smiled, knowing the amount of destruction that was about to occur. It would make the previous two battles look like erupting volcanoes compared to the impending supernova. "Might as well add a new factor to the equation," Drakon hissed and he flew to Mount Everest in ten seconds. The powerful being stood atop the summit, looking down through the clouds at the unfortunate world below him. Earth was about to experience mass destruction and unimaginable casualties.

A ray of sunlight burst through the high clouds and bathed Drakon, granting him unlimited power. He clenched a fist and roared in exertion as he slammed it against the top of the mountain with all his strength. A large fissure appeared that extended from Drakon and spread down along the mountainside. When the crack reached the bottom of Mt. Everest a loud roar came out of the wide gap, reaching across all of Asia. A giant lizard stomped out into the open and released one more roar before bathing the entire country of Nepal in atomic breath. Drakon laughed cruelly as Godzilla rained death upon millions of innocents.

Superman, the Flash, Shazam, Aquaman and the Atlantean army, Hal Jordan, John Stewart and the Green Lantern Corps, Plastic Man, Rorschach, Deadman, Gwen, Zatanna, Firestorm, Grifter, Red Robin, the Atom, Elongated Man, Star Girl, Jonah Hex, Silk Spectre, Orion, Supergirl, and the Thanagarians faced the Marvel army: Spider-Man, Richard Rider and the Nova Corps, Blockbuster, Enchantress, Riptide, Mysterio, Azazel, Falcon, Deadpool, Scarlet Witch, Giant Man, Grim Reaper, Angel, Winter Soldier, Ghost Rider, Black Cat, Kraven, Ant Man, Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel, Silver Surfer, White Tiger, Warpath, Daredevil, Vision, Sunfire, Wasp, Luke Cage, Famine, and Apocalypse.

Shazam bellowed, "We're going to fuck you motherfuckers up!" and Deadpool replied with a, "Suck my ass!" Spider-Man held a clenched fist above his head and boomed, "Silence! It is time for battle. WE WILL VANQUISH DC OFF THE FACE OF PLANET EARTH!" The Marvel army cheered and Superman bellowed, "Only in your dreams, Peter Parker!" A heavy silence hung over the desolate Manhattan as Spider-Man's identity was revealed to the world. "YOU DARE!" Peter roared and Superman gazed at the stars as he mustered all of his energy. "Of course he dares, you petty fools! Superman is the most powerful being on the planet." A feminine voice boomed and Wonder Woman dropped out of the sky followed by Doctor Fate, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Black Panther, and the Amazon army. They landed smoothly as Doctor Fate released his levitation spell. Clark nodded his head to Diana and she smiled at him before addressing the opposing army.

"None of us wanted this war amongst superheroes, yet here we are. You didn't listen to reason last time, so I know it won't be any different now. If we must fight, then let's fight!" Wonder Woman bellowed. "CHARGE!" Apocalypse roared as Superman shot a pillar of heat vision into the night sky, signaling the start of the battle. The two armies charged towards each other and met in a climactic BOOM that echoed across the entire eastern seaboard. Superman slammed into Spider-Man, gripping the web-slinger by the neck and beating him senseless. Peter growled in exertion as he broke free of Clark's grip and kicked the Man of Steel in the chest, throwing him into Deadman. The two tumbled to the ground but Superman regained his composure quickly and blew super breath at a charging Blockbuster, flinging him into a top-sided skyscraper.

Deadman constructed an energy blast, obliterating Blockbuster out of existence. He then took control of Enchantress, forcing her to fling deadly magic at Azazel, who teleported away. Deadman turned her attention towards Scarlet Witch, forcing her to throw a hell storm of fire at the powerful mutant. Wanda saw the attack coming and destroyed it with a bar of ice which struck Enchantress, knocking her to the ground and breaking Deadman's control over her. The Grim Reaper ran at Deadman with scythe at the ready, bellowing a battle cry. The DC character became invisible just as the Grim Reaper reached him, swinging the scythe in a large arc. Deadman escaped the Grim Reaper, who was stabbed from behind by an Atlantean spear.

The Grim Reaper swung around with his permanent smile and sliced the cavalryman in half with a flash. Green energy fell from the night sky and struck the Grim Reaper, blowing him apart. John Stewart smiled at his power ring and spit on the inanimate skeleton before joining his Corps in fighting the Nova Corps. Green and yellow energy streaked across the city skyline killing both Green Lanterns and Nova Corps. When two energies collided, explosions appeared in the sky looking like fireworks but causing mass death. Hal Jordan flew by Simon Bazz's side as they killed Nova Corps with energy strikes. Richard Rider released an immense amount of power, obliterating Simon and burning Hal's right side. The Green Lantern leader spiraled towards the city but was caught by Wonder Woman. "How about a kiss?" Hal said and Diana dropped him to the ground ten feet below in disgust. "Ow," he muttered and turned over onto his back, gazing at the explosions in the night sky and catching sight of the Amazon princess impaling three Nova Corps on her sword. "So beautiful," Hal whispered before unconsciousness came over him.

The Atom shrunk down when he caught sight of an intimidating Winter Soldier stalking towards him. When Bucky lost sight of Ray Palmer, he turned his attention to Rorschach. He propelled his metal arm forward, punching a hole through the Watchman's chest and tearing his heart out. The Atom ran from the violent scene only to come across another shrunken superhero: Ant-Man. Ray tackled Ant-Man to the ground, punching him across the face and driving his knee into Hank Pym's ribs.

Hank roared in pain, elbowing the Atom across the face and rolling on top of him. Ant-Man grabbed Ray by the face and poked his eyes out using his immense strength. Ant-Man proceeded to crush the Atom's face in between the palms of his hands. Hank cried out in victory only to get crushed by Grifter's foot. Cole Cash wiped the lifeless Ant-Man off his boot and said, "My bad," before shooting at the Winter Soldier. Bucky's armor protected himself from the relentless barrage of bullets and he kicked Grifter with such a force that he was flung ten yards into Red Robin. The two faced off against the Winter Soldier, prepared for the end.

Grifter released a stream of gunfire while Red Robin threw a dozen bat-a-rangs. The Winter Soldier knocked all attacks aside but for one perfectly aimed bat-a-rang, which buried itself in his neck. Bucky collapsed to the street, his life blood draining away. Daredevil leaped from the shadows of a building, landing on top of Grifter and crushing his head in with sticks. Red Robin flung a bat-a-rang at Matt Murdock, who flipped in the air narrowly avoiding the sharp object. He landed in front of Tim Drake slamming a nightstick into his chest and backhanding him across the face, flinging him to the ground. Daredevil prepared to crush the fallen Red Robin's neck, who kicked Matt with such strength that he flew back into Luke Cage.

The brutish superhero charged towards Red Robin in anger only to get blasted off his feet by Superman. The heat vision sent Luke Cage flying into a group of twenty Amazons. They viciously hacked him to pieces and flung his remains to the ground in victory. Superman joined Martian Manhunter's side and they ganged up on Silver Surfer. J'onn punched the silver superhero towards Superman, who slammed his fists atop the Silver Surfer's head. The silver being spiraled into a skyscraper and the two DC superheroes confronted Vision and Ms. Marvel.

Zatanna waved her hands, telekinetically lifting a skyscraper off its foundations and she let it go. The large structure landed on Giant Man, who picked up the building and threw it into the Atlantean army. This crushed a hundred pike men and Aquaman bellowed in rage as he leaped into the air with trident held aloft, aiming for Giant Man. The King of Atlantis crashed into the Marvel superhero, impaling Giant Man through the chest and out the back. Arthur yanked his trident up with a lot of power, splitting him in half from the chest all the way up to the head. Aquaman spat on Giant Man's corpse only to get tackled by Warpath.

A sudden explosion threw Zatanna off her feet and she stood up to find herself facing Enchantress. The Asgardian witch prepared another spell only to get blasted by a jet of hellfire. Zatanna wove another spell, sweeping Enchantress up in a tsunami before levitating a sword from a fallen Amazon. She waved her arm, forcing the blade to pierce through Enchantress's throat and kill her. The villain rolled to the ground off the cascading waves and Zatanna smiled in triumph before catching sight of Scarlet Witch obliterating the Silk Spectre. She roared in anger, charging towards the mutant with spells at the ready.

Warpath gripped Arthur by the neck and the king gasped for breath as he struggled against his opponent's strength. Finally, Aquaman kneed Warpath in the groin and rolled on top of him. Arthur slammed an elbow into Warpath's ribs and brought back a clenched fist, smashing it against his enemy's face. Warpath caught the next thrown fist in the palm of his hand and shattered Arthur's collarbone with a well-placed punch. Aquaman cried in agony, sliding off Warpath and grabbing his neck. Warpath climbed to his feet and kicked Arthur, face planting the Atlantean king into the pavement. Arthur grunted in pain and jumped to his feet as sudden adrenaline coursed through his veins. Arthur's crushed face wore a scowl as he punched Warpath in rapid succession. The last hit broke the Marvel character's jaw and Aquaman ended the fight with a trident to the face.

Aquaman pulled his trident free of Warpath's bloody face and walked away from his ugly corpse with determination in his stride. The King of Atlantis confronted Apocalypse himself. Shazam streaked across the city skyline disintegrating Nova Corps with lightning blasts. After killing twenty four Nova Corps, Shazam was surprised to find a god plummeting from the sky. Thor smashed his hammer into Shazam's head, flinging him to the streets below. Shazam crashed through two glass windows before emerging outside, where he faced the god of thunder. Thor called lightning down from the heavens and Shazam summoned his own lightning. The two bolts struck and Riptide and a dozen unfortunate Atlanteans disintegrated.

Shazam struck first, launching Thor into the air with an uppercut. The god of thunder crashed through several buildings before regaining control and shooting towards Shazam. Billy flew in Thor's direction and the two collided in a resounding BOOM that echoed across the whole city. Shazam and Thor crashed to the ground and stood up to face each other once again. Shazam zoomed and drove a fist into Thor's side and kicked him in the ribs. Thor refused to back down, swinging his hammer at Billy who dodged Mjolnir and grappled onto Thor. They took flight, fighting across the sky and zipping past all the other raging battles. Thor bellowed, "NOOOOOOO!" as they sloped towards Apocalypse and Famine. Shazam kicked the god of thunder away, propelling himself so that he and Thor avoided striking either powerful being.

At that moment Aquaman chose to charge towards Apocalypse with trident at the ready. Famine prepared to obliterate him but was thrown back by a blast from Doctor Fate, giving Aquaman a better chance at ending Apocalypse. The all-powerful mutant threw destructive energy at Arthur, who leaped and dodged all the blasts until he reached Apocalypse. The King of Atlantis plunged his trident towards Apocalypse's heart, but he knocked the weapon aside and backhanded Arthur, throwing him to the ground. Shazam and Thor began to attack Apocalypse, who took control of Thor and forced him to bash Billy's head inside out. The lifeless Shazam crumpled to the ground and Aquaman screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and slammed into Apocalypse with the force of a bull. The two opponents tumbled across the ground and Apocalypse roared in anger, punching Arthur with strength unlike any other.

The King of Atlantis crashed through his army, who had just reached the fight along with the Amazons. Wonder Woman helped Arthur to his feet and she stood by Aquaman's side as they faced the great mass of soldiers. "CRUSH APOCALYPSE!" Diana bellowed and she and Aquaman led their troops to battle against Apocalypse and his minions.

Zatanna unleashed all her power in a single concussive blast, demolishing skyscrapers and forcing Scarlet Witch to her knees. The scarlet mutant withstood the attack and threw a burst of rapid red energy. The energy streaked across the sky and Zatanna spread her arms, her power spent. Doctor Fate intervened, destroying the red energy with a bolt of lightning. He proceeded to strike Scarlet Witch with a combination of fire, earth, and ice. He nodded his head to Zatanna before getting decapitated by Deadpool. Zatanna screamed in anger and was about to fling a curse at Wade when Sunfire burnt her to a crisp.

Deadpool and Sunfire attacked the Atlantean and Amazon armies from the rear, exterminating them soldier by warrior. Orion ripped through Nova Corps and by the time he had killed a hundred he unleashed the Astral Force, obliterating an additional thousand. Half the Nova Corps vaporized in the course of a millisecond and Orion floated above the carnage with a smile on his face. Angel swooped towards him with speed but was knocked aside by Hawkwoman and her mace. He growled, spreading his wings and gathering his strength. Warren folded his wings back, shooting towards the Thanagarian. Hawkwoman flew and the two winged warriors collided. Both spiraled towards the ground and Orion caught Hawkwoman while John Stewart blew Angel up with a blast from his ring.

Superman punched Ms. Marvel across the face and kneed her in the chest, sending her into the sky. She sloped towards the ground and regained her bearings, flying towards Clark with fists at the ready. Superman was caught off guard by the fast strike, and crashed through several buildings when Ms. Marvel slammed into him. Superman leaped over the crumbling structures and plummeted straight into Ms. Marvel, crushing her ribs and breaking four bones. He flew away from her broken form to fight the remaining Marvel superheroes. Ms. Marvel slowly got to her feet as her bones began mending and wounds healed. "Foolish Man of Steel!" she bellowed and was about to go after him when Supergirl blasted her off her feet with heat vision.

Kara faced Ms. Marvel and said, "No one messes with my cousin." Super breath billowed out of her lungs and Ms. Marvel fought against the wind, finally managing to overcome it and plow into the Kryptonian. Kara fell to her knees and launched a powerful uppercut, throwing Ms. Marvel into the upper hemisphere. Supergirl shot up after her and heat vision burst out of her eyes, searing through Ms. Marvel's chest. She plummeted straight towards the ground and landed heavily, wounded. Supergirl hovered above the fallen superhero, cape billowing behind her. When Ms. Marvel tried to get up and tackle Supergirl, Kara kicked her in the larynx and grabbed her by the head. Heat vision poured out of Kara's eyes and burned Ms. Marvel's face, melting it to the skull. Supergirl ignored the screams of the dying Ms. Marvel and ripped her head free, throwing it into the air in victory.

Martian Manhunter slammed into Vision, flinging him into a skyscraper. As the building crumbled towards the streets, the android shot out a window and launched himself into the Martian, sending J'onn to the other side of the world. Martian Manhunter landed in a Tibetan village and looked up just as Vision came in with a powerful fist, dodging the punch and driving his knee into the android's chest. Vision fell to the ground and J'onn prepared another fist when his knees were swept out from beneath him. Manhunter tripped and Vision punched him across the face and grabbed him by the head. J'onn drove his head into the android's chest, throwing him ten feet away.

J'onn flew over to Vision and as he did he looked around. For the first time Martian Manhunter noticed dead bodies sprawled across the whole village and fire spreading across the countryside. Then he saw a large shape in the distance shooting blue flames out of its mouth and stomping on towns and cities. Vision took advantage of the distraction, tackling J'onn to the ground and pummeling him repeatedly across the face. After the twelfth blow, the Martian sent a telepathic message to Superman telling him about Godzilla before he slipped into unconsciousness. Vision brought back an arm and thrust it down with all his might, tearing through J'onn's chest and pulling his heart out. The android stepped on Manhunter's heart and took off into the sky, leaving the corpse of his opponent behind.

Elongated Man stretched, wrapping himself around Kraven. After a minute the hunter died of suffocation and Elongated Man screeched in victory before White Tiger decapitated him with a swing of her claws. Green Lantern Kilowog constructed a train and the green vehicle slammed into White Tiger, killing her on impact. Richard Rider blasted Kilowog out of the sky and when the corpse struck the ground John Stewart flew at Nova with a battle cry. The Green Lantern constructed a sword which he used to slice towards Richard's head as he slammed into him. Nova ducked under the blade and shot John through the heart with yellow energy, killing him. Richard smiled in victory as John Stewart's body crashed to the streets below. He then continued to kill Green Lanterns relentlessly.

Wonder Woman swung her blade at Apocalypse's head, but the mutant ducked under the swing and slammed a fist into Diana's face. The hit knocked Wonder Woman off balance and she stumbled to the ground, where he kicked her in the chest and stomped on her ribs. Thirty Amazons and forty Atlanteans rushed in for the kill, but Apocalypse blew them up with a massive energy blast. Aquaman leaped out of a sea of Atlantean soldiers and impaled Apocalypse through the back. The mutant pulled Arthur's trident out of his back and glared at Aquaman. "AAAAAHH!" Arthur bellowed as he summoned a gigantic tsunami that swept across the city and crashed into Apocalypse with a great force. The Green Lanterns protected all the DC characters on the ground from the wave while letting the Nova Corps protect Marvel with energy shields.

As the wave cascaded, Apocalypse laid on the ground coughing up water. When he regained his bearings Arthur stood over him and held his trident above Apocalypse's head. He thrust down, but before it could pierce the mutant's head Famine disintegrated Aquaman with a raised hand and Arthur's trident fell to the ground. "NOOO!" Urn, a soldier of Atlantis, screamed and charged towards Famine with sword raised high. The fourth horseman obliterated him along with the entire Atlantean army out of existence. Apocalypse got to his feet and boomed, "You don't stand a chance!" Wonder Woman replied, "We will prevail!" and she led her army to battle once again.

Thor flew towards Wonder Woman but Superman slammed into the god of thunder and threw him into Times Square. Thor got to his feet just as Superman landed and heat vision burst out of his eyes and soared towards the Asgardian. Thor shot lightning at the heat vision and the two powers collided. A massive explosion resulted, flinging both superheroes across the city. Superman became a blur as he propelled himself off a skyscraper and slammed into Thor. The strike sent Thor spiraling through the air and he roared in exertion as lightning came down from the sky and struck Clark, throwing him to the ground.

The Man of Steel climbed out of his crater and glared up at Thor, who came swooping in with a blow to the head. The hit threw Superman back into the crater and Thor landed beside Clark's body. He raised Mjolnir above his head and brought it down with a mighty swing. A steel fist caught the hammer and time seemed to slow down as Superman stared Thor in the eyes as he ripped Mjolnir from his grasp. "By Odin's beard…" Thor muttered before Superman clobbered him in the face with his own hammer. The strike sent Thor across the planet and Superman tore across the sky after him, his speed and strength enhanced by wielding the hammer. He reached Thor's side in a microsecond as they soared above the Mojave Desert and he smashed the hammer into the Asgardian's side once again. Thor sloped down through the clouds and crashed into Moscow. Superman followed suit, his landing creating cracks that spread outward for a mile.

Thor crawled across the ground, wounded badly without his hammer. He tried getting to his feet only to be knocked down with a kick to the gut. Kal-El roared, "You killed Shazam with this hammer; let's see what happens if I do the same to you!" Superman slammed the hammer down onto Thor's head, splitting open his skull and executing the god of thunder.

At that moment lighting crackled across the sky and struck Superman, granting him unlimited power. Clark tossed Mjolnir next to Thor's body and used super vision to find Godzilla creating a path of destruction towards the Russian city. The Man of Steel shot up through the clouds and emerged into the midst of a brilliant sunrise. Superman spread his arms, welcoming the warmth and strength, before flying down towards Godzilla for a destructive battle.

Apocalypse tore Plastic Man in half and crushed twenty Amazons with his fists. Sunfire wiped out a dozen Amazons before Firestorm unleashed a stream of fire that knocked him out of the sky. Sunfire grunted at the hard landing and Firestorm shot another ball of fire at him. He rolled to the side, avoiding the blast. Sunfire flew into the air and grabbed ahold of Firestorm, crushing his ribs. Their fires combined and they shined above the battle waging below. Firestorm bellowed, "Suck on this!" and his matrix activated and he exploded, wiping out Sunfire and a dozen nearby Nova Corps.

The Flash zoomed across the city. He slammed into Mysterio, who flew back into a Starbucks. Barry ran in after him and was about to punch him in the face when Mysterio activated his powers of illusion. The speedster screamed in horror when the coffee shop exploded and clowns stabbed him through the chest with sharp knives. They opened their mouths to reveal pointy teeth, which they plunged towards Barry's neck. The hallucination dissolved in a flash of white light and the Flash stared in shock at Jonah Hex standing over Mysterio's bullet riddled body. Ghost Rider drove through the window of the shop and ran over Jonah Hex, killing him on impact. The Flash zoomed into Ghost Rider, tackling him off his motorcycle and pummeling him across the face. Johnny roared in anger as he caught one of Barry's fists and he kicked the speedster with all his might. The strike threw Barry Allen all the way onto Ellis Island. Ghost Rider rode across the water with his fiery motorcycle and he leaped off as he reached the Statue of Liberty, swinging his chain in the air. The Flash dodged the chain and crashed into Ghost Rider, throwing him into the water. Barry grabbed Johnny by his head and held it under water with all his strength.

Ghost Rider stopped struggling as his fire was doused and he melted before the Flash's grip. Barry released the lifeless Johnny Blaze and tore across the ocean water, reaching the battle in less than a second. Black Canary screamed, forcing Wasp to cover her ears and crash to the ground where Black Panther snapped her neck. Daredevil smacked Black Panther across the face with his nightstick and bellowed, "You betrayed us!" He tackled the Wakandan prince to the ground and beat him senseless. At that moment Black Cat stabbed Black Canary through the back with her claws and Sara gasped in pain before slumping lifeless to the desolate ground.

Stargirl obliterated Black Cat with a burst of energy and slammed into Daredevil, breaking all his ribs and bashing his head in with a powerful fist. Spider-Man bellowed, "NOOOO!" and slammed into Stargirl in pure rage, punching her repeatedly. Spider-Man snapped the superheroine's neck and dropped her body to the ground before facing Black Panther. "You betrayed us!" Peter yelled and Black Panther boomed, "You betrayed me, you sick son of a bitch." They lunged at each other and fought with everything they had.

Superman shot out of the clouds and plowed into Godzilla, forcing the giant beast to its knees. Godzilla fell on top of thousands of innocents and crushed a hundred buildings screaming in rage. Atomic breath surged out of Godzilla's mouth and Superman flew to the right of the deadly flames as heat vision burst out of his eyes and struck Godzilla's chest. The monster was unharmed by the heat and swatted Clark out of the sky. Superman fell to the ground, crashing into a marketplace. He got to his feet and glared up at Godzilla. "LEAVE OR I'LL KILL YOU, LIZARD!" Clark boomed and in response Godzilla stomped on the superhero. Superman grunted in exertion as he lifted the gigantic monster up by the foot and took flight, dragging Godzilla behind him.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Kal-El cried out as he brought Godzilla into outer space, where he let go of his foot. Godzilla roared as he floated away, shooting atomic breath at the Man of Steel. Superman didn't dodge the blast in time and as the atomic breath washed over him he launched himself into Godzilla's throat. After a few seconds, Godzilla exploded from a tremendous blast of heat vision. An unconscious blood-soaked Clark fell towards Earth, where Drakon awaited.

Hawkwoman flew towards Famine and the Silver Surfer crashed into her, breaking all her bones and displacing all her organs. He flung her lifeless form to the streets below. "Hey buddy, go fuck yourself!" Orion roared and Silver Surfer spun around just as he activated the Astro Force. In the blink of an eye the force struck the Silver Surfer and he exploded in a gigantic conflagration. The tops of all the skyscrapers in the city disintegrated by the force of the blast along with most of the Green Lanterns and Nova Corps. "My bad," Orion said in shock of the devastation he had triggered. Nova shot a tremendous burst of energy, dissolving Orion into nothingness.

Spider-Man ducked under Black Panther's thrown fist and kicked T'Challa in the knee, shattering his kneecap and bringing him to the ground. Peter Parker grabbed Black Panther by the head and whispered, "Goodbye, old friend." Spider-Man snapped T'Challa's neck, letting his body hit the ground. Peter looked over to find Gwen fighting Spider-Woman a hundred feet away. Spider-Man swung over to the scene.

Deadpool sliced his sword through six Amazons, dropping them like flies. Red Robin leaped out of a sea of Amazons and slammed his staff against Wade's back, bringing the Merc to his knees. Tim smacked Deadpool repeatedly with his stick and wouldn't let up until Azazel teleported behind him and thrust a knife through his back. Deadman grabbed the red mutant by the head and Azazel's body collapsed to the ground after Deadman drained his life away. Deadpool struggled to his feet and said, "Bring it on, you grey creep." Deadman lunged at Deadpool in a rush of rage and the mercenary ducked under his swing and sliced his swords through his neck, decapitating the DC character.

Wonder Woman and Supergirl attacked Apocalypse simultaneously while Famine was preoccupied disintegrating droves of Amazons. Diana shot a blast from her metal bracelets, which knocked Apocalypse off his feet. Supergirl followed up the blast with heat vision, searing the fire through Apocalypse's face. The mutant roared in anger, lurching up from the ground and punching Kara with so much force that she crashed through a dozen buildings. Wonder Woman threw herself at Apocalypse, slamming into him with the strength of a goddess and sending both of them flying through cement structures. Apocalypse throttled Diana a hundred times and flung her bruised form into a neighborhood in Queens. Wonder Woman tumbled through several houses and emerged into a small backyard. Apocalypse plummeted into the Amazon princess, crushing her beneath his weight.

Falcon glided above the carnage and death Famine had created and flew towards one of the last remaining Green Lanterns. Hal Jordan looked up from the ground at Falcon and heaved himself to his feet. "AAAHH!" he cried in pain and stared at his deadly wound before shooting into the sky with all of his remaining strength. The Green Lantern in the sky constructed a rocket launcher and shot it at Nova just as Falcon crashed into him. Hal bellowed, "NOO!" and constructed a sword as he reached Falcon and the other Green Lantern, stabbing the winged superhero through the back. Hal pulled his bloodied blade free of the lifeless Sam Wilson and told the Green Lantern he had saved to attack the remaining Nova Corps. As the Green Lantern flew away to do Hal's bidding, the leader of the Green Lanterns gazed over at Richard and saw that he had recovered from the bazooka blast. The two leaders flew towards each other constructing weapons and collided above the devastated city.

Supergirl climbed to her feet and stared in alarm at a fast-approaching Vision. Kara shot up into the air and the two opponents slammed into each other. Supergirl tore through Vision's metal framework and crushed his android face in the palms of her hands. She threw the broken android aside and streaked across the city skyline towards Queens to save Wonder Woman from Apocalypse's wrath.

The Flash zoomed towards Famine weaving in-between dying Amazons and crashed into the horseman just as her powers began to disintegrate Barry. Jean flew back from the force of the strike and lost her hold over the disintegrating power. The Flash didn't let up, grabbing the fourth horseman by the head and bashing it repeatedly against the street, breaking open Jean's skull and spilling her brain across the pavement. Barry fell to his knees and stared in shock at his bloody hands and Jean's gruesome remains. He cried out in horror at his actions and collapsed to the ground in shock. Only a dozen Amazons remained after Famine's brutal assault and they hurried over to Barry, helping the speedster to his feet. "You saved us, Flash. You did what you had to and now we have to save Princess Diana!" the lead Amazon bellowed. Barry wiped his eyes and the scarlet speedster said with conviction in his voice, "Let's go end Apocalypse."

Spider-Woman dodged Gwen's fist and kicked her in the gut, forcing the ninja to her knees. Gwen tackled Spider-Woman to the ground and punched her across the face several times before the wall crawler zipped her mouth shut with web, which began suffocating Gwen. Spider-Man slammed into Spider-Woman feet first, flinging her to the ground as he ripped the web suffocating Gwen off her face. "Why are you helping the enemy?" Spider-Woman screamed and in response Spider-Man knocked her out with a strong punch. Peter Parker cupped Gwen's head in his hands and whispered, "Please come back to me. I'm begging you!"

Gwen tore Spider-Man's mask off and spat in Peter's face. "Go fuck yourself, bug boy," she whispered and Spider-Man roared, "Why are you treating me this way?" Gwen said, "Because you've turned evil and you now act like a dick." Peter's face turned stone cold as he hissed, "I'm done with you." Spider-Man tackled Gwen to the ground and grabbed her by the throat. She struggled under Peter's grip but he kept applying more pressure and Gwen's vision started to fade when a sword suddenly burst out through Spider-Man's chest. Peter released his hold on Gwen and he slumped to the ground as Deadpool pulled his blade from Spidey's back. "Why?" Spider-man sputtered and Deadpool answered, "Because you're a dough canoe." Wade swung his sword down, severing Spider-Man's head and ending his despotic rule over Marvel.

Deadpool helped Gwen to her feet and stared at Spider-Woman's unconscious form. "Thank you," Gwen said and Deadpool inspected the body littered ground. "There's no need to thank me. I'm not a good person and never will be. The only thing that I can do is make this mess better, which is quite easy to do because the world has gone to shit." Deadpool pondered for a moment and then said, "The only reason I'm keeping you and woman spider over there alive is so I can have subjects to rule. I'm the King of Marvel now!" The mercenary stared at the battle in the sky between two cosmic forces and turned towards Gwen once again. He pointed to Spider-Woman and said, "Take her and leave this city. I have a feeling something extraordinary is about to happen and I'm not sure what it means. It could be the end of the world or very well could be the salvation of the human race. But we're sure as hell not sticking around here to find out." Gwen picked up Spider-Woman and followed Deadpool out of the city into an uncertain future.

Apocalypse brought back a fist for one final deadly strike to Wonder Woman. He slammed the fist down towards Diana but he was blasted off his feet before the fist could connect. Apocalypse crashed into a house and the building collapsed in on him as Supergirl floated down from the sky. Kara landed beside a beaten Wonder Woman and asked, "Are you okay?" Diana whispered, "Can't…move." At that moment the Flash appeared out of nowhere with a dozen Amazons running behind him. They stopped beside Wonder Woman and Barry bellowed, "Apocalypse paralyzed her!" He zoomed into the wrecked house and was immediately flung back outside by a powerful fist. Apocalypse emerged from the broken home and faced his last enemies with a smile on his face.

"You fools have come here to die!" he boomed and the last battle began. Supergirl unleashed a strong wind with her super breath, keeping Apocalypse back while the Amazons charged forward hacking at the mutant with vicious sword strikes. Apocalypse roared in anger and punched half the Amazons with so much strength that they disintegrated. The other six leaped atop Apocalypse stabbing him repeatedly but he seemed unharmed as he ripped an Amazon in two and flung another one towards Barry. The Flash dodged the fast approaching Amazon, who struck the ground and became unconscious. The speedster zoomed into Apocalypse before he could harm another Amazon, punching him rapidly.

Barry ended the attack with an uppercut, launching Apocalypse into the sky with great velocity. Supergirl took flight, shooting towards the sloping Apocalypse faster than a speeding bullet. "RAAAGGHHHHHHH!" Kara screamed as she prepared for a deadly collision. She crashed into Apocalypse with the force of a comet, and the two plummeted onto the top of the Empire State Building. The giant structure groaned under the two powerhouses' landings and Supergirl regained her bearings first, standing above a slumped Apocalypse with her eyes ablaze.

Heat vision gathered in Kara's eyes and as she prepared to incinerate the evil mutant he laughed madly. Before Supergirl could react Apocalypse shot her with an energy blast, throwing her onto the balcony overlooking New York City. Apocalypse jumped to his feet and lifted the Kryptonian above the barren landscape. "The world will burn as I reign with fire and blood!" Apocalypse bellowed and ripped Kara in half, flinging her separated body to the city below.

"NOOOO!" the Flash bellowed as he ran up the side of the skyscraper and threw himself at Apocalypse, tackling the mutant off the Empire State Building. Time seemed to slow down for Barry as he faced Apocalypse while the two fell towards the street below. The Flash punched Apocalypse repeatedly and kicked him only for the mutant to grab his leg and snap it in two with his huge hands. "AAAAHH!" Barry cried out in pain before they struck the ground and the Flash's head splattered over the cracked street. Apocalypse groaned in pain as he got to his feet and gazed at Barry's corpse. "I win the war!" Apocalypse boomed and Wonder Woman fell from the sky and landed in front of the powerful evildoer. Diana glared up at Apocalypse's imposing figure and bellowed, "Your life ends here, demon!" "We'll see about that, foolish woman," Apocalypse said and the two weary opponents charged towards each other one last time.

Superman crashed through several structures as he plummeted from the sky flaring like a meteor. He landed a hundred meters from Deadpool, Gwen, and Spider-Woman, who stared in worry over at the fallen superhero. Clark grunted in pain as he coughed up blood and he propped himself up from the ground with a shaky arm. At that moment a dark figure flew down from the sky and landed right in front of the Man of Tomorrow. Drakon stood before Superman with black cape billowing from behind on a breeze. The evil twin sneered down at Clark and said, "This is the end. After today there will be no tomorrow, only death and pain! Dylan was never strong enough to contain someone as powerful as me. If Dylan had never gotten as powerful as he had then he would still be alive and I would still be trapped within his unconscious mind."

"Shut up! You are not a part of my son; you are a figment of reality that needs to die!" Superman bellowed and he got to his feet as lightning fell from the sky and struck him, granting Clark extra power." Drakon smiled cruelly and hissed, "Your son is dead. The sooner you realize that the easier it will be for me to kill you." Superman roared in anger, throwing a punch at Drakon, who ducked under the strike and slammed a fist into Clark's abdomen. The hit sent Clark plowing through a gasoline truck which exploded in a giant cloud of flames. The Man of Steel shot up to his feet and flew through the flames with heat vision soaring out of his eyes. Drakon took the blast to his chest and he wasn't fazed by it as he leaped into the air and stomped on Superman. The kick threw Clark to the ground and Drakon glided down to his position with a smirk on his face.

The evil twin spread his arms, gesturing at the slain superheroes and fire-consumed Manhattan. "I am the one who triggered the civil war and I will be the one to end it. I will kill you and then have my way with your girl Wonder Woman before slitting her throat open. Then the world will feel my wrath!" Drakon hissed and this caused a supernova to explode in Clark's mind and Superman took flight, slamming into Drakon with the force of a god. The two flew across the cloudy sky and battled it out. Superman pummeled Drakon in the face and slammed his knee into his groin, causing Drakon to lurch forward in pain. Kal-El punched the evil twin's face and shot him in the chest with a blast of heat vision, flinging him through a billboard sign and crashing into Yankee Stadium. Drakon stumbled to his feet in center field and glared up at a fast approaching Superman. Lightning streaked across the sky and arced towards Drakon, who breathed fire out of his mouth which consumed the lightning bolt in a tremendous blast of energy. Drakon stood unharmed by the explosion and when Clark reached him the evil twin performed an uppercut, launching Superman into the air. Drakon shot up into the sky after Kal-El, determined to bring an end to his enemy.

Chapter 13 Fallen Gods

Green Lantern and Nova both punched each other, flying back from the force of the simultaneous punches. Hal Jordan took control of his powers and shot a stream of cannon fire at Nova, who blasted Hal's constructs to pieces with yellow energy. Nova slammed into Hal at full speed and they both flew through the air fighting with everything they had. Green Lantern constructed a fist in mid-flight, punching Richard with all his strength. The strike sent Nova crashing through several dozen buildings and Hal flew above him, creating a nuke which he dropped from the sky onto Nova's position. The blast incinerated half of Manhattan and Hal constructed binoculars to look through the debris and ashes for any sign of him.

A fast figure shot out of the flames and constructed a beam of energy. Hal was caught off guard by the attack and spiraled out of the sky when the energy struck him. A disfigured Nova dropped from the sky and plummeted straight down towards Green Lantern, constructing a spiked bat while he fell. Richard brought the weapon above his head and slammed it down at Hal's skull, but the Green Lantern constructed a shield just in time, deflecting the bat before it could pierce his head. Hal smashed the shield into Nova's face and Richard slammed a fist into the Green Lantern's chest, shooting concentrated energy through his heart. "AAAAHHH!" Hal cried and Nova socked him across the face just before he made painful impact with the ground. Blood seeped out of Green Lantern's heart and he glared up at Nova. Hal held his ring aloft and roared with everything he had, "BEWARE MY POWER, GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!" A sword shot out of his ring and impaled Nova in the chest.

Richard gripped the blade embedded in his heart with shock and he lost control of his powers. He dropped to the ground next to Hal and the two stared up at the buildings crumbling down towards them. "I'm sorry," Nova whispered and Hal murmured, "Don't blame yourself, this whole mess is Drakon's fault. He corrupted us all. The sins of men apply to super beings as well; I should have realized that earlier. If only we could go back in time and stop this pointless catastrophe before it ever began. Alas, it was a good life. I only wish I could see Diana's face one last time." The two stared at the falling structures, facing their doom just before a skyscraper crushed the two cosmic superheroes.

Wonder Woman sliced her sword towards Apocalypse's neck and the mutant ducked under the swing. He threw a fist at Diana and the Amazon blocked the fist with her shield before flinging her tiara at Apocalypse. The crown pierced his chest and Apocalypse bellowed in anger, releasing a wave of seismic energy blasts at the super heroine. The wave of energy caught Wonder Woman off guard, flinging the Amazon off her feet and sending her through a store's window. Shards cut through Wonder Woman's skin and she grunted in agony, but ignored the pain as Apocalypse barreled through the shop's wall and launched himself at Diana.

Wonder Woman stood her ground and roared as adrenaline coursed through her veins. Apocalypse crashed into Wonder Woman just as she sliced his head off in a single fluid motion. The decapitation immediately killed the mutant but his body crushed Wonder Woman and she crashed back into a counter, striking her head against the edge of the tile. Unconsciousness washed over the Amazon princess and at that moment Green Lantern's nuke struck her side of the city. Explosions resulted and buildings were demolished as the blast reached the shop with Wonder Woman inside.

Drakon flew with speeds undetectable by the human eye as he slammed into Superman and punched him with an endless barrage. Kal-El blocked one of Drakon's fists with a steel arm and elbowed him in the face. Clark brought back a fist and thrust it forward full force into Drakon's chest, launching him across the sky. Once Drakon recovered he saw the Man of Steel already flying towards him and the evil twin shot towards Superman. Superman and Drakon both prepared a strike and when they collided a fist smashed against both their faces, knocking out teeth and dislocating jaws. They fell away from each other and crashed to the desolate city below. Clark climbed to his feet and rubbed his bruised cheek in agony, but Drakon wouldn't give him respite as he dove out of a toppled skyscraper and slammed a fist into Superman's bloody face.

Clark recovered in a split second and tackled Drakon to the ground beating him senseless. The evil twin kicked Superman with all his strength, freeing himself and throwing Kal-El into a jewelry store. Drakon charged in after him but his feet were lifted from the ground as Superman blew the dark villain back with a gust of wind generated by super breath. The wind slammed Drakon against a skyscraper and he fell to the ground as Clark zoomed to his position and kicked his chin, flinging Drakon to the ground. The evil twin growled in anger as he pointed his palm towards the Man of Steel. A destructive beam of energy burst out from Drakon's hand and shot through Superman's chest. Clark gasped in pain and struck the ground as Drakon flew into the air.

Drakon glared down at Superman, who lay bleeding on the ground. "YOU FOOLISH SACK OF SHIT! NOBODY CONFRONTS ME! I AM POWERFUL! I AM IMMORTAL! I… AM… DEATH!" Drakon roared. Deadly energy gathered in the palms of Drakon's hands as a giant shadow enveloped the city. His eyes turned black and a dark mist rose from his body, which darkened to the color of night. The evil twin's veins bulged as the shadow smothering the city funneled energy into his being. Finally, when his powers were at their fullest, Drakon shot up into the sky and hovered above the shaded city.

Chaos exploded from his body and Drakon began razing the eastern seaboard. The chaos energy tore through the south first, blasting Orlando, Atlanta, Charleston, and numerous other cities to smithereens and ending millions of lives. As Drakon wrecked his way farther north the hole in Superman's chest healed and he shot up into the sky to end Drakon's life. Right before Clark could slam into Drakon the evil being threw a wall of darkness at him. Superman was caught off guard by the wall, which plowed into him and sent the Man of Steel falling towards the city below. "NO!" Kal-El bellowed and regained his flight right before he could crash and shot a powerful blast of heat vision at the plummeting wall of darkness. The beam of heat shattered the darkness to pieces and as the obsidian shards rained down around Clark he raised his arms to the sky.

A lightning storm emerged from the sky and bolts of lightning struck at the shadow extending across the world. A barrage of lightning blasts tore through Drakon, who seemed unharmed by the bolts of electricity. The evil twin turned his attention away from decimating Baltimore and sneered at the lightning storm, releasing red bolts of energy that tore Superman's storm cloud asunder. Clark took advantage of the distraction, flying into the sky and tackling Drakon from the air. The two opponents sloped towards Manhattan and Superman punched Drakon relentlessly, who retaliated by forming a shadow sword and thrusting the blade through Clark's gut. They stared eye to eye for a moment before Drakon yanked his sword upward, slicing through Superman's body.

Deadpool leaped into the air and plunged his sword through Drakon's back before he could split the Man of Steel in half. All three combatants crashed to the ground and Drakon pulled Deadpool's blade from his back and snapped it in half with his knee. "Bitch, nobody breaks my swords; you're going to pay big time!" Wade bellowed and he shot a rocket launcher at Drakon, who deflected the blast with a raised hand. Drakon zoomed through the conflagration and propelled his arm forward, ripping through Deadpool's chest and grabbing his heart. Before he could squeeze and kill Wade Wilson, Superman slammed into Drakon and pummeled him across the face as they plowed through bus stations and office buildings.

They came to a halt under a crane and Superman brought back his fist for one final blow when Drakon's fist was consumed with red energy and the evil twin punched the Man of Steel with unbelievable force. The hit sent Clark flying above the city and he began to fall after ten miles. Drakon flew into the sky right above Superman and reformed his shadow blade, which he swung down towards Clark's neck. A sudden burst of light ripped through the shadow smothering the world and deflected the shadow blade before it could decapitate Superman. Drakon hissed in pain as the heavenly light shined down upon Manhattan and he shielded his eyes from the glorious radiance of a figure flying through the light. Then Clark looked up into the sky and saw his son's face.

Chapter 14 A Brilliant Lance

Beams of light shot out of Dylan Strohaker's body and pierced the shadow in the sky, slowly making it smaller as the darkness retreated before the pure energy. The light decimated its way through the sky, consuming the shadow and granting Superman extra strength. Clark zoomed after the fleeing Drakon and tackled the burning figure to the ground. "GET OFF OF ME, WORM!" Drakon hissed and he gripped Superman by the neck and flew up into the sky, slamming the Man of Steel into a skyscraper and strangling him. Clark struggled under Drakon's fists as they beat him senseless and heat vision poured out of his eyes and pierced Drakon's forehead. The invincible twin's head lurched back from the blast and Superman bellowed in victory, punching a hole through Drakon's chest and tearing his heart out.

Drakon collapsed to the ground with eyes glazed over and Clark stared up at Dylan destroying the remaining shadow. When his radiant son was finished consuming the shadow Superman started to lift off to embrace Dylan until Drakon regained sentience with eyes turning to black. Superman was ten feet off the ground when Drakon released a wave of death from his hands. The black mass enveloped Kal-El and his skin turned grey as the first superhero fell to his knees. Chunks of skin sloughed off Clark and he cried out in pain before forcing a smile in Dylan's direction. Superman crumbled to pieces and as they bounced off the ground Dylan stared in shock at his lifeless dad. Drakon spat on Superman's corpse and boomed, "MY GREATEST OPPONENT HAS FALLEN AND NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO TASTE DEATH, BROTHER!" Dylan bellowed, "I ALREADY HAVE! I'M GOING TO RIP YOU TO SHREDS, DRAKON!"

Darkness shrouded Drakon and he took flight, shooting straight for Dylan. Light radiated around Dylan's form as he flew towards Drakon and the twins collided in a combustion of white and black. The strike flung both of them across the city skyline and Gwen watched in awe from the ground as they shot light and darkness at each other. The two energies collided in a flash of swirling colors followed up by Drakon and Dylan punching each other. Dylan barreled into Drakon and they careened into an office building before bursting out with swords unsheathed. Neither twin could land a hit with his blade and the whole world seemed to watch the relentless duel in the sky unfold with bated breath.

The light and dark swords sparked when they met and Drakon launched a skilled form, swinging his blade towards Dylan's head in a blur and pulling back at the last second as his light counterpart held up his sword for a block. Drakon redirected his blade towards Dylan's legs, but he flew above the dark blade and kicked Drakon in the head. Dylan slammed into his confused twin and they plowed through a dozen buildings and tore across the sky battling their way above the United States. Drakon thrust his sword towards Dylan's heart but the light being released a burst of white light, momentarily blinding Drakon and giving him the opportunity to jam his blade through his chest.

Drakon pulled the blade free and let it go, sending Dylan's sword plummeting to a valley in Oregon. Drakon spread his arms and destructive energy exploded from his chest and struck Dylan. He was thrown back by the powerful explosion and Dylan fell to the ground next to his sword in the middle of the valley. Unfortunately the energy followed suit, decimating mountains and the nearby countryside. Before the energy could envelop a helpless farmer and his home Dylan released a wave of water that washed across the surface and extinguished the destructive energy. Drakon dropped from the sky and drove a fist into Dylan's face, throwing him a hundred miles across the landscape. Dylan halted himself in the middle of Washington and Drakon flew straight towards him with sword at the ready. Dylan held his blade aloft and a torrent of light burst from its tip and blasted Drakon out of the sky before the evil twin could impale him.

Dylan zoomed across the grass and slammed into Drakon, sending him flying above the land further north. Dylan flew after his twin and became a pillar of light as the two reached the end of the continental US and soared above the ocean. The light-enveloped Dylan shot across the sky, catching up with a furious Drakon. Heat vision burst out of both their eyes and collided in-between the two opponents, triggering a gigantic explosion that expanded ten miles in every direction. Sea life and pigeons were obliterated by the blast and Dylan launched himself at Drakon as they reached Alaska.

Dylan slammed into Drakon just before the two smashed through an icy mountain peak and crashed to the slope of a gigantic glacier. Dylan attacked first, punching Drakon across the face and flinging him to the icy ground. Drakon slammed a fist against the glacier and large cracks spread outward from his body, splitting the ancient ice formation apart. Dylan took flight before he could fall into one of the cracks and he released a blast of wind, which enveloped Drakon and carried him thrashing into the sky. Heat vision poured forth from Dylan's eyes and blasted Drakon across the landscape; the light being shot after him.

Dylan grappled onto his evil twin as they soared above Alaska and fought their way across Canada. Drakon slammed his knee into Dylan's ribs and smashed his head against Dylan's face before ending the assault with a powerful fist to the chest. The blow threw Dylan down into the city of Vancouver, where he crashed through the 2012 Olympic fountain and slid across the stone ground. The good twin saw all the people in the block staring at him and he screamed, "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Just as the words left Dylan's mouth a black blur sloped down from the sky and plowed into the superhero. Citizens screamed as they ran away from the scene and Drakon ignored them, instead choosing to beat his twin senseless.

Drakon gripped Dylan by the throat and punched him in the abdomen so hard that the angelic figure was launched into the sky with such a force that he broke the sound barrier. When Dylan became a mere dot on the distant horizon Drakon turned his attention to the fleeing Canadians. He smiled evilly before unleashing a wave of energy blasts that demolished all the structures in Vancouver and ended a million lives. Drakon shot up into the air and flew away from the burning city, taking pleasure in the dying's cries of pain.

After flying above 1,000 miles of wintry landscape Drakon encountered a radiant being in his path. The evil twin sneered, accelerating his speed and flying past the white figure as Dylan dodged to the side. Drakon spun around in fury and bolts of electricity surged from his open palms. Dylan combated the lightning with a relentless beam of heat vision. Almost immediately the heat vision overcame the electricity and as the lightning dissipated Drakon took the heat vision blast to his chest. The fire scorched Drakon's black suit and he raised his arms to the sky, summoning a rain cloud that extinguished the flames.

Dylan launched into an uppercut just as Drakon doused himself, punching his evil twin in the chin and flinging him above the stratosphere. Dylan launched into the sky after the villain and noticed a split second too late that Drakon was falling straight towards him with extreme speed. The two collided, creating a sonic boom that washed over the Western Hemisphere. A band of expansive radiant energy spread out around the combatants in every direction. People gazed up in awe from the ground at the sparkling light as it began falling towards earth.

Drakon formed a blade of deep darkness in his hands and a radiant sword materialized in Dylan's grip. The twins attacked, clanging their blades together. A loud BOOM echoed across the sky as the blades bounced off each other. Stardust fell from the blades and plummeted straight towards the Western Hemisphere. Dylan launched into a dozen forms and Drakon blocked all of them except for the last, which he parried aside. This allowed him to drive his knee into Dylan's gut. The superhero lurched forward in pain and Drakon plunged his blade towards his twin's exposed backside. Dylan dropped under the black sword and held aloft his light blade, blocking Drakon's next swing. Stardust fell again and Dylan gazed down at the beautiful substance and noticed in alarm that it was growing as it fell faster. His super hearing picked up screams as stardust became mile wide rocks and crushed cities, towns, and houses, killing millions. Drakon kicked Dylan in the face and sliced his blade towards the superhero's throat.

Dylan ducked under the strike and thrust his blade, aiming for Drakon's heart. The villain became a blur, Dylan's blade just nicking his arm. Drakon slowed down to become visible and Dylan took pleasure in seeing his evil twin's alarmed face as some blood poured from the wound. Dylan swung his blade towards Drakon's midsection, taking advantage of the distraction by blowing ice breath in his face. Drakon's head froze solid as Dylan's blade began slicing through his hip. Drakon disappeared before serious harm could be done and Dylan spun around in alarm as a rushing sound reached his ears.

An airplane struck him, shattering on impact from Dylan's solid body. The splitting plane and Dylan careened towards Niagara and Dylan used his super senses to take in the surviving passengers and their positions. Only half had survived the initial impact with his body and Dylan saw a smirking Drakon out of the corner of his eye just before the villain let loose with a powerful barrage of red energy. The energy washed over Dylan and the remaining survivors. "NOOOO!" Dylan cried as the pain stimulus circled through his body before bursting out in the form of pure light. The screams of the dying were cut short as the light healed them and Dylan shoved aside the front part of the plane with the dead pilots. Dylan scooped up fifty-three people by having them link arms just before the plane crashed into smithereens on the rocky terrain on top of Niagara Falls. Dylan constructed a hundred yard long cushion and slowed their descent five seconds before hitting the soft material.

Dylan slumped off the cushion just as Drakon landed in front of him with an ear-splitting sound. The evil being held his arms aloft, using his mind to carve sharp spears from the rocky ground beneath their feet. He flung a dozen rocky spears at the fleeing citizens, piercing ten people before Dylan could react. As the victims toppled to the ground Dylan roared in anger, tackling Drakon off the edge of the falls and into the turbulent water. They splashed into the rushing tide and thrashed about as the powerful current pushed them towards shore. Dylan used his speed to swim to shore as Drakon grappled onto him. The twins burst forth from the rolling rapids and sped onto land, plowing through parked cars and creating a chain reaction. Four explosions resulted, killing a dozen innocent bystanders and scorching Dylan's backside. Drakon punched Dylan across the face, sending him through a dozen cars. Drakon raised a fist high in the air and slammed it into the cement with all his might, triggering a ripple of flames that bathed everything in a 30-mile radius.

Multitudes of people fell to the ground on fire while a forest fire spread across the countryside. Drakon strolled through the chaos and stood above his flaming twin. "Don't worry, brother; I'll quench the fire," Drakon hissed and he flew into the air and raised the palm of his hand at the rushing waterfall. The foundation the water flowed down from crumbled to dust and in a rush the entirety of Niagara Falls washed across the landscape and drowned everyone in the park. The roaring tide swept Dylan several miles away before he could shoot out of the water in search of his evil twin. As he gazed around the woods Dylan noticed the flood of water had reached the outskirts of the city of Buffalo. The superhero zoomed to the scene and constructed a dam in front of the tide, effectively stopping the water.

Drakon knocked a skyscraper off its foundations and the structure crumbled towards Dylan, who flew around the falling debris and caught the building. He set the skyscraper down as gently as possible just before Drakon slammed into him, flinging him through ten businesses and down into a subway station. Drakon plummeted through a street and fell into the subway, facing Dylan. "COME ON!" Dylan roared and Drakon plowed into him, but the light being stood his ground and pushed against his brother's strength. Dylan finally managed to shove Drakon aside and followed up with a ray of light. Drakon screamed as his dark essence cringed before Dylan's light, which pricked at Drakon's very soul. "STOP IT!" Drakon bellowed and a concussive blast erupted from his hands, blasting Dylan down the subway tunnel.

Drakon crashed into his twin and burrowed the two of them underground across the whole continent using super speed. They spewed forth from a volcano vent, having run over magma without harm due to their faster than light speed. Dylan socked Drakon across the face and barreled into him, sending the two up the volcano to the crest. Drakon elbowed Dylan across the face and rolled on top of him, holding the good twin's head above the opening in the volcano. "Good riddance, you bastard!" Drakon said, his voice dripping with malice. He closed his eyes and the volcano shook as it became active due to Drakon's unrelenting mental strength. A pillar of lava erupted from the base of the volcano, shooting up towards the back of Dylan's head. Growing desperate, Dylan smashed his forehead into Drakon's nose and used super breath to make his opponent tumble down the mountainside. Dylan leaped away from the vent just as lava spewed forth, and he rolled down the mountain with the deadly lava not far behind.

Drakon stood at the base of the volcano and he steeled himself as Dylan zoomed down the volcano and slammed into him. The force of impact threw both fighters back and they got to their feet as the lava seeped closer. They took flight while summoning their respective swords, which materialized out of thin air. The twins gathered all their strength and rushed each other with blades at the ready. The two blades met, triggering more seismic activity as the ground below the combatants broke apart and lava shot into the air. The steaming molten fire scorched Drakon and Dylan and they cried out in pain. Light radiated from Dylan's form and darkness exploded out of Drakon's body, healing the twins. The two energies combined and the two battlers shielded their eyes from the resulting supernova. A hundred mile wide nuke-like explosion went off and a dozen volcanoes erupted in the area as the duelers were flung above the spreading chaos.

They regained control of their flight above Alabama and Drakon threw himself at Dylan, who pummeled him across the face and pinned his arms behind his back. Dylan spun Drakon around to face the expanding destruction. Lava already covered an eighth of the United States and the fiery substance continued to spread like wildfire, consuming innocents and obliterating cities. It seeped down into Mexico and even the bottom of Canada, only slowing down gradually. "This battle has to end. It's ending countless lives and I intend to stop it!" Dylan bellowed. Drakon hissed, "What are you gonna do, huh? Kill me? Ha! Even if you are the most powerful being in this galaxy you still don't stand a chance. I am death incarnate and your true inner self, and that means I have a lot more power than you ever possessed!"

Drakon smashed the back of his head into Dylan's face, forcing him to let Drakon go. He spun around and smiled at Dylan, who glared back at him. "Become me and turn away from the pitiful light. Relish in the darkness and join me in gaining omnipotence!" Drakon said. Dylan summoned his sword once again and roared, "NEVER! I've had enough of your schemes, Drakon!" Burning light poured from Dylan's chest and struck Drakon in the ribs, throwing him above flaming field crops for ten miles. "You just made a huge mistake, weakling," Drakon hissed and chaos energy erupted from his hands, blasting Dylan out of the sky. The superhero crash landed on a mountain five hundred miles away and Drakon zoomed to his position, slamming into Dylan and thrashing him repeatedly. Dylan caught one of Drakon's thrown fists and dug his heels into the dirt as the two struggled against each other's strength. Drakon began driving Dylan up the slope of the mountain and Dylan's energy almost went out before heat vision burst out of his eyes and pierced Drakon's eyes.

Drakon flung his head back in pain. Dylan kicked his opponent in the chest, flinging him off the incline. Drakon crashed into a tree, which fell atop him. Dylan flew up into the air and raised his radiant blade at Drakon's wounded form, unleashing white energy that obliterated everything in its path. Shredding trees and blowing up mountains, the energy raged towards Drakon who raised his hand. A globe of dark matter encased him just as the energy struck, shattering Drakon's defense and enveloping the evil twin. Dylan's body flashed into and out of existence, reappearing and vanishing rapidly. When his form solidified Dylan mustered his strength and used his super vision to peer through the billowing dust and debris. That took a lot out of me. I have to be careful not to push myself too hard or I'll be erased from the fabric of time and space, Dylan thought as his vision picked out a dark ethereal being floating amidst the wreckage.

The pure white energy seemed to have awakened a deep darkness in Drakon's being and it had surfaced to protect him from the powerful light. That darkness now shrouded the villain as he flew above the dust clouds and shot towards Dylan at an impossible speed. Dylan changed his form to ethereal light just before Drakon collided into him. At the moment of impact, Dylan and Drakon emerged on a higher dimension due to the mixture of their pure beings. They looked around in wonder as stars and comets zipped past from all directions. The twins looked down to find an unending expanse of galaxies and black holes.

They craned their heads to find complete darkness, which Dylan assumed to be dark matter. Dylan spun around as he saw from the corner of his eye a bright dot in the distance. Is that the afterlife come to reclaim me? No, my mission isn't over! I have to destroy my dark side before it obliterates the world and everyone with it! Dylan thought and he opened his mind, delving deep into the fabric of reality to summon a way of escape. Five-dimensional beings without solid forms zoomed past, transporting the twins through a million other dimensions. Countless images of varying space and time passed before the duelers' eyes. They suddenly jerked to a stop in a white room. The walls were like mirrors, casting an endless array of similar rooms and Drakon bellowed, "Where the hell are we?"

Dylan saw before him a being with an ever-changing form. The being boomed, "You are in a plane bordering on the edge of existence. This is the closest you can get to being nonexistent in all of space and time while still having a body and soul." The deep voice that washed over the twins commanded obedience and peace, so the two bowed their heads and stood erect, facing the mysterious being. "Who or what are you?" Dylan asked and the being seemed to smirk as it boomed, "That information would ruin your minds. The two of you would immediately be wiped out if you found out what I really am. Now let's get to why you were brought here. I find you two to be an anomaly. Never before since the birth of the universe has there ever been an occurrence like the formation of complete opposites such as you. The outcome of this battle will change reality forever." "What are you on about?" Dylan asked and the being spread his arms, his body swirling into different forms.

One of those forms was a portal that opened to a dozen other dimensions and the powerful being said, "I am the one who made all the major dimensions come together in one on your version of planet Earth, which I see as Earth Prime." "So you're the one who made the portals used in the clue race to hop from different realities?" Dylan asked and the being nodded its head. "Julia, a powerful five-dimensional being, became a rebel of the universe system and tried to corrupt Earth Prime; that would trigger a series of events that would make all the dimensions corrupted. Then she would become ruler of the universe, but you thankfully put a stop to her plans," the being explained. "But why would you bring all the dimensions together? I thought it was some dark being who was responsible!" Dylan said.

"I did it to meld the hardest beings into occupying a perfect world. The survivors would be the ones who would forge Earth into a utopia, the ultimate existence as it should have been eons ago. Now my wish is coming to fruition. Life now has another chance to be perfect as I envisioned it countless millennia ago. I am not good or evil, I transcend time and space. I am an extra dimensional being who wants a perfect world without violence, sin, discrimination, adultery, and everything else that has corrupted trillions of species! I am light and darkness made into one ultimate being." The being's eyes became unchanging for a few seconds and Dylan noticed one was pure white and the other pure black. Its eyes focused on the twins and the extra-dimensional being boomed, "Do not go gentle into that great abyss. I want you to delve deep into your souls and fight to the very end. I will witness a perfect world, be it complete evil or complete good. Unleash rage, rage at the transgressions each of you has caused for the other. NOW FIGHT!"

The being raised his hand and a convolution of images rushed past the twins' eyes before they emerged on Earth Prime. Dylan noticed they were in the exact same spot where they had disappeared from. Drakon flew towards Dylan with sword in hand and the superhero blocked his strike, faltering under Drakon's newfound power. Light exploded from Dylan's chest, blinding the evil twin and giving Dylan the chance to plunge his sword towards Drakon's chest. The dark being flew above the rushing blade and kicked Dylan in the face, flinging him across the mountainous landscape and onto a plain in Kansas. Drakon landed with a crack and the ground shook beneath his strength as the evil twin charged towards Dylan. Drakon hooked his blade towards Dylan's face and the light being parried the dark blade aside and punched Drakon in the chest. Dylan swiped his blade towards Drakon's throat, but he ducked under the swing and head-butted Dylan in the groin. This brought the good twin to his knees, where Drakon punched him across the face and rocketed into the sky. When he was 100,000 feet in the air Drakon plummeted down fist first, striking Dylan in the ribs and burrowing a crater.

Drakon stood above a battered Dylan in the center of the giant hole and he slammed his foot on Dylan's chest, forcing him to cough up blood. The villain plunged his sword down towards Dylan's neck but he brought his blade up just in time to block the fatal blow. Dylan summoned a jet of water that collided with Drakon, throwing him out of the crater. Dylan shot into the sky, flying after his enemy only to find his back to him. Drakon faced a large mountain range in the distance and he lifted his hands above his head. Twenty mountains lifted off the ground, some splitting in half as they raised high into the air. Then Drakon swiped his arms towards Dylan and the crumbling land masses were sent careening towards him. "Holy shit," Dylan muttered right before a mountain plowed into him just as he constructed a wall of dirt. The defense crumbled before the giant mountain, which crushed Dylan. Drakon flung the remaining nineteen mountains at nearby cities and towns, crushing and killing thousands.

The mountain sitting atop Dylan exploded in a bright light as the superhero flew after his brother, who was burying people. Dylan transformed his fist into solid light and struck Drakon in the back; throwing him a mile above the town he had been terrorizing. Dylan shattered the falling mountain into a billion small chunks with his light consumed fist right before another land mass could crush the rest of the town. Drakon consumed his being in dark fire and dropped straight down towards Dylan with fists at the ready. Dylan flew up towards his twin with light fists leading and the two collided, their powers triggering an explosion that razed the countryside in a thirty mile radius.

They fell away from each other as stardust fell from their forms and destroyed civilization below. Dylan thrust his blade towards Drakon's heart at the speed of light, ripping through flesh and piercing his dark heart. Drakon roared, "NOOOOO!" and exploded in a storm of darkness. Dylan withstood the powerful storm and stared into the endless abyss. He remembered the extra-dimensional being's words: Do not go gentle into that great abyss. Dylan formed a brilliant lance in his hand and bellowed in exertion as he pushed through the pressing void. After making it through he encountered a giant dark being with a form that resembled Drakon's. "YOU CAN NEVER KILL ME!" the dark being boomed and Dylan hefted the long radiant lance above his head. He charged through the swirling darkness towards his nemesis, who charged at him while swinging a large black sword.

Their weapons met in the center of the swirling vortex. Bright light expanded through the abyss, dissolving it as Dylan's lance shattered Drakon's dark blade and pierced his neck, bursting out through the back of Drakon's head. Drakon teetered for a moment in shock before dissolving in a dark mist. Dylan spread his arms as newfound energy seeped into his being and he raised the brilliant lance into the sky, shooting a ray of light above the world to signal his victory. He teleported to Manhattan, appearing in front of Wonder Woman. The Amazon was awakening right when he showed up and Diana asked "What happened?" as she took in Dylan's radiant form. "It's a long story," Dylan said.

Chapter 15 A New Future

After explaining everything to Wonder Woman and consoling her on the loss of her husband, I walked outside past Apocalypse's corpse and stared at the rubble of the city. I finally felt whole again after vanquishing Drakon, my dark self. While battling him I had felt half of a whole; it was a surreal experience and one I would rather not have again. My gaze fell upon countless bodies of superheroes who had died in the Last Battle. The Flash, Hal Jordan, Supergirl, Aquaman, Orion, Thor, Spider-Man, John Stewart, Shazam, Zatanna, Black Panther, and countless others. And Superman… I sobbed as I walked past my father's corpse. "Dylan!" a familiar voice cried out and I looked up from Clark's body and saw Gwen.

I zoomed to my wife in exhilaration and kissed her. Gwen said, "How are you here?" and I replied, "I had some unfinished business with my twin." She laughed in joy and we kissed again as Deadpool, Spider-Woman, and Scarlet Witch walked up to us. They were the only survivors from the civil war other than Wonder Woman. I gazed into the sunshine and said, "I guess I'm staying here now that Drakon's dead. I don't feel a tug to the afterlife, so that means I get another chance at life. I intend to rebuild the world and fix everything my damn twin did." I looked around once more at the destruction and added, "It's going to be difficult."

Deadpool said, "That's the understatement of the year," and I seethed in anger. "Who spearheaded the civil war?" I asked and Scarlet Witch said, "Spider-Man. He thought you attacked him when it was really Drakon." I faced Gwen and muttered, "Your old boyfriend's a drag." "I know," Gwen sighed and Wonder Woman walked up to us. "It's time to get to work, team," I said and we began to build a new city.

Epilogue

I stood atop the highest skyscraper in the new city, which I had named the City of Tomorrow. It was basically a utopia; no crime had occurred since its construction a year ago. It looks like you got what you wanted, mysterious being, I thought and I dropped to the streets below. Wonder Woman had given birth to a boy three months ago and he was already showing signs of super strength. He was my half-brother. I passed by a hundred happy citizens before coming across a swirling portal on the side of a skyscraper. Something about the portal enticed me, so I stepped through it.

I found myself high in the clouds and gazed upon heaven. All my past acquaintances stood in front of the golden gate to heaven. Superman, Black Widow, Captain America, Stephanie, Thor, and many others faced me. "Do you want peace, my son?" Clark asked and I stared longingly at my friends, family, and past lovers. I contemplated the question for a few seconds, but ultimately said, "I have a duty to fix the world. I'll see you again when my time is up." I waved goodbye and stepped back into the portal to live out my life, determined to make the world a better place.

The End