Epic World Book 3: Heroes

by KingInDaNorf98

In the third book in the epic world series, three alien armies assault Earth and it's up to both Marvel and DC superheroes to fight off some of the most powerful villains of all time.

Epic World Book 3 Heroes

Chapter 1 We All Fall Down

My name is Tony Stark and I run Stark Industries as well as being the superhero Iron Man. I am a billionaire playboy philanthropist that is famous throughout the entire world. I used to be a member of the Avengers before most of the team was killed off by the Chitauri led by Loki and Thanos. The Black Widow and I are the only surviving members left and we fought in the war against the dark army led by Kronos, eventually defeating it and saving humankind. Now that Natasha was married to Dylan Strohaker I don't see her as much as before. Hermione Granger, now known as the Wonderful Witch, is my partner in fighting crime and Pepper Potts is my girlfriend.

Stark Tower is in the center of a large and bustling Manhattan. I sat in my lounge overlooking the city skyline, pondering all of the events that had recently occurred. Getting burned by Thanos was not pleasant, Kronos destroying my suit was horrible as well as painful, and I still couldn't get over the mystery of Dylan Strohaker. I don't trust him. He was just a normal young smartass adult when I first met him, but during the battle with the Chitauri he completely transformed into a ruthless powerful superhero. Something like that doesn't happen with the snap of fingers, it took a while for me to grow into my MARK prototypes until I perfected them into fully functional suits of armor and adjusted to superhero life.

"Honey, I'm home!" Pepper wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me close. I pecked her on the lips and said, "Welcome home. How was the business trip to Queen Industries?" Pepper sighed, "Not as well as I hoped. Oliver Queen is the most stubborn person I've ever met; he isn't willing to help fund a new team of superheroes! He argues that there aren't any heroes left and it would be a waste of useful time and money." I smiled slyly and asked, "And here I thought I was the most stubborn…" Pepper punched me playfully and laughed, "Don't worry, you're still number one, Oliver ranks second."

"Is there anything else he said?" "Yes, he's been worried about how Superman's death will affect everyone; he was a symbol, the first hero. Now that he's dead the crime rates have increased rapidly in rural areas as well as in cities across the globe. There has also been an increase in suicides as well as divorces, and most religions believe the apocalypse is near." Pepper sat next to me and held my hand, but I pulled it away and jumped to my feet. "DAMN IT!" I yelled and slammed both my fists through a glass table, shattering it and sending shards flying everywhere. Pepper looked at me in horror as I threw a fist at the MARK V, knocking the armor's head off. Standing steaming in the middle of the room with both fists clenched I slowly calmed down before speaking, "I will not let another otherworldly invader start another war! The entire world depends on a new team and I intend to form one with or without Queen's help!"

The Wonderful Witch soared through the window on her broomstick and said, "Have you forgotten about the HLS? You, Dylan, Natasha, Sarah, and I are all members of Humankind's Last Stand as well as every good guy who perished in the war." I stared at Hermione and said, "Of course I haven't forgotten about HLS, I was the one who founded it! But we are too few in numbers to fight the evil in this world." Hermione said, "There is no evil left in the world, it was destroyed along with darkness in the war against Kronos," and Pepper shook her head in agreement. I yelled, "Have any of you even realized that every single dimension is all one?! There is evil and it can come anytime it wants!"

At that instant Stark Tower shook and started to collapse as explosions rocked the entire building. I screamed, "Pepper, get a suit on!" as I used my mind to send my new suit of armor attaching to my body. When I was fully clad in armor I reached for my girlfriend but a large figure slammed into me. I found myself looking at Magneto as he sent me crashing through equipment, but I used repulsor beams to send me flying up and allowing me to aim my weapons at him. Shooting missiles at Magneto proved futile as he raised a hand to telekinetically throw them back crashing into me. I was sent flying through a window and stared sadly at my tower falling to its doom. "PEPPER!" I screamed and saw to my relief Hermione flying on her broomstick with Pepper Potts away from the debris and out of danger.

Magneto flew out of the inferno that was once Stark Tower and soared towards me only to have my pal James Rhodes aka War Machine shoot bullets out of a machine gun at him. Magneto grunted in pain as the bullets struck him in the chest before he clenched a fist and Rhodes' armor constricted, crushing his body. War Machine grunted in pain and I punched Magneto with an iron fist before grabbing his head and slamming it against my knee. James said, "Thanks!" as he flew by my side and performed an uppercut on the bad guy, sending Magneto flying away. I said, "He couldn't have caused those explosions, but I wonder what did." War Machine said, "Um, I think you should turn your attention to the streets!" and I looked down to see a huge ugly monstrous creature ripping up streets and tearing down buildings. "Well, now we have to save the world from the Hulk on crack. My day just got a hell of a lot worse!" I said and War Machine and I flew towards the ground to fight Doomsday.

When War Machine and I were ten feet above Doomsday we shot at it with machine gun bullets only to have the creature jump up and grab James in one hand and me in the other. Doomsday slammed us against the broken pavement before squeezing with all his might. James and I screamed in pain and a moment later Hermione flew out of the shadows of a tall building and jumped off her broomstick. While she was falling down towards Doomsday she pointed her wand at the beast and bellowed, "Flipendo!" The spell soared out of Hermione's wand and struck Doomsday in the gut, knocking him backwards while releasing War Machine and I from his huge hands. "Thank god you showed up, Hermione. War Machine and I were goners before you came and saved the day!" I said. Hermione smiled and everything was calm and peaceful before Doomsday burst out of the ground from underneath us and while we were thrown into the air I saw to my horror War Machine getting bludgeoned by the deadly creature. "Rhodey!" I cried out and used my thrusters to send me flying at lightning speed towards Doomsday. "Jarvis, I'm going to need you to activate the proton gun and maximize the suit's energy to 100%." As Jarvis received the commands my suit flew at lightning-fast speed as I shot my proton gun at the monster. When the energy struck Doomsday the beast was thrown up into the air, letting James free, and I crashed into the creature using my armor's newfound speed to send Doomsday flying above the city of Manhattan.

Chapter 2 Honeydoom

My name is Dylan Strohaker, winner of the clue race two times in a row. I am in Hawaii on my honeymoon with my wives Sarah and Natasha and we are having the time of our lives. After getting a massage and playing in a waterpark, we were relaxing in our patio. I had bought a million dollar condo with my never-ending flow of money and my wives and I were really enjoying it. Natasha said, "What do you want to do today, honey?" and I said, "I want to have a relaxing day with the two most beautiful women in the world." Sarah whispered, "I think we can make that work," as she undressed me and pushed me through the door leading to our bedroom. She and Natasha pulled their clothes off and joined me in bed, where we consummated our marriage.

I woke up the next day to find my wives lying naked next to me. I jumped out of bed and dressed before walking out onto the porch to gaze at the beautiful landscape of Hawaii. Adults were drinking their coffee in the outdoor diner while kids played in the dozens of pools scattered throughout the resort. It was a good day and it got even better as Sarah and Natasha kissed my neck and I turned around to kiss them back. They started giggling and I laughed as we got frisky-BOOM! "What the…" I spun around to find space ships shooting at all of the volcanoes and the entire island shook as lava erupted out of the dangerous mountains and the next second every volcano exploded. Gaseous fumes spread over Hawaii and extended out across the entire Pacific Ocean while lava seeped down the destroyed mountains and obliterated everything that was in its path. Before the deadly magma could reach the resort I shot up into the air and threw ice out of my hands, freezing the lava on impact. I gazed at all the people I had saved only to see their corpses, they had died from the fumes.

I immediately flew back to my condo and scooped up the unconscious Sarah and Natasha, then flew away at the speed of light with deadly volcanic fumes chasing me. "Stay back!" I screamed as I spun around and threw a huge gust of wind, scattering the fumes, and I then shot beams of fire out of my eyes, incinerating the pandemic to ashes. Regaining my strength, I flew to California at the speed of light.

When I reached a hospital in San Francisco I ordered a doctor to take my wives in to be revived. When a doctor that turned out to be Emil Hamilton brought Sarah and Natasha into the emergency room I followed him in, worried for my wives' lives. The nurses put my lovers on oxygenated devices to give them a way to breathe while the doctor examined their condition. "Doc, are they going to be alright?" I asked urgently and Emil said, "No." That word was a gunshot and it might as well have been me in critical condition. "What do you mean 'no'?" I yelled and the doctor said, "They've inhaled too many fumes, they both have at most another five minutes." Red was all I saw as my hand grabbed Emil's neck and lifted him up into the air, choking him. "I suggest you find a way to save them, doc, or you're not going to be able to save yourself!" I seethed with rage as I released Dr. Hamilton's neck and as he toppled to the floor security guards burst through the door and shot at me. I threw beams of heat out of my hands and ten seconds later a dozen security guards lie on the ground with burning holes in their chests.

Emil looked at me in horror and I boomed, "Get cracking, doctor!" and he obeyed as he shakily picked up tools and got to work on my beloved wives. I knew that hope was already lost; I just couldn't give up because there was too much at stake. At that moment Sarah gasped for breath and I ran to her side, holding her hand as she slowly sat up and then Emil went to work on Natasha. I cried in relief as I hugged Sarah and whispered, "It's okay, you're still here with me!" before kissing her on the lips. She wrapped her arms around me and said, "I was dead, but now I'm alive. How is that possible?" Natasha then jumped up out of her stretcher and landed smoothly on her feet. "Natasha!" I said and hugged her tightly as Sarah asked, "Doctor, how are we alive?" Emil Hamilton said, "I used a secret medicine to revive you." A knife went flying and pierced the doctor in the throat, collapsing him to his knees. A dark figure stalked into the room and said, "Emil, you had that coming for stealing my blood." The figure's features became clearer as he got closer and I recognized him immediately as Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The vampire glared at my wives and hissed, "It looks like my blood saved your lives. Now I will take yours back!" He lunged at Natasha and she threw a punch at him but he knocked it aside with lightning-quick speed and bit into her neck. I unsheathed my powerful sword and swung it at Spike's neck and before my blade could kill the vampire he dodged to the side and crashed into me, swiping his claws across my gut before kneeing my face. I fell to my knees spitting blood and Spike was about to end my knife when Sarah stabbed him through the back with the knife he had used to kill Dr. Hamilton. He gasped in shock before toppling to the ground and Sarah helped me to my feet. I said, "Let's get out of this hell hole!" before I picked up my wives and shot up through the ceiling. "Where are we going?" Natasha asked and I said, "New York City, I have a feeling something big is about to go down there." We soared above the United States and reached New York to find a welcome surprise: Spiderman.

Meanwhile, in the emergency room of the hospital in California Spike awoke and jumped to his feet. "Bloody bastards!" he cursed and hissed, "I swear on my life that I will kill Sarah Walker!" With that being said, the vampire disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Chapter 3 Arrow

My name is Oliver Queen, and I'm also the Green Arrow. I am the CEO of Queen Consolidated and one of the richest men alive. My girlfriend Laurel Lance wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, "Kiss me." I responded with a kiss to the lips and said, "Not tonight, Laurel, I've been feeling upset ever since Pepper Potts told me I should help fund a new team of superheroes. There aren't any heroes left that are powerful enough to stop the evil plaguing the Glades." Laurel said, "Oliver, you can't get upset with yourself just because the crime in our city has risen," and I yelled, "My mother was killed by a bunch of hoodlums! How can I not be mad at myself for not being able to stop crime in my city?"

At that moment a hulking figure burst through a window and shot an arrow through Laurel's chest. I screamed in rage as I unzipped my jacket, unveiling my Green Arrow suit and when the Dark Archer shot another arrow I performed a barrel roll. The deadly arrow missed my neck by an inch and I grabbed my bow from behind my desk before attacking. I jumped into the air, my momentum bringing me above the Dark Archer, and I strung an arrow to my bow-string and released. The Dark Archer held up his large bow as a shield and my arrow clattered off it, then the evil ninja leaped into the air and grabbed me while I was in mid-jump. We crashed against my desk, cracking it in half, and before I could react the Dark Archer punched me repeatedly across the face before kicking me in the gut with a tremendous force, sending me flying through the broken window.

I landed on my back and quickly got to my feet when my nemesis jumped out the window and while he was falling towards me he let fly an arrow. Without hesitation I strung my bow and released a green arrow that soared up and split the Dark Archer's arrow down the middle. My arrow continued to fly up until it pierced the Dark Archer's neck and the next moment he lay sprawled on the ground dead. I leaped back into my mansion and rushed over to Laurel, who was barely conscious. She grabbed my hand and whispered, "Did you get him?" and I cried, "Yes, yes honey I got him. Now I'm going to get you help." I screamed, "Diggle! Thea! Anyone, call the medics!" but Laurel put her fingers on my lips and whispered, "No, Ollie, it's too late," she coughed up blood and there were tears sliding down her face as she said, "Prom… promise me you won't seek revenge." I whispered, "I promise, Laurel, I love you." Laurel smiled, "I love you…" she stopped breathing and her eyes went out of focus. "Laurel, honey, SPEAK!" I pumped her chest but there wasn't a response and at that moment my friend Diggle and sister Thea burst into the room and gasped in shock when they saw Laurel with an arrow in her chest.

They ran to my side and Diggle said, "Laurel's dead?" while Thea cried out, "No!" I slowly got to my feet and said with malice in my voice, "I'm leaving to go kill every single hoodlum in the Glades." I ran towards the window but Diggle yelled, "Oliver, think about what you're doing, man. You can't leave your girlfriend here like this just to go find trouble!" I turned around and screamed, "It was my job to protect this city and I failed. I couldn't even protect Laurel and now I have to right my wrongs by destroying every tainted soul that walks my streets!" I spun back around and leaped out into the night while my sister screamed, "Please don't go!" but I ignored her and ran deep into the darkness.

I vaulted over a chain-linked fence and landed on the other side quiet as a cat on my feet. "Who the hell is that?" a voice whispered and a second voice yelled, "Yo, biatch! You best get out o' here before we kick yo ass!" Ten gangsters with guns and baseball bats emerged out of an alleyway and I said in a dangerous tone, "You have failed this city." One of the gangsters said, "What the hell you talkin' 'bout?" and before they could react I released a notched arrow, piercing the guy's throat. As the black guy toppled lifeless to the pavement I leapt into action, unsheathing my knife and slitting two throats before snapping another gangster's neck. Only six hoodlums faced me now and they all opened fire, but I leapt into the air and shot an arrow through a gangster's eye. "Aaaaaaauugggghhh!" the hoodlum fell to his knees and I landed behind the last five gangsters. I thrust an arrow through a gangster's back and the remaining four hoodlums turned around and struck at me with bats.

A gangster swung his bat towards my head and I grabbed it and slammed the weapon against my knee, splitting it in half. I picked up the sharp half and flung it through the gangster's throat, killing him before I ducked under a wild swing from behind. I kicked the hoodlum in the leg, breaking his kneecap, and he toppled to the ground where I snapped his neck. The last two hoodlums shot at me and I dodged all of the bullets but one, which grazed my arm. I shot an arrow through a gangster's chest and slit the last hoodlum's throat with my knife. The hoodlum I had shot in the eye was still on his knees crying when I walked over to him and grabbed him by the neck, slowly squeezing the life out of him. "I suggest you let him go or you'll pay dearly!" an evil voice hissed and Deathstroke emerged from the shadows. He had Thea held at sword point and I yelled, "Let her go!" but he said, "No." Then he sliced his sword towards Thea's neck and I released a bomb arrow that struck the sword, which exploded before it could harm my sister.

Thea and Deathstroke were sent flying and I caught my sister before she could get hurt. I said, "Where's Diggle?" and she cried, "He's dead. Deathstroke killed him!" I told her to go run and find help before a punch sent me falling to the ground. "Thea, run!" I yelled as Slade Wilson kneed me in the chin and my head was knocked sideways. I saw to my relief Thea had escaped but that respite quickly faded as Deathstroke stomped on my stomach. He lifted me up by the neck and punched me in the face with a tremendous force and he hissed, "You're going to die for dicking with my men!" before he thrust his sword through my chest. I gaped at him before he released his hold on my neck and my body crumpled to the ground. Deathstroke laughed, "Weakling, I break you!" and he snapped my bow in half and Slade then spat on me. I was in excruciating pain but managed to struggle to my feet only to have Deathstroke kick me in the knee and elbow my face. "Aaaaaahhh!" I yelled as my body once again fell to the street. Slade Wilson said, "Now if you'll just leave me alone I'm gonna go kill your sister!" and he stalked away from my broken form. "NOOOO!" I screamed and fire flared in my eyes as I jumped to my feet and shot an arrow towards Deathstroke but he sliced it in half with his sword and unsheathed his other blade. "Well, I'll admit you've got some fight in you. But when we're through here I promise it won't be me that has my head on a stake!"

Deathstroke ran towards me and I shot arrow after arrow at him. Slade Wilson dodged every single one and when he was within striking distance he swung both his blades towards my neck. I used my bow to block one sword and I vaulted over the other blade, while in the process shooting Wilson in the arm. He dropped the blade used by his injured arm and screamed in rage as he sliced the other sword across my chest but the cut was shallow and I kicked him in the gut before karate-chopping his wrist, making him involuntarily drop his remaining sword. Deathstroke stared in shock at both his blades on the ground and he screamed in anger as he flung a hidden knife towards my neck, but I knocked the small blade aside with an arrow. Slade Wilson glared at me in contempt while I said in a deep voice, "You have failed this city." I notched my last arrow, drew, and released. The shaft protruded from Deathsroke's chest and he whispered, "Damn it," before his lifeless body fell to the crime-infested street. I then fell to the ground, bleeding out from the sword wound in my chest. A shadowy figure leaped down from atop a building and Nightwing said, "It looks like you could use some help."

Chapter 4 Dark Gathering

Kahn piloted his spaceship away from the ash-strewn Hawaii and was in a good mood because his plan was finally coming to fruition. He was determined to take over Earth before he had ever come into contact with Brainiac and Zod. They argued that they all could share the planet and Kahn had settled for North America, the dominating country. He didn't need the entire planet anyways; he had already conquered ten others. The starship's comlink beeped and he answered to see Brainiac's green face appear on a monitor. Brainiac asked, "Are you prepared to attack Metropolis?" and Kahn answered, "My vessels are approximately 1260 miles from Metropolis. My army should reach there in about 24 hours. Where are you planning to attack?" Brainiac said, "My robotic army will attack Manhattan while General Zod's army will strike New York City. Zod and my armies will reach our destinations the same time you will, so we can take over the United States in a couple hours at most." "Brilliant!" Kahn hissed and ended the transmission. He had to prepare his army to conquer yet another world.

Spike appeared in a dark alley in New York City and ran through a wall to appear in the dark lair. Doctor Doom sat at the head of a large circular table and Spike took his seat between Mystique and Deadshot. Doctor Doom boomed, "We are gathered here today to discuss our plans for Earth. We will conquer the planet, but in order to do that we must kill all the so-called heroes. Our previous leaders Darkseid, Thanos, and Kronos were killed along with Loki the Asgardian as well as Venom, Green Goblin, and countless others in our order. We must take revenge!" Everyone agreed and Spike spoke up, "There is a man that is very powerful, his name is Dylan Strohaker and he and his wives incapitated me, which is rather difficult to accomplish. I want to lead a strike force against him." Catwoman hissed, "We don't have time for your bloodlust and revenge!" but Doctor Doom boomed, "We need to destroy this threat before it can fester even more than it already has. I'll send Ra's Al Ghul, Bane, Mystique, Catwoman, and Spike after Dylan Strohaker. Meanwhile, I'll lead the Lizard, Sandman, the Riddler, and Black Adam to Manhattan in order to assist Doomsday and Magneto in taking down Iron Man, the Wonderful Witch, and War Machine. I will send Galactus, Clayface, Deadshot, Sabretooth, Toad, Two-Face, and Apocalypse to Metropolis. We need to kill all of the heroes before Kahn, Brainiac, and General Zod reach Earth! Now disperse!" All of the villains ran out of the secret dark lair to do as commanded.

I stared at Spiderman and asked, "What's going to happen here?" and he said, "Something fishy is transpiring in the streets. Just a couple minutes ago I saw Dr. Curt Connors; more infamously known as the Lizard, walk through a wall. I think there is a bad guy meeting!" I said, "That doesn't sound good," and Natasha asked, "Is there going to be another war?" "No, we'll diffuse the situation before it gets out of hand. Spidey, where is this mystery wall?" Sarah said and before Spiderman could respond the skyscraper we were on top of crashed towards the busy streets below. Spiderman picked Natasha up and zipped away on webbing and I scooped up Sarah and flew away from the collapsing building. I set her gently down on another building and said, "Stay here!" but before I could fly away to investigate the debris a huge fist punched me hard across the face. I was sent crashing to the ground a thousand feet below with Bane jumping down after me. Sarah screamed, "Dylan!" and Mystique came up from behind her and locked the spy in a chokehold. Sarah elbowed the blue mutant in the face, forcing Mystique to release her hold, and Sarah spun around to smash her in the gut with a foot. The kick sent the evil mutant falling to the roof and Sarah pulled out her gun and pulled the trigger, but Mystique dodged to the side and threw herself at the skilled spy. The two women were sent falling off the skyscraper and Sarah reached out in desperation. She managed to grab a windowsill before she could fall to her doom, but Mystique wasn't as lucky as she fell to her death.

Spiderman swung above the city of New York with Natasha in his arms. The Black Widow urged him to go back for Sarah and I, and Spidey complied, but when they got back to where I had been they instead found Ra's Al Ghul. Spiderman landed in front of him and Natasha got ready to help the superhero fight the villain, but Catwoman emerged out of the shadows and struck her with sharp claws. Before the claws could cut her the Black Widow dove to the side and kicked Catwoman in the face. Selena Kyle screamed in rage before she pummeled the Black Widow in the chest and wrapped a whip around her neck. Catwoman pulled the whip, flinging Natasha towards her and the cat-like woman scratched the Black Widow across the face, leaving a deep cut.

Bane pummeled me across the face and held me up in the air before slamming his knee into my back, breaking it. I cried out in agony and healed myself as I flew up and struck Bane in the chest, then flied us across the city skyline. Bane boomed, "I broke you!" as he gripped my neck and I ignored him as I soared straight into the air. When we left Earth's atmosphere I held my breath while Bane strained for air and then we entered space. I could see the blazing sun a million miles away and I brought a fist back as far as possible. I punched Bane with all my strength, sending him flying into the sun, burning the villain to ashes. As I couldn't breathe my body gave out and I plummeted down towards Earth.

Spiderman shot a web at Ra's al Ghul, but he held his staff in the air and froze the web in mid-flight. "Damn it!" Spidey yelled before kicking the villain in the chest and punching him across the face. Ra's al Ghul swept his staff under Spiderman, sending the web slinger toppling to his back, and the villain forced him to live a nightmare with his special powers. "AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Spiderman screamed and at that moment a meteor crashed into Ra's al Ghul. Spiderman jumped to his feet and saw me lying on top of a dead immortal wizard. There were flames flaring on top of my body, but Spiderman ceased them with a web. I said, "Thanks, buddy!" and saw to my horror Sarah dangling on a windowsill, about to fall to her death. Then I heard a gurgled "help me" and spun around to find Natasha getting strangled by Catwoman. "Save Sarah!" I commanded and Spidey flung a web string before slinging over to the spy. Catwoman laughed, "You can't save both of your wives, so who will it be?" I ignored the villain and threw pure light through her forehead. The headless Catwoman toppled to her knees and then Natasha kicked her off the building before embracing me in a hug.

Spike hid around the corner of the skyscraper Sarah was on and when Spiderman had his back turned to the vampire Spike leapt onto the web slinger and bit deep into his neck. Spike sucked the hero unconscious and he threw Spiderman aside before grabbing Sarah by the throat. "Payback's a bitch!" the vampire hissed and a new voice said, "And so am I!" The next moment a wooden stake ripped through Spike's heart and the vampire crumbled to dust. Buffy the Vampire Slayer held her hand out and Sarah took it before Buffy threw the spy up on top of the skyscraper. The vampire slayer then leaped up after her and when the two were safe on top of the building I said, "Thank you so much for saving my wife, you're in my debt." At that instant a dozen huge vessels appeared over New York City and Buffy said, "You're about to repay it." A booming voice then echoed across the city, "My name is General Zod and I am here to annihilate this city and take over the world. NOW KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!" All of the spaceships opened fire.

Chapter 5 Doomsday

Iron Man soared over Manhattan getting pummeled by Doomsday and when they were a hundred thousand feet above the ground he punched the beast with a tremendous force. Doomsday roared in rage as he fell down towards the city before striking the streets below. Iron Man asked, "Is it dead?" and War Machine said through Tony's comlink, "Nope. He's mad as the Hulk, though!" "Great," Iron Man grunted and flew down to the streets. He landed next to Hermione and War Machine and Tony said, "We can't kill this thing!" The Wonderful Witch said, "My spells can hold Doomsday back, but they can't deal any real damage." War Machine said, "We should strike at this thing all at the same time!"

Magneto appeared out of nowhere and boomed, "Surrender or die!" and all three heroes lunged at him. Hermione bound Magneto with a spell while Iron Man and War Machine launched rockets at the villain and he exploded. "Suck on that one, Magneto!" Rhodes laughed before a gauntlet covered hand ripped through his heart and War Machine toppled to the ground lifeless. Iron Man and Hermione glared at Doctor Doom and the evil being said, "You imbeciles killed Magneto!" Iron Man seethed with rage as he yelled, "And you killed my friend James Rhodes!" Iron Man lost his temper and shot a repulsor ray at Doom and the villain disappeared to be replaced by Black Adam, who threw a lightning bolt at Iron Man's repulsor ray. BOOM. The explosion threw the two opponents fifty yards back and Iron Man quickly regained his footing before using his thrusters to fly towards Black Adam. When Tony Stark was about to punch the wizard, Black Adam blasted him with lightning and the hero was thrown through a bridge, which collapsed on top of him.

Hermione pointed her wand at Black Adam and uttered a curse only to get electrocuted and punched in the face by the villain. The witch was sent crashing through a souvenir shop window and as she bellowed a floating spell the Riddler smacked her in the face with his cane, knocking Hermione to her knees. The Riddler struck the Wonderful Witch in the gut with his cane and cackled, "You're going to lose, and Darkseid will rise again and crush humanity!" Hermione kicked the Riddler in the genitals before screaming, "Crucio!" The curse struck the villain in the chest and he cried out in pain and agony as he fell to the floor of the shop. "Dylan cut Darkseid's head off, I'm pretty sure he won't be coming back," Hermione said and bellowed, "Avada Kedavra!" The killing curse slammed into the Riddler's stomach and he stopped screaming. The Wonderful Witch glared at the lifeless villain and muttered, "Good riddance," and repaired the window she had crashed through with a wave of her wand. Hermione walked outside to find she was facing both Doomsday and the Lizard. She whispered, "This is bad."

Black Adam stalked through the debris that had buried Iron Man with Tony sneaking up on him. Iron Man shot Black Adam in the back with a proton gun and the wizard was thrown a hundred feet into the air. Iron Man flew up after Black Adam and the villain flew down towards him. The two opponents struck and all of the surrounding buildings' windows shattered into a million tiny shards. Tony Stark got to his feet and gazed at the lifeless Black Adam in triumph before Sandman enveloped the superhero in a sand storm.

Hermione flung spell after spell at the two monsters, keeping them at bay and biding her enough time to survive. The next second a lightning bolt came crashing down on top of the Lizard and Shazam appeared in mid-air. The superhero struck the Lizard with one last burst of lightning and Dr. Curt Connors exploded in a brilliant flash of light. Doomsday lunged at Shazam and Hermione screamed, "Watch out!" but it was too late as the creature punched the hero and tackled Shazam to the ground. The Wonderful Witch threw a killing curse at Doomsday and the beast caught the deadly spell in the palm of his hand before throwing it at Shazam. Hermione gasped in horror as her curse struck the superhero and she snapped her wand in half. She let her broken wand clatter to the pavement as she cried a sea of tears. Hermione would never cast another spell again. Doomsday lumbered his way over to the powerless witch and said, "I'm going to love crushing your pretty little bones!"

Doctor Doom watched Iron Man and Hermione about to meet their demise from atop the Empire State building. He then gazed at the horizon, where Brainiac led his army in a dozen large spaceships. "The end is near," Doctor Doom said and laughed evilly as hell rained down upon Manhattan in the form of robotic soldiers with Brainiac in the lead.

Chapter 6 Trouble in Metropolis

Green Arrow sat in the Bat Cave after having been patched up by Nightwing and Alfred. Oliver Queen said, "We need to neutralize the villains in Metropolis!" as the TV showed news coverage of the havoc wreaked by Two-Face and Deadshot. The two villains had shot and killed twenty innocent citizens in counting and the death count would continue to increase unless Ollie and Nightwing put a stop to it. The news reporter said, "My name is Lois Lane and I will be reporting today. Breaking news, Clayface has robbed a bank and stolen $1,589,673,120! The police have been unable to stop this menace and SWAT teams are currently shooting at Clayface." BOOM. The reporter looked behind her to see Galactus had detonated a bomb where the SWAT teams had been and nothing remained but their scarred flesh.

Oliver said, "That's it, I'm going to Metropolis," and Nightwing said, "You can barely walk! I'll go, but you have to stay here and recover." Green Arrow yelled, "I am recovered! I'm going and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Nightwing said, "Fine, it's your funeral," and they put their suits on and bid Alfred farewell before zooming out of the Bat Cave on motorcycles. "Here we come, Metropolis!" Green Arrow yelled.

Galactus hovered above a smoldering Metropolis with Apocalypse by his side. "Our plan has been set in motion; Darkseid will be revived in a day!" Apocalypse hissed and Galactus nodded his head solemnly. The next moment Kahn's spaceships entered the city and flew by the two villains. Kahn boomed, "Destroy this city!" and his spaceships opened fire while a thousand genetically engineered soldiers parachuted their way down towards the streets of Metropolis. Galactus smirked evilly, "It has begun."

Lois Lane gazed in shock at a hundred SWAT members' corpses strewn about the street where the bomb had detonated. "Cut!" she screamed and Jimmy Olsen switched the camera off and asked, "What's wrong, Lois? We're supposed to be covering this footage. If we don't Perry will fire us, and I need my job!" Lois cried, "Are you blind, Jimmy? Who cares about news anymore, people are getting killed, and Metropolis is turning into a warzone! We need Superman!" Jimmy whispered, "He can't save us this time. We can get through this on our own, just trust me!" At that moment a swarm of soldiers landed on the street surrounding them and they opened fire. Lois dove under a top sided police car while bullets riddled Jimmy and as the young cameraman toppled lifeless to the ground Lois cried out in horror.

President Lex Luthor sat at his desk in the oval office contemplating what to do about New York City, Manhattan, and Metropolis. I should give the command to launch missiles to obliterate those three cursed cities off the map. That way all of my enemies such as Iron Man and Spiderman will perish along with America's foes, the villains. The United States doesn't even know their leader is a villain himself. Oh, the irony! Lex was interrupted from his thoughts by his aide Jason Bourne. "Mr. President, are you ready to make a decision in front of the press?" Jason asked and Lex said, "As ready as I'll ever be." Bourne escorted Luthor out to the front porch of the White House, where the media pressed him for his decision. Lex Luthor declared, "We wait a day to see if the problem in our three beloved cities diffuses on its own." A reporter asked, "And what if there is still havoc in Manhattan, Metropolis, and New York City after a day?" Lex just stood smiling with an evil glint in his eyes for a minute before he said, "Then we blow them up!"

Green Arrow and Nightwing made their way towards Metropolis. When they got to the burning city a patrol of ten soldiers commanded them to turn back around. When the two heroes didn't comply the soldiers opened fire and Oliver shot an arrow through a soldier's heart and charged forward with Nightwing by his side, dodging bullets. Nightwing used his electric sticks to beat a soldier to submission before another soldier punched him across the face. The fist sent Nightwing crashing into a car and he grunted in pain as he slowly got back to his feet and said, "These soldiers aren't normal! Be careful not to get hit, Oliver!" Green Arrow abided Nightwing's words and stayed back ten feet away from the super soldiers as he shot all of the eight remaining foes in the throat.

The two heroes ran into the city to find Clayface and Toad crashing through buildings and killing people. As Nightwing charged towards Clayface, Green Arrow put an arrow in Toad's eye, sending the bad guy falling mid-hop to strike the street a hundred feet below. Nightwing struck Clayface with his electric weapons but they didn't affect the beast as he grew fifty feet tall and stomped on him. "NO!" Nightwing's dead! Oliver cried as he shot arrow after arrow at the monster, but Clayface just smacked Green Arrow with a huge hand. Oliver was sent crashing through a broken building and landed on a different street filled with super soldiers.

Oliver heard screaming and he looked beside him to see Lois Lane getting pummeled by a soldier. Anger flared in his eyes as Green Arrow punched the soldier across the face and kicked him in the side before the powerful soldier elbowed him in the ribs and kneed him in the face. Green Arrow performed an uppercut before snapping the evil soldier's neck and he embraced Lois in a heartfelt hug. "Ollie, what are you doing here?" she asked and Oliver said, "It doesn't matter, I just need you to get out of this city. It's too dangerous and I will not be able to live with myself if you get hurt, now leave!" Lois kissed Oliver on the lips and whispered, "That's for good luck; now promise me you won't die!" Oliver was reminded of Laurel's last words promise me you won't seek revenge. He had broken that promise and he wasn't about to make any more promises because he'd break them as well. "I can't," Green Arrow said and urged Lois to leave once again, mowing down soldiers to clear a path for her to escape. She ran away crying and Green Arrow sighed as he spun around to slit a soldier's throat and knee another soldier in the gut before slipping an arrow through his ribs. There were a hundred soldiers left on the street and they were about to overcome Oliver when a deep voice said, "Stop! I want to kill Green Arrow myself." Deadshot emerged out of the swarm of super soldiers and he pulled the trigger on his sniper.

The bullet flew towards Oliver Queen and Green Arrow quickly strung his bow with an arrow that had a bomb attached, aimed, and released. Oliver's aim was true as his arrow split the bullet in half and soared towards Deadshot, but the marksman dodged to the side. The arrow struck a soldier next to Deadshot and the evil sharpshooter said, "The great Green Arrow missed! Ha ha…" Deadshot's laughter was cut short as the bomb detonated and wiped him out along with fifty soldiers. The remaining soldiers opened fire and Oliver ducked under cover as Kahn's voice boomed from the sky, "Prepare to perish!" The next second the ships shot missiles down towards Metropolis and Oliver braced himself for the end.

Lois made her way out of Metropolis just in time as she witnessed missiles soaring down towards her beloved city. BOOM. The city shook as the missiles struck and a dozen skyscrapers came crashing down on the citizens of Metropolis. NO, Oliver! Lois thought as her city came crashing down upon itself. Then Sabretooth crashed into Lois and he was about to rip her throat out when a figure clad in blue and red with an S shield on his chest burned the creature to dust with his heat vision. "Clark?" Lois wrapped her arms around the man's neck and whispered, "I thought you were dead." "Superman is dead. I'm here to take his place and rule the world!" Bizarro said and the villain picked Lois up before flying away with her as his captive.

Chapter 7 Beginning of the End

I picked Natasha and Sarah up before leaping off the skyscraper as bullets pelted New York City. Spiderman grabbed Buffy and swung down to street level before an explosion caused the skyscraper to collapse. I landed on the pavement with a big thud, making a crater, before setting my wives on the ground and shooting up into the sky at the speed of light. General Zod floated in the air when I reached him and he boomed, "KNEEL!" but I yelled, "Stop this madness! Innocent people are dying because of you and your army of Kandorians!" Zod sneered, "You haven't seen anything yet. My wrath will destroy all of humankind, and then my race will thrive on your planet!" The general then shot me with heat vision and I was sent falling down towards a blood strewn city.

I flew up before my body could strike the ground and I soared towards General Zod with hate in my eyes. The villain flew down towards me and when we struck an explosion occurred that collapsed several buildings. Spiderman shot a web string at one of the spaceships and he soared across the city skyline before landing on the side of the ship. An energy cannon was right next to Spidey and it shot at the web slinger, but he dodged the destructive energy and leaped through a window into the control room, where ten Kandorians were operating buttons that were causing the weapons to rip New York City apart with fire and missiles. Spiderman threw webs at all of the aliens, binding them and then he ran to the controls. The superhero pressed the self-destruct button on the control panel before jumping out of the spaceship and zipping away as it exploded in a cloud of flames. Spiderman swung across the sky and landed on another spaceship, but before he could destroy it a hundred Kandorians leaped out of it, flying towards the streets to cause havoc. Peter Parker disabled the weapons on the ship before destroying the vessel and as he swung away from yet another cloud of smoke he was ambushed by Faora.

Buffy, Sarah, and Natasha fought their way down the streets of New York, yearning to reach me and help defeat General Zod. The three skilled women fought bravely but their strength was no match against the destructive Kandorians, who quickly gained the upper hand. Buffy slit a Kandorian's throat only to get thrown off her feet by a burst of wind sent by another Kandorian. The alien flew at Buffy but the vampire slayer jumped to her feet and swung her sword through the Kandorian's neck, severing his head. Black Widow slit two Kandorian throats before an alien crashed into her, and the two of them flew up into the air. Natasha screamed as the Kandorian let her fall from a height of twenty thousand feet above the ground. I flew up into the air and caught my wife before she could strike the street. "I will never let anything happen to you," I whispered before setting Natasha back on the ground and charging into battle. Sarah had killed five Kandorians by the time one of the aliens overpowered her, punching the spy in the face and burning her with heat vision. Sarah screamed in rage as she elbowed the alien in the ribs and flung a knife through his throat. General Zod slammed into Sarah with the force of a freight train, sending her crashing to the broken street, and the spy jumped to her feet and kicked the general in the face before he punched her in the stomach and grabbed her by the neck.

General Zod lifted Sarah up into the air and hissed, "What a pity I must kill you if you don't KNEEL!" Sarah said, "Screw you." Zod kneed her in the gut, forcing the spy to fall to her knees, and the Kandorian smacked Sarah across the face before gripping her head. Zod clenched his fist and Sarah cried out in pain as her skull cracked open under Zod's hand, then the evil general sent heat vision burning through her eyes. I zapped a Kandorian to pieces with lightning before my eyes fell upon my wife lying dead under a smiling General Zod. Blood seeped out of Sarah's head and pooled beside her lifeless body and I bellowed in rage as I threw myself at the villain that had killed my wife.

Faora struck Spiderman with a gust of wind that threw him crashing through an office building. The Kandorian woman flew inside the building after him and the web slinger shot a web at the villain but she incinerated the sticky substance with heat vision. Faora boomed, "Eventually you will kneel before Zod my husband. So just surrender now before you are further harmed!" Spiderman laughed, "You clearly don't know me, woman. I never give up nor will I bow before your tyrannical husband!" Faora hissed, "Then you must die!" and she lunged forward, ripping Spiderman's heart out. Peter gazed in horror at the evil Kandorian before he toppled to the floor of the office and Faora glared at the businessmen staring at her. "Let your hero be an example for all of you foolish earthlings. Kneel!" The businessmen's knees gave out in fear and they kneeled before the Kandorian villain.

Natasha cried in rage as she saw Sarah lying dead on the street and she increased her ninja skills, killing twenty Kandorians in under a minute. A Kandorian punched her from behind and then sent a gust of ice freezing the Black Widow. The Kandorian was about to snap her neck when Buffy stabbed the alien through the back with a dagger and the Kandorian whispered, "Oh Rao," before toppling lifeless to the bloody street. "Thanks," the Black Widow said and Buffy said, "No problem." The two highly-skilled women charged back into the fray.

General Zod used his heat vision to send flames roaring towards me while I threw pure light. When the two pow ers struck Zod's flames quickly gained the upper hand on my light, but I punched the Kandorian in the face before transforming my hand into steel and I threw the steel fist at Zod's stomach. He caught my strong fist in the palm of his hand and punched me in the nose with his other hand before kneeing me in the gut. I threw up blood as fire raced up my chest and Zod threw a tornado of flames at me, burning my body, and the general flew straight at my chest. General Zod slammed into me and I was sent crashing through a bus. I made my way out of the wreckage just as Zod landed in front of me and he hissed, "KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!" "NO! YOU KILLED SARAH!" I screamed as my body was enveloped in a white light and I found myself zooming towards Zod, who braced himself. I crashed into the general with such a force that he was sent flying through a cement garage. The entire structure collapsed upon General Zod and I glared at the wreckage, thinking myself victorious. But I was proven wrong as my enemy walked through the rubble unharmed and he boomed, "Did you really think you can win? I AM YOUR MASTER!" In response I stabbed the villain with a thirty foot tall pole through the heart.

General Zod looked at me in shock as he fell to his knees and I walked in front of him and said, "Kneel before Dylan, the last face you'll ever see." A crystalline sword appeared in my hands and with one quick swing I decapitated Zod. I gazed at the war torn New York City when Faora's voice boomed across the entire city, "I AM GOING TO OBLITERATE THIS WORLD! My love is dead because of you pests!" The remaining eight spaceships activated their most deadly weapon, a sonic gun, and shot the deadly energy. The next instant the ground shook as the sonic wave caused buildings to explode and cars to flip over. The sonic wave struck the center of the city, and the Empire State Building was the first to crumble into a void of darkness. A black hole was ripping apart New York City and I flew up towards the spaceships hoping to put an end to this madness.

Chapter 8 Broken City

Iron Man cried out as a sand storm devoured him and Sandman laughed evilly as he constricted the sand, suffocating Tony Stark. The superhero gained unconsciousness and fell out of the sky towards the streets below. Sandman trailed after him in glee and flung another sand storm at the hero. Meanwhile, Brainiac led his robotic army across Manhattan, killing people wherever they went and destroying the city block by block. Citizens were running down alleyways and into buildings, trying to escape the chaos, but Brainiac would just destroy the skyscrapers by using his robots to shoot lasers at the large structures. Brainiac boomed, "Destroy everything!" and his army complied, shooting down everything in their line of sight.

Pepper Potts gazed in horror at Manhattan getting destroyed. Skyscrapers were falling down everywhere, and when the large buildings came crashing down Pepper knew they would cause even more damage and kill millions of people. "My city isn't going to make it, is it?" she asked her bodyguard, Ethan Hunt. "Probably not, but I need to get you out of the city's blast radius," Ethan said and Pepper looked at him in horror and whispered, "What are you talking about?" Hunt said, "President Luthor said that if these invaders aren't taken out in a day, then he will launch missiles to destroy Manhattan, New York City, and Metropolis in order to neutralize the threat." Pepper screamed, "He can't do that!" and elbowed Ethan in the ribs before running back into her city. "Come back here!" Ethan yelled and before he could go after her Doctor Doom appeared behind him and ripped his heart out before he lunged at Pepper. At that moment Iron Man crashed into the ground right in front of Pepper and she rushed to his side and kissed him on the lips, "Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP! TONY!" she screamed as Sandman landed on the ground in front of her. Iron Man opened his eyes and used his thrusters to shoot up into the air, where he pelted Doctor Doom, who had been about to kill Pepper, with bullets.

The villain was unaffected by the bullets and he gripped Pepper by the neck, but Iron Man crashed into Doctor Doom before he could squeeze. Tony flew his enemy up into the sky where he punched the evil being and shot him in the face with a repulsor ray. Doctor Doom hissed in anger before throwing a punch at Iron Man, but the superhero caught the fist in the palm of his armored hand. Iron Man kneed Doctor Doom in the ribs and shot him in the chest with a proton gun, sending the villain crashing to the streets below. Tony then flew back to where Pepper was and when he reached her location he saw to his horror Sandman burying her in sand. Iron Man screamed in rage as he flew towards his nemesis whilst shooting rockets and when the weapons struck Sandman the sand being was thrown up into outer space. Tony used his wind cannon to disperse the sand suffocating his girlfriend and after he made sure she was breathing he shot up into outer space after the Sandman.

When Doomsday reached Hermione he punched her in the face, sending the witch crashing through ten cars in a row. The Wonderful Witch cried out in pain as she wearily got to her feet and Doomsday leaped after her in a single bound. Hermione screamed in horror when Doomsday grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air, about to end her life.

Sandman's body was being ripped apart in space by the heat of the sun. Iron Man shot the villain with repulsor rays and used his thrusters to send himself flying towards Sandman. Iron Man punched the sand being as he was flying past him before shooting him with a proton gun, dissipating the sand while destroying Sandman in the process. Tony Stark then plummeted towards Earth and when he reached Manhattan he saw to his horror Doomsday choking Hermione by the neck and the superhero dove down towards the beast as fast as a meteor. His armor was on fire as he struck Doomsday with such a force that the beast released his hold on Hermione's neck and Iron Man buried him a hundred miles below the Earth's crust. Doomsday was beaten to submission and Iron Man smiled in triumph before shooting back up to the surface of the Earth, determined to stop Brainiac and save Manhattan.

Brainiac grabbed a woman by the head and clenched his fist, crushing her brain and gathering her intelligence. "These humans are primitive; they are of no use to us. Kill them all!" he commanded and his robots started massacring the citizens of Manhattan. Iron Man came swooping above Brainiac and the robots, destroying the intelligent being's drones. Brainiac glared at Iron Man as the superhero landed in front of the villain. Tony Stark boomed, "Your terror stops here!" and Brainiac smiled evilly while he hissed, "There is a 3.689% chance you will emerge victorious in this battle. Surrender now and join me or perish with the rest of your pitiful race." "I don't think so. You are a villain and therefore must be executed for your crimes. Killing millions of people isn't nice and neither am I. I will win because I have a heart while you are just a robot. Now brace yourself for an ass-kicking like none other!" Brainiac boomed, "I am much more than a robot. My being is intelligence; I have the knowledge and strength of 10,000 worlds while you are just a tiny speck in the universe. Now face my wrath!"

Iron Man shot Brainiac with his proton gun but the villain was unharmed as he flew towards Tony Stark. Iron Man flew at him and when they struck the iron superhero was sent crashing through a billboard. Brainiac flew after him and picked Iron Man up by the neck and bludgeoned him until the hero was bleeding profusely. Tony gasped in pain as Brainiac continued to punch him and finally the villain flung Iron Man to the street, giving the superhero a moment's reprise before Brainiac attacked once again. Brainiac threw a fist at Tony and Iron Man brought his arm up to block it uselessly as Brainiac knocked the arm aside and elbowed him in the face. Brainiac then beat Iron Man endlessly and the superhero was about to die from blood loss when Hermione came up from behind the villain and latched onto his back. The powerless Wonderful Witch tried to drag Brainiac to the ground but he spun around and smacked her, sending Hermione falling to the broken street. Brainiac boomed, "Imprison her!" and two robots bound her in metal cords as Brainiac continued to beat Iron Man to death.

Two-Face basked in the rubble of Metropolis with Apocalypse and Galactus by his side. Clayface was killing any survivors in sight and Two-Face laughed, "We won! Now Brainiac and Zod just have to finish destroying Manhattan and New York City and then we can take over the rest of the world using USA weaponry. What a nice day for us!" Apocalypse hissed, "Once Darkseid has been revived he can be king of Earth with me as his right hand. When Kahn meets up with us we will revive our Master and build a kingdom where Metropolis once was!" Galactus said nothing and ten minutes later Kahn's starship landed in front of the three villains. The superhuman exited his ship flanked by thirty super soldiers and Kahn said, "I just got word from Faora that General Zod has been killed by a human called Dylan Strohaker. Brainiac has decimated most of Manhattan, and is about to secure the city as his own. Faora has decided to destroy New York City in her fit of rage."

Galactus boomed, "General Zod is dead? This is bad news that foreshadows our defeat if we don't terminate Dylan before he causes more harm to our plans. I say we go after him now!" Kahn said, "We first need to revive Darkseid. Is the ritual ready to begin?" Apocalypse said, "Clayface has killed the superhero Nightwing, he has the body with him. Darkseid will use Nightwing as his vessel before he can fully regain his powers and claim Earth as his kingdom." At that moment Clayface lumbered his way over to the villains and deposited a lifeless Nightwing on the ground in front of them. "Ritual ready to begin," Clayface rumbled and Galactus stood over the body and raised his hands to the sky. "Rise, Darkseid, and regain your strength and glory!" Galactus hissed and lightning struck Nightwing's body and his eyelids opened to reveal red eyes. "RISE, GLORIOUS ONE!" Galactus boomed and Nightwing shot up into the air. Darkseid's voice boomed, "I'm back!" Kahn hissed, "Let's go kill Dylan Strohaker!" and all of them were beamed into his starship. Unbeknownst to the villains, Green Arrow had awoken and had been in the beam radius, getting transported to Kahn's starship with them.

Inside the Earth's core, Doomsday awoke and clambered his way up towards Manhattan. Meanwhile, Bizarro soared across the New York City skyline with Lois in his arms. "Let me go!" the reporter screamed and the Superman imposter said, "I'm going to make Superman a force to fear!" He dove down towards the streets and all the citizens smiled in happiness at their hero. "Superman's alive!" a man said while a woman cried, "He's here to save us!" Bizarro landed on a street filled with people and he bellowed, "I'm back to save the world!" He obliterated everyone with heat vision and boomed, "Kandorians, this city is yours to do with as you please!" Lois looked at him in horror and yelled in a voice filled with hate, "You are the devil, go burn in hell!" Bizarro smacked her across the face and hissed, "How dare you defy me!" and picked her up before flying on top of a skyscraper. He lifted Lois up by the neck and held her above the streets a hundred thousand feet below. Bizarro growled, "Die, bitch!" and released his hold on Lois Lane, sending her falling towards her doom.

Chapter 9 Man of Steel

Superman's body rested in the Fortress of Solitude. Clark Kent's ghost stood by his body as he stared solemnly at the lifeless hero. "I failed Earth. I failed Lois. I should have lived!" he yelled as he threw a fist at a monitor that showed the destruction of Metropolis. His fist passed uselessly through the monitor and Superman seethed with rage as Jor-El's faced appeared on the console. "Kal-El, your destiny has yet to be fulfilled. I will revive you so you can save Earth and lead its people to glory!" Clark smiled in happiness as his ghost faded and Superman's body regained life. Superman's eyes opened in determination as the superhero shot up into the air. "Son, I believe in you," Jor-El boomed and Clark gazed at his father one last time and said, "Thanks dad." Superman used his super-hearing to hear Lois' scream coming from New York City and he flew through the Fortress' ceiling and soared towards New York City faster than a speeding bullet. "Goodbye my son," Jor-El whispered before his head disappeared.

I blasted a spaceship to pieces with an inferno of flames and threw a hurricane of wind at another spaceship, throwing it crashing to the streets below. Six more ships to go, I thought as an energy cannon shot at me, but I dodged to the side and sent lightning electrocuting the ship that had shot at me. The large vessel came crashing down towards me and I punched it with a powerful fist, shattering the spaceship. Just five more. I destroyed three more ships before the vessel containing Faora struck me with a ball of energy, sending me falling towards the streets below. When I crashed through a building I felt the ground shake beneath my feet and the next second the entire building tumbled towards a black hole. I flew out of the building before I could get killed and gazed in horror at the black hole increasing in size, demolishing New York City a building at a time.

Lois fell towards the street below and braced herself for the end. Right before she could strike the ground Superman caught Lois and soared away from New York. When he reached Massachusetts Superman set Lois down in a park and she whispered, "It's really you. You're alive!" Lois embraced Superman in a heartfelt hug and she said, "There's someone that is pretending to be you, Clark. Stop him before he stains your insignia in more blood!" Superman said, "Lois, what are you talking about?" "Bizarro, he…he killed a thousand people before throwing me off a skyscraper. He said he was going to make everyone lose faith in you!" Lois cried and Superman said, "I'll handle it. But I have to save the world first!" He kissed Lois on the lips before leaping into the air and flying towards Manhattan, where his super-hearing picked up Hermione crying for help.

Natasha and Buffy ran away from the growing black hole. Kandorians and citizens alike were getting sucked up into the endless void and when the black hole caught up to the two women I swooped down and picked them up before flying away. I set Buffy and Natasha down at the edge of the city and said, "I have to go save New York!" I kissed Natasha before soaring towards Faora's ship. "STOP THIS MADNESS!" I boomed and Faora flew out of her spaceship to float in front of me. "NEVER! You killed my husband and for that all of the humans must perish, including you!" She slammed into me and punched me in the face at the same time a huge starship came into view and hovered above New York City. I kneed Faora in the gut before using ice breath to freeze her and I swung my sword down with all my might, shattering the evil Kandorian into a million pieces. I summoned all of my strength and flew towards the black hole, determined to save the city.

Superman flew over the United States at the speed of light and when Manhattan came into view he dove down like a fiery meteor. Hermione screamed as robots tortured her and Brainiac beat Iron Man to a bloody pulp. The witch was about to slip into unconsciousness when she saw to her glee Superman gliding down towards Brainiac and when he struck the evil being Brainiac was thrown flying away, crashing into a building a mile away. Superman used his heat vision to destroy the robots torturing Hermione and he froze the metal shackles binding her with ice breath. She pulled with all her strength, shattering the shackles, and then rushed to Tony's side. Superman said, "Tony's still alive, but barely. He needs a doctor immediately and I need to neutralize Brainiac's army." He shot up into the air and soared above Manhattan, destroying every robot in sight with heat vision. By the time Hermione found a doctor for Tony he was in critical condition and while the doctor operated on Iron Man, Doomsday broke through the Earth's crust and charged towards them.

Superman slammed into Doomsday before he could reach the three humans and he flew straight up into the sky while they threw punches at each other. When they reached outer space Superman flew straight towards the sun, but Doomsday kicked him in the ribs and grabbed the superhero by the throat before punching him in the chest. Superman was sent crashing into a meteor, which he picked up and flung at the beast. The meteor slammed into Doomsday and sent the creature hurtling towards the sun and Superman zoomed after him. Kal-El zapped Doomsday with heat vision and summoned all of his strength before punching him in the chest, sending Doomsday flying into the sun. The beast cursed Superman's name before exploding in a brilliant flash of light. Superman flew back down towards Earth and when he reached the planet's atmosphere Brainiac appeared and slammed into the superhero.

Superman bellowed, "I'm going to put an end to you once and for all!" and flew at Brainiac while the villain flew towards him. When they clashed neither opponent could overpower the other and they both punched each other in the face. Brainiac lunged at Superman and Clark slammed both fists into the villain's head, and Brainiac fell down towards Houston with Superman trailing after him. Brainiac crashed through a mall's ceiling and struck the floor of a Toys R Us while Superman landed smoothly on his feet in front of the evil being. Brainiac smiled darkly as he grabbed a scared boy by the head and was about to clench his fist when Superman zapped his hand with heat vision. Brainiac dropped the kid and shook his hand around in agony before Superman grabbed him by the neck and threw with all his might. The villain was sent flying out of the mall and Superman flew out after him.

The doctor had successfully performed surgery on Iron Man and saved his life. Tony wearily got to his feet and said, "Thank you so much, I owe you my life!" The doctor said, "No problem," and a robot ripped his head off. Hermione screamed and Iron Man shot a repulsor ray at the robot and it exploded in a cloud of dust. Then a swarm of robots came from around the corner and shot at Iron Man and Hermione, and Tony grabbed her by the waist before shooting up into the sky and flew away from Manhattan and towards Pepper Potts. When he reached Pepper, Tony saw to his rage Doctor Doom standing over her lifeless body. Iron Man saw red as he shot Doctor Doom with repulsor rays and slammed into the villain. Doom sneered, "Your ginger girlfriend is gone forever because of me. You must be filled with blinding hatred towards me. I have driven you insane, Iron Man, and you will become filled with sorrow and anger until the end of your days…" "SHUT UP!" Iron Man bellowed and thrust an armored hand through Doctor Doom's chest and ripped his heart out. Tony stood seething with rage while Hermione looked at Pepper in sadness; then they were surrounded by the entire robot army.

Superman drove a fist into Brainiac's face and used heat vision to burn the villain's eyes, blinding him. "AAAAAAHHH!" Brainiac screamed in pain and Superman swung a powerful fist into his ribs and boomed, "You would kill an innocent child for pleasure. You are one evil psycho!" Superman grabbed Brainiac by the head and twisted with all his might, breaking his neck, and then used his heat vision to send flames searing into the villain's chest. Brainiac exploded in a waterfall of green blood and Superman flew towards New York City, determined to save the world.

Iron Man and Hermione prepared to battle the swarm of robots when the entire army exploded due to Brainiac's death. Hermione said, "Superman defeated Brainiac and saved us!" "Now we have to save New York. Do you have a spare wand?" "Actually I do. But it's in Stark Tower, which collapsed!" Iron Man said, "Don't worry; I'll use Jarvis to find it." Once they found Hermione's wand they flew towards New York City with Hermione on her broomstick and Tony in a new suit of armor.

Chapter 10 Reign of Darkseid

Green Arrow hid in the hull of Kahn's starship and when it attached to the last Kandorian spaceship he spied on Galactus and Darkseid in Nightwing's body speaking with the Kandorian captain. The Kandorian said, "Our soldiers are dwindling, the black hole will kill all of them!" Darkseid hissed, "Yes, but it will also destroy New York and then I can rule the world!" The captain yelled, "I will not let my people die, they…" Darkseid gripped the Kandorian's neck and choked him until he died. Darkseid released his hold on the lifeless Kandorian and as the captain toppled to the floor of the starship Galactus boomed, "It is time for you to claim your throne, Master." Green Arrow notched an arrow and aimed at Nightwing's head and before he could let the arrow fly he was knocked to the floor. Two-Face stood over Oliver Queen and said, "What do we have here? I thought you were buried in rubble back in Metropolis. No matter, I'll just kill you now!"

Harvey Dent aimed his gun at Green Arrow's head and before he could pull the trigger Oliver kicked Two-Face in the chest and knocked the gun out of his hand. Green Arrow shot his arrow and the shaft buried in Two-Face's throat. The villain gagged and Oliver silenced him with a knife slash to the neck, and then tackled Darkseid and both of them crashed through the glass window of the starship and were sent plummeting towards the streets below. Darkseid punched Green Arrow and kneed him in the gut before Oliver thrust an arrow through Nightwing's heart. At that moment Darkseid left Nightwing's body and got his powerful form back. "DIE, PEST!" Darkseid boomed and threw dark energy slamming into Green Arrow's chest, sending Oliver crashing into a subway station.

I soared towards the black hole while throwing fire, to no avail. Right when I was about to get sucked into the endless void Superman used his ice breath to create a dome around the black hole, stopping it from augmenting, and he used heat vision to destroy the ice dome and the black hole with it. I gazed in shock at where the black hole had been just a moment before and Superman said, "Come on, son, we have to stop Darkseid!" Son? I'm Superman's son? No way! I studied Superman as I asked, "Are you really my father?" and the superhero shook his head yes. Bizarro slammed into Superman and the two powerful beings disappeared from view when Kahn's starship opened fire and Darkseid flew around New York City corrupting all of the citizens, turning them evil. Darkseid boomed, "My brethren, destroy this city!" and the corrupted citizens ran around NYC creating havoc and destruction.

Iron Man and Hermione arrived on the scene and they met up with me. Tony asked, "How are we going to stop this?" and I said, "Each of us will fight a villain. I'll fight Darkseid, Iron Man will battle Galactus, and Hermione will fight Clayface." "You forgot about me!" Apocalypse hissed as he crashed into me. I punched the villain in the face and kneed him in the gut before he sent fire crashing into my chest. Apocalypse threw fire on New York City, causing it to erupt in flames, and I flew up and slammed into the villain. I flew us straight up into the air until we reached outer space and then I shot ice breath at Apocalypse, but he blocked the ice with fire and both energies battled for the upper hand. I concentrated as hard as I could and my ice grew larger, dissipating the flames and freezing Apocalypse. I then flew down towards New York City.

Bizarro threw Superman, sending the superhero crashing into a bus, and Superman shot up at the villain with fire in his eyes. Heat vision erupted out of the hero's eyes and struck the villain, but Bizarro was unharmed as he flew towards Superman faster than a speeding bullet. BOOM. The two met and everything around them exploded, but the opponents kept on fighting, oblivious to the chaos erupting around them.

The Black Widow punched a corrupted citizen in the face before kicking the person in the gut, sending the citizen falling to his knees. A citizen swung a pipe at Natasha's face, and she grabbed the pipe before it could smack her. She slammed the pipe into the corrupted citizen before another person punched the spy in the face. Buffy snapped the citizen's neck before he could harm Natasha any further and then flung a knife through a corrupted security guard's throat. "There's too many of them!" the Black Widow yelled as she dropped another citizen with a swift kick to the chest. Buffy screamed, "Keep fighting! We can make it through this, Superman will defeat Darkseid and then we can have a peaceful life!" Natasha sighed, knowing that what Buffy said was unlikely as a swarm of corrupted citizens attacked the two women. Buffy snapped a citizen's neck before another citizen tackled her to the ground and stared into her eyes. The vampire slayer then leapt to her feet with black eyes and punched Natasha in the face. The Black Widow kicked Buffy in the chest and said, "No, Buffy, don't let Darkseid control you like this!" Buffy ignored Natasha and flung her knife towards the Black Widow's throat.

Hermione flew on her broomstick towards Clayface and flung a curse at the huge villain, but he was unaffected as he morphed his hand into a hammer and smacked her in the face. The Wonderful Witch was sent flying off her broomstick but she used her wand to create a levitation spell, which she used to hover towards Clayface. The villain threw a fist at Hermione, but she bellowed, "Protego!" and a shield sprouted out of her wand, protecting the Wonderful Witch from the clay fist, which was deflected off the shield. Clayface growled in rage as he charged towards Hermione and right before he could strike her the Wonderful Witch cast a binding spell, restraining the monster. Hermione then bellowed, "Avada Kedavra!" and the killing curse slammed into Clayface's chest. The beast exploded in a shower of clay and Hermione hopped back onto her broomstick and started binding corrupted citizens so they wouldn't cause any more destruction.

Darkseid hovered in the air with Galactus by his side and he boomed, "Galactus eat this world. Its people are useless to me, they have no powers." Galactus asked, "Are you sure, Master? You could rule this world and make these people your slaves." "DO AS I SAY! I will conquer a different world that is of use to me!" Darkseid hissed and Galactus complied, flying into space and started growing. "Hey asshole, look behind you!" Iron Man said and Galactus spun around to get punched in the face with an iron fist. Galactus boomed, "Leave me at once, human, or you will face death like none other!" and Iron Man said, "I think I'll just kill you instead." Tony shot repulsor rays at Galactus and the villain growled in rage as the rays bounced off his chest uselessly, and then Galactus clenched a fist. Iron Man screamed in pain as Galactus manipulated his mind to recall the death of Pepper Potts and then the villain manipulated Tony to point a repulsor ray at his own head. Galactus boomed, "Kill yourself." Iron Man was about to shoot himself with a repulsor ray when his mind resisted Galactus's manipulation and Tony instead aimed his proton gun at the villain's head. Iron Man shot the powerful energy at Galactus and the villain held his hand out towards the energy, creating a black hole that sucked the proton energy into an endless void. Iron Man flew towards Galactus and punched him in the face repeatedly but the villain grabbed Tony and crushed the superhero in the palm of his hand. Galactus grew larger and larger as he boomed, "You cannot win, Iron Man. I am master of the multiverse and can control everything around me while you are just a worthless human!" Galactus was now bigger than Earth and he was about to devour the planet when Iron Man burst out of his hand in a blue light and shot a million proton guns at the villain before flying towards him, all the while gathering all of his energy for one final blow.

I flew at Darkseid whilst throwing fire but the villain blocked my energy with pure darkness, which he used to overpower my energy and slam into my chest. I gasped in pain as the darkness attempted to corrupt me and when I resisted the darkness burned inside my heart. Darkseid punched me in the face repeatedly before kneeing my gut, sending me crashing to the ground a thousand feet below. Superman pounded Bizarro in the face only to get knocked backwards by his evil twin's heat vision. Bizarro slammed into Superman but the superhero held his ground and punched Bizarro in the chest with as much strength he could muster. The villain was sent crashing into a grocery store and Superman flew in after him and Bizarro used super breath to fling Clark back outside, and then soared out after him. Superman performed an uppercut when Bizarro reached him and flew up into the air chasing after the villain to end his nemesis once and for all.

Green Arrow made his way out of the ruined subway station to find the streets overrun with chaos and flames. A citizen with black eyes lunged at Oliver and he had no choice but to put an arrow in his throat, and then the archer ran down the streets, trying to find Darkseid. When he found no sign of him on the ground Oliver looked up into the sky to see Kahn's starship opening fire on his position. Green Arrow dodged the bullets and ducked under cover, then waited for the ship to stop shooting. When there was no sound of bullets Oliver jumped out of hiding and shot an arrow through the engine of the starship, sending the ship descending into the darkness of New York City. Kahn jumped out of the starship right before it crashed into the pavement in front of Green Arrow and Oliver ran towards the genetically enhanced being with fire in his eyes. When Kahn came into view Green Arrow released a notched arrow at him, but Kahn just caught the shaft of the arrow in the palm of his hand. Kahn clenched his fist, crushing the arrow, and then lunged at Oliver with hatred in his eyes.

Natasha dodged the knife thrown by Buffy and then swung a kick at the vampire slayer, sending her falling towards the ground. Buffy rolled to the side of the Black Widow and kicked the spy in the gut before punching her in the face. Buffy jumped on top of Natasha when the spy fell to the ground and started to strangle her and the Black Widow's eyes turned black as she kicked the vampire slayer off of her. Both corrupted women then started killing other citizens and helped set the city on fire.

Chapter 11 Sacrifice

Superman and Bizarro slammed into each other. Both powerful beings tried to overcome the other and Superman sent ice breath towards Bizarro, but the villain destroyed the ice with heat vision, which struck Superman in the chest. The hero held his ground and bellowed in fury as he struggled against the flames, and then summoned all of his strength to fly at Bizarro at the speed of light with the heat vision buffeting off his chest. Bizarro had a look of fear on his face when Superman struck the villain with fists out, sending Bizarro crashing to the ground two thousand feet below. Superman landed on the pavement in front of Bizarro and punched the villain in the gut before elbowing him in the face and punching him in the throat. Clark bellowed, "YOU DARED TO STAIN MY SHIELD IN BLOOD!" He gripped Bizarro by the throat and started to squeeze. Bizarro wore an evil smile as Superman boomed, "Your punishment must be death!" The superhero strangled Bizarro to death and gazed into the lifeless villain's eyes before soaring away to put an end to Darkseid.

President Lex Luthor watched his television play out the destruction of Metropolis, the mess of Manhattan, and New York City on fire. The threat had been destroyed in Manhattan and the evil army had abandoned Metropolis to join forces with the dark force in New York City. Jason Bourne said, "Mr. President, it has been 24 hours, what is your plan for New York City?" In answer Lex walked out onto the White House balcony to address the congregation below. "People of the United States of America, I hereby declare New York City inhospitable and expendable. In order to neutralize this alien threat once and for all I must send a missile to NYC." A reporter cried out from below, "I have family in New York, what will happen to them?" Lex Luthor said, "They'll die, but I assure you it will be a sacrifice for this country. The citizens of NYC will be killed for the greater good of our proud nation!" Everyone yelled in outrage and Jason pulled a gun on Lex. "I didn't think you had it in you to blow up an entire city in your own country, but now I know you're not fit to be president. We don't deal with terrorists!"

Lex yelled, "THESE AREN'T TERRORISTS! THEY ARE ALIENS AND THEY'RE HERE TO TAKE OVER EARTH! I thought the destruction of one city would be nothing compared to the annihilation of our entire planet! NOW PUT DOWN THE GUN!" Jason was about to pull the trigger when Lex punched his aide in the face and took the firearm from him. President Luthor then shot Jason point blank in the head. As Jason's body slumped to the floor Lex turned towards the shocked crowd and said, "New York is gone in 3…2…1…" A missile shot up into the air and soared towards New York City.

Iron Man flew towards Galactus at a thousand miles per hour and struck the villain whilst shooting repulsor rays. The two disappeared in a brilliant flash of light. Green Arrow ducked to avoid getting kicked in the face by Kahn and shot an arrow towards the villain but Kahn dodged it and punched Oliver in the face with such a tremendous force that the hero was sent crashing to the ground. Kahn stomped on Green Arrow's chest, forcing him to throw up blood, and then lifted him up by the neck. Kahn choked Oliver and as Green Arrow gasped for breath the villain hissed, "My starship is gone because of you and your wretched bow! Now I will make you feel excruciating pain!" Kahn continued strangling the Green Arrow and Oliver, with his remaining strength, thrust an arrow through the villain's heart. Kahn released his hold on Oliver's throat and collapsed to the ground lifeless. Hermione swooped over Oliver and took his hand before pulling the hero up onto her broomstick. Green Arrow whispered, "Thanks," in a weak voice and Hermione said, "No problem, just hang in there until we get out of New York." The two soared away from the burning city.

I lay on the ground wounded with chaos erupting all around me. The next moment I saw to my horror Natasha with black eyes, she was corrupted. My wife gripped me by the throat and lifted my body up into the air before producing a knife in her hand. "Honey, put that down," I said but Natasha ignored me as she thrust the knife through my chest. The blade pierced my heart and I gaped at my wife as she let me topple to the ground. Then she saw my wound heal and was about to thrust her dagger through my throat when her eyes returned to normal. "Dylan, what did I do? Oh god I'm so sorry…" Natasha's eyes turned black once again and she pointed her knife towards my throat and thrust down. Before the blade could strike my wife's eyes turned normal and she whispered, "I can't fight it, Dylan. I have to…" her eyes flashed black then green then black again. The Black Widow held the knife above her head and her eyes turned normal as she gazed at me lovingly one last time. She thrust the knife through her own heart. I screamed, "NATASHA!"

Superman flew towards Darkseid faster than a speeding bullet only to find a missile flying straight at New York City. Superman veered past Darkseid and caught the missile before it could strike NYC and then threw it up into outer space, where it floated away aimlessly. The superhero then soared back down towards Darkseid only to find that I was already fighting him in a fit of rage. I threw burst after burst of pure light at the evil being but he destroyed every beam with dark energy blasts. Darkseid hissed, "Prepare to meet your doom!" and shot an Omega Beam towards me, but Superman used heat vision to knock the deadly beam aside. The Omega Beam descended down towards New York City, but Superman dove in front of the energy and struck it with a clenched fist. The energy disintegrated from Superman's powerful hit and Darkseid glared at Superman. "That is impossible!" Darkseid boomed and Superman said, "Not when I'm pissed off. Time for revenge, Darkseid!" Superman soared towards Darkseid and the villain hissed, "I killed the Man of Steel once and I can do it again!" The dark being teleported behind Superman before the hero could strike him and Darkseid started to form another Omega Beam. I punched Darkseid in the face before he could throw the deadly energy at Superman and the villain bellowed in rage as he threw dark energy bursts at me. I destroyed the dark energy with lightning while Superman spun around and shot Darkseid in the face with heat vision, blinding the villain and giving me the chance to slice Darkseid's head off with a swing of my crystalline blade.

My father gazed at me and whispered, "I'm so proud of you," as he embraced me in a big hug. "Was my mom my real mother?" I asked and Superman said, "Of course. I met her long before I met Lois, your mother and I just got frisky one night and she ended up getting pregnant with you." "So that explains all of my powers, but why would you leave my mom?" My father said, "She told me to. Your mother knew I would do great things in my life, but not if she held me back to take care of you. She said that she couldn't be selfish and have me all to herself; she had to let me go so everyone can have me protecting them. Your mother said I would save the world one day, but I never realized it would be with my own son."

Superman and I flew back to the ground and when we landed we saw to our relief everyone had returned to normal. Buffy walked up to me and said, "Natasha, I… I corrupted her when I was controlled by Darkseid." I said, "It wasn't you, it was that evil bastard Darkseid, but he's dead now. I forgive you." Buffy said, "Thank you. I've got to go back to hunting vampires," and she hugged me before walking away. I gazed after her before someone I never thought I'd see again caught my eye. Elena Gilbert. No, she's dead. Vicky killer her! But she was standing there in the middle of the street staring at me, and then she smiled. Elena! I ran towards Elena while she ran towards me and when we met we embraced. "I thought you were dead!" I said and Elena said, "Vicky broke my neck, but after that I was rushed to the hospital by my mother and the doctors saved my life. I heard about you being in the war on the news and once Earth was invaded I rushed to New York City because that's where the trouble was concentrated. I knew you would be here to save the day!" I whispered, "Elena, I will never let anything happen to you ever again. I was weak when Vicky attacked you, but now I am powerful. I am Superman's son! I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Elena said, "Let's get married!" and we kissed. Superman soared over to us and said, "I have to go and save some US soldiers from a mine, I'll be back in a sec!" He zipped away with Elena and I watching him do what he does best: saving people.

Epilogue

Lex Luthor was impeached by enraged US citizens and went to jail for murder and attempt genocide. He was paid a visit by Superman, who scorned the evil mastermind and beat him bloody. Green Arrow married Hermione while I married Elena and Buffy continued slaying vampires. There was a memorial service for all of the people that had perished during the invasion. I missed Sarah and Natasha every day, but I had Elena to comfort me. Elena was an awesome wife and Superman, Green Arrow, Hermione, Buffy, and I formed a new team of heroes. We received new recruits monthly and continued protecting people from evil beings. It was a good life and I know that if Earth faces another threat my team will be there to stop it.

To Be Continued in Epic World Book 4 A Dream of Peace