THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, READ BELOW BEFORE YOU READ CHAPTER!
You're not supposed to do this, but I'm going to risk it.
Hopefully it doesn't get deleted before everyone gets a chance to read it.
I've been getting a lot of questions about where I'm are moving to. I'm still going to be on FanFiction. Just not in the Smallville threads. I'll be in the Superman threads. You can click on my pen-name above (CaptainTightpants12) and then click on Flashpoint, it will be the one beneath "Flashpoint: A Smallville Tale" and it mentions it's been moved from the Smallville threads. That's where I'll be posting from now on. If you want to keep reading Flashpoint, go over to that story because I will not be updating this one. I made this to notify those of you that are confused of the move.
They'll probably delete this because someone will report it, so make sure you find me over in the Superman threads. It's very simple, just click my pen-name. If for some reason you don't want to do that, go to the main page and click where it says 'COMICS' and then click 'SUPERMAN' and I should be right there! Try to review/comment over there, because like I said, I won't be updating this story in the Smallville thread again. I'll be over on the Superman side permanently, and I've replied to all of the reviews over there! Hope you guys find your way over there alright! Thanks again!
Author: CaptainTightPants12
Rating: K
Disclaimer: If I owned Superman, his story lines, or any related characters, you'd be seeing this story in the pages of the this month's issue of Superman and not for free on FanFiction. Ditto any DC Comics characters or storylines.
Summary: After Barry Allen changes history to save the world, Clark Kent faces an uncertain destiny in a new world.
Chapter: #78, Roadhouse
Author's Note: Alrighty, I'm posting this a little early because I'm on vacation and tomorrow is probably going to be a little hectic, and I didn't want to miss posting it. Anyways, this continues over from #77! Enjoy!
'Distract it, they say...' he grumbled to himself as he raced as fast as he could. 'Keep it busy, they say... You guys know that this thing fought Superman, right?! Distract it, they say... Hmph...'
The roars of what he knew to be referred to as the Parasite followed closely behind.
Although Green Lantern's constructs had knocked it back, it absorbed some of the energy and had gotten even stronger and faster. It didn't help that whatever it did to Superman had already put it on super-steroids. Flash raced towards the old church on the horizon, doing his best to evade his chasing creature. He put foot to wall and begun to fly up it, muttering to himself, "I really hope that Batman knows what he's doing... Lois is going to freak if Superman is really-"
There was a crash next to him. Flash stopped dead, grabbing onto the ledge of the roof, turning to check. Diana seemed to be recovering from a rather heinous hit when he left, and he was trying to give her a moment to do just that. Recover. He was worried that it was going to be her in the wall, who it ended up being was far more surprising, "Superman?!"
He popped his head out of the crater he'd created in the wall, "Hey, hows it going?"
Flash glanced up at his fist, clinging to the roof, "Oh... You know... just hanging..."
"Heh," smiled Superman. "We've got company. J'onn's taking the guy that just whipped me across the field with his mind, so how about I take this one for you?" He nodded towards Parasite. "Think you take the guy trying to pick us off? You're the only one fast enough to deal with him before he can get a shot off."
He frowned, "Oh. Right. So it worked?"
Superman glanced down at himself, "It would seem to have. Thanks, by the way."
"Anytime?" chuckled a smiling Flash.
"Let's hope there isn't another time, and that I don't ever have to repay the favor," he smiled back.
Flash held up his hand, stopping Superman before he flew off. "Hey... I thought you wore a shirt? Big \S/ and stuff?"
Glancing downwards at his bare chest, "Oh. Yeah. I had to loan it to someone."
"Loan-"
Before he could finish asking, Superman shot like a bullet from the wall, grabbed onto the arm of Parasite, and ripped him into the distance. "Nevermind then..." he shrugged before glancing upwards and seeing the muzzle of a rifle. 'That must be the shooter,' he thought to himself. He vibrated through the wall and into the church, he glanced towards the stairs.
'Sneaky would probably be better here...'
. . . .elsewhere. . . .
"Your team doesn't seem to be putting up much of a fight."
Batman lifted his gauntlets, catching the blade of Deathstroke's sword, but not missing that the promethium blade was cutting into them. "To be fair," he growled. "They didn't know that they were in a fight until just now."
His eyes narrowed, calculating his opponent, "Sounds like an excuse to me, and a poor one at that."
Pulling back, his sword came loose and he set up his position. He'd heard of this Batman. His strength seemed to be using his surroundings to his advantage. He also used fear to intimidate his opponents into being stupid. Deathstroke let a small smirk form beneath his mask, 'There isn't much to use out here, and I'm sure as hell not afraid.'
Deathstroke charged. He had the knack for being aggressive. Unfortunately, his opponent had the knack for waiting for his opportunity. Batman ducked the first swing. It took a lot of willpower to keep a smirk from forming as he noticed how straight Deathstroke's elbows were. The second swing took some of his cape, but he managed to evade the blow. He eyed the panels on Deathstroke's back. There was one each that covered his kidneys, but there was also mesh.
Enough to get his fingers into. If he calculated it properly enough, he'd have his angle. He was well aware how much this could backfire. He knew that this was Slade Wilson behind the mask. Ex-Team 7 and as dangerous as he was smart. This trick worked on the thugs back in Gotham. He was literally risking his neck that Wilson would be cocky enough.
Judging by his technique so far, the next blow would come- 'Down, dammit!' he berated himself as the sword came flying towards his head. He had to lean back at the waist, using the momentum to spring-board himself a few feet away.
Batman made sure to sling a pair of batarangs back in Deathstroke's direction before he landed on his feet.
Glancing down at them, Deathstroke laughed, "You really thought that would work?"
He didn't speak. He wasn't sure what Deathstroke was referring to. But as he lunged again, he had to hide another smirk as he realized that Deathstroke was talking about exactly what he'd hoped he'd be talking about.
Swing number one.
Batman ducked before popping up and pushing Deathstroke's arms downward, enough to give him the angle to deliver a punch to his mask. He had to prepare it just right. It wasn't so much about strength as much as it was about technique. It knocked it clear off his face, exposing a vicious snarling face from underneath.
"Arrgh!" growled Deathstroke.
Swing number two.
He rolled quickly around his hip and jammed his hand as hard as he could, as straight as he could. It wasn't as perfect of an angle as he would have liked, but he hit Deathstroke's kidneys just hard enough to send him to his knees. He glanced back just in time to be on the receiving end of a punch that just happened to be all about strength.
There was no swing number three.
Batman used the three pairs of handcuffs that he had available to tie Deathstroke's hands behind his back. He knew that it might not hold him long, but they'd held a criminal named Waylon Jones a time or two, so he was fairly certain that they would do the job until they could come up with a more permanent solution.
. . . .the old church. . . .
He pinched his com-control grumbled, "Dammit, Waller. I'm not a baby-sitter. I'm here to pull the trigger!"
"Obey yours orders, Lawton," a voice came into his ear. "Or I will pull the trigger on you. You are not assassinating the princess of a country that we have no idea of their military capabilities!"
Deadshot growled, "I don't hear you telling King to take it easy."
Her voice was noticeably laced around a grimace, "I'm trying. But he's a damn animal."
. . . .mentioned King. . . .mentioned Princess. . . .
She had faced many a-creature in her day. The monsters of Olympus were many and varied. "You will not defeat me," said eyed him carefully. "For all of your strength and ferociousness, you have met your match, Creature."
"I think I've met my dinner!" growled King Shark.
He moved quickly. Perhaps quicker than she anticipated. King Shark toppled the two of them over and onto the ground, an impressive feat to say the least. He made to bite into her flesh when she lifted her arm to his mouth, catching his teeth with her silver bracelet. His eyes grew big as he found his large jaws couldn't crumple them.
Wonder Woman swung her free arm, clocking him square on the side of the head. King Shark spilled out onto the ground with a thud. She grabbed to her waist and pulled off her lasso, wrapping it around his jaws.
"You may try to get free, Creature! But I assure you that you will not!" she used what was left of the lasso to tie together his hands behind his back. "Submit to defeat, or remain in your shakles!"
He shook about, and it was clear that his response was not one of submission.
"So be it!" Her sandals delivered a kick to his head, knocking him unconscious.
. . . .the old church. . . .
"Shark is down."
Her growl was loud and long, "This is going sideways in a hurry, dammit. How did you screw up a simple OP like this? All I wanted was to bring that meta in, and you had to bring Trevor's girlfriend and her band of idiots into this!"
He scoffed, "They came looking for us. The Bat-Guy made a beeline for Jones, and when he grabbed onto the alien from Metropolis, everything went to hell. We just reacted to the situation once Jones went crazy."
"Well, can't Black deal with this without having to throw a punch?!"
"He's locked in a staring contest with the green one."
She hesitated for a moment, "The Lantern?"
Deadshot eyed the protrusion sticking out of the back of the skull of the man standing opposite Manchester Black, "Nah. The other one. With the weird head. He's wearing a blue get-up, big red 'X' on the chest."
"Who the hell are you talking about? Some kind of Martian?!"
. . . .a staring contest. . . .
But it wasn't a staring contest at all. They were deep in each other's minds. Manchester had the upper hand at the moment as he showered J'onn in a room of flames. The vindictive and sinister mind of Manchester quickly dived into J'onn's fears the moment that they began their duel. J'onn hit the ground in screams of agony.
"Sorry, Mate," snickered Manchester. "Someone's gotta come out on top, now don't they? Gotta protect my own skin. Not that I like having seen what happened to your family. Bloody shame, innit?"
What Manchester was counting on, was that he was the smartest and most powerful man in the contest.
What Manchester wasn't counting on, was that J'onn had been around for a long time.
Telepaths weren't like Martians. No. Martians were few and far between. And as far as J'onn knew, they had dwindled down to just himself. But telepaths were many and frequent. Many had tried this particular move. Many had used J'onn's fear of what happened to his family against him. But J'onn was a survivor. And to survive, one must adapt. One must overcome their fears. Must overcome their traumas and the broken pieces of their lives.
And when Manchester mentioned family, he opened the door to his own past. But unlike J'onn, whom left his door open willingly, Manchester's door was locked behind many, many locks.
He rose from the flames, letting them flicker as they may. "I would never choose to do one physical or mental harm, if I did not have to," J'onn boomed over their crackle. "But I can see into your mind, Manchester Black."
He smirked, "Oh can you, mate?"
J'onn snapped his fingers and the flame disappeared. "I can. And I know that you will not refrain from the course that you have set upon. So while I take no pleasure in this, I will do what I must to protect my friends."
"Oh bullocks," he scoffed. "You couldn't snuff me out if-"
"Chester!"
Manchester's eyes grew as big as saucers. He whipped around quickly, "No... No... No, no, no, no..."
The whip of a belt sounded, and the paternal Black stepped from the shadows. "You measly little bugger," growled the man that J'onn had let out of the dark confines of Manchester's mind. "I can't believe your mother gave me this pile of scum for a son," he wiped whiskey from the corner of his mouth. "Get in here, you little weasel!"
J'onn watched as his fears overtook him and Manchester turned from the man that was so keen on murder into the little boy that cowered in fear of his alcoholic, abusive father. He felt terrible about this. He took no pleasure in watching his foe in the fetal position, a crying pile of limbs on the ground. He exited Manchester's mind to find the adult version not far from the same. He simply laid in the dirt, shaking and crying to himself, "Please... No... Da'... No..."
. . . .the old church. . . .
"Status, dammit!"
Deadshot sighed, "You better send a pacifier for Black. I don't know what ole Marvin did to him, but it looks like he's going to need some serious therapy. He's practically sucking on his thumb out there."
She growled, "What about Jones? What is his status? The satellites aren't getting footage on the ground, something is keeping them away from the location. I've got our tech guys on it, but I need information, Lawton. I need to know if I need to send in reinforcements. I'm not going to let my men end up in Arkham!"
"I don't have a visual on Jones. Superman plucked him up and took him off."
"Well, get a visual, dammit!"
. . . .outside of Deadshot's visual. . . .
He hit the ground with a grunt. It wasn't that Parasite was heavy, it was that with every passed moment, energy was being wrenched out of him. Parasite dropped a few feet away, seemingly shaking with the influx of energy. Superman glanced to him with a grimace and panted, "You weren't so friendly last time. Anyway that we can talk this out?"
"Blue man... Tasty..." roared Parasite.
"I guess not," he sighed.
The influx of energy made Parasite very fast. He was upon Superman before he could even blink. "Argh!" he shouted as his back hit the ground. Parasite held down his arms, his mouth ready to latch onto.
"So... Tasty..." cooed Parasite. "Want... More..."
"Well, the diner's closed, Pinkie!"
Both Parasite and Superman turned to see a green glow coming their way. A giant golf-club swatted downwards and dealt Parasite a blow that send him skipping across the ground away from Superman. Green Lantern set down next to him and held out his hand, "Thought you might need a hand. Think I should have used the nine-iron?"
"Nah, I think you were fine with the wedge," grunted Superman as he stood.
Already, Parasite was getting up. "Any ideas with this one?"
He grimaced, "I can't touch him with my fists without him absorbing my energy."
A smirk set across Green Lantern's features, "I've got an idea."
Parasite looked up to see a green boxing glove flying his way. It was on the fist of Superman. He absorbed some of the energy from the construct, but the blow still landed. As he felt to his left, Parasite looked up to see another boxing glove coming his way, this time on the hand of Green Lantern. "I feel like Muhammad Ali! This is awesome!"
"He's still getting some of the energy!" shouted Superman as he delivered another punch.
"Yeah, but I think our hits are outweighing it!"
This went on for a few more hits, until Parasite roared and grabbed them by the wrists. He quickly began to absorb energy from both of them. Superman grunted in pain as he tried to free himself, "I can't get free!"
Green Lantern grimaced, "Watch out!"
Superman turned just in time to see a bright green freight train roaring towards them. They jerked opposite directions and got out of it's way, letting it steamroll over Parasite and freeing them from his grip. Both crashed to the ground as they tried to get a feeling besides pain to run through them. "You weren't kidding about this guy, he's a beast."
"We're going to have to figure out a way to hurt him without touching him," panted Superman. "We've gotta hit him with something that doesn't have energy." Neither of them noticed that Parasite was up and looming.
He grimaced, "Any ideas?"
Shaking his head, Superman looked around, "Nothing off the top of my head. Last time I used a man-hole cover."
Green Lantern snickered, "Man-hole." He caught Superman's glance. "Sorry."
A "ROAR!" thundered behind them. Preparing to pounce on them, swinging his arm overhead before they could react.
A trident flew from behind them. It knocking back Parasite's swing and stunned him for a moment. They turned just in time to see a man jumping over them and delivering a deafening blow to Parasite's face.
. . . .back at the start of it all. . . .
She flexed her arms a bit, enjoying the look in that royal blue color. "This is so awesome..."
Lois admired how it looked so thick, like armor, but felt so light. She glanced towards Cheshire, whom seemed to be very disappointed that she couldn't use her nails. Before Superman had got hit by that guy with the British flag, Batman had told them to watch out for Cheshire's nails. 'She has toxins and poisons,' he had told them.
Once she'd announced that she'd take her on, Clark had grabbed onto her wrist. 'This will keep you safe,' he told her. His armor slid off of his chest and down his arm, sliding onto hers. She'd protested, of course.
'You need-' But then he gave her that look. There was no arguing with him when he had that look.
"Your tough-guy boyfriend gave you his pretty armor and now little missy thinks she can play with the big girls?" cooed Cheshire as she circled. "That's so adorable... Too bad that I'll be taking it with me when I take your head."
Lois smirked, "Your first mistake, is assuming that he's the tough-guy in this relationship." She lifted her fists. "You should have taken Batman when you had the chance. I don't have any nicey-nice gadgets. Just these two."
She chuckled, "It's your funeral."
Without another moment of hesitation, Cheshire charged. Lois was ready for her. Avoiding any major blows, she locked her hands around Cheshire's arms and put a foot to her chest, throwing her backwards. Cheshire landed on her back, hitting the ground hard. She snarled and whipped around, "You'll regret that!"
"You're right," Lois grinned. "I want to do this straight up."
They collided, exchanging blows. The armor kept the body shots from hurting too badly, but the swings to the face caused Lois to let out a few groans. Luckily, her military father had given her some training and she was more than capable of giving them as well as she was taking them. She swung and landed one to Cheshire's face.
Cheshire stumbled backwards, and Lois delivered a punch to her kidney. When her head swung upwards in a shout, Lois swung her leg and round-house kicked her across the face. "I learned that from Patrick Swayze, bitch!"
She split out onto the ground, and Lois did a little bit of a victory dance.
"It would seem that she was foolish to underestimate you, Lois Lane," boomed J'onn as he joined her. "She did not take her foe seriously. That can prove to be a fatal flaw," he said a bit quieter as he glanced to Manchester.
Lois grinned, "Do you know how often I want to go Roadhouse at the Planet? Gah. Being a superhero is awesome."
. . . .the old church. . . .
"Status update, Lawton!"
"Hold your horses, Waller!" he growled.
Going to look through the scope, Deadshot was unable to see anything. He blinked a couple times, and now all he was able to see was a shade of red. "What the hell..." He leaned off the scope and looked forwards.
"Hi there." Deadshot's eyes grew big as he saw the Flash. "You're not going to make this difficult, right?"
The way that he stood up and started to run, loading a handgun, told Flash that hew as probably going to make it just a little bit difficult. He sighed as bullets started to fly in his direction from across the rooftop. Avoiding them easily, he got in front of Deadshot and clotheslined him. He rubbed the back of his head and looked up from the group.
Flash shrugged, "I offered."
He delivered a quick punch to knock him out, and then pulled out his Central City Police Department handcuffs that he kept handy. After locking up Deadshot, he raced back up with his friends.
The group seemed to be coming back together. Wonder Woman had dragged King Shark to where Batman had tied up Deathstroke. J'onn had transported Cheshire and Manchester to join them. Superman, Green Lantern, and a mysterious figure in orange appeared last. Green Lantern's bucket construct spilled Parasite to the ground with his cohorts.
"Who is this guy?" asked Flash, nodding towards the Man in Orange.
"I don't know," grimaced Superman as he tried to shake off the soreness of his fight. "Didn't get the chance to ask. Saved our butts with Parasite though. I didn't get the chance to thank you for that either, by the way."
He nodded, "I did what was necessary."
Batman eyed him carefully, "So, who are you then?"
He paused and stared at they group, almost like he didn't want to answer. "My name is Arthur. King of Atlantis."
"Of Atlantis?" Green Lantern asked with a scoff. "You're kidding, right?"
"Creatures appeared within the boundaries of our city, but it is impossible for any surface dweller to find our home without one of our own leading them there. I came to seek answers as to how this was possible."
Batman nodded slowly, "Cyborg said they appeared in the most populated cities. How many of you are there?"
He held Batman's stare for a long moment. It was impossible to tell which one's gaze was more steely. "I believe that as King, that is my business. If we wanted our presence known, you would know of us."
Green Lantern continued to shake his head and laugh, "First Batman, now Atlantis. You've gotta be kidding me."
Author's Note: Well, what did you think? That was a lot of fun. I can't promise they'll always be this long, because there won't always be so much going on, but it was fun to get to write this one. I love getting to write all the other characters, but this is probably the last we'll see of everyone for a while. It's time to get back to Clark's story now that the table has been reset and all is back to normal (or is it?!) for the most part. We'll be going off with Lois and Clark, back to Metropolis, and everyone else will go back to their own lives. Not saying we won't see them again, definitely plans for it! But it'll be a bit before we see them again. Just needed to say that to manage some expectations.
Anyways, what did you think?! The Justice League vs. the Suicide Squad! It was a blast to have them come by, and it was a blast to do this Apokolips Now event! I can't wait to hear what you all thought, so go over to the real story in the Superman threads and shoot me some reviews! If you review over here, I will respond over in the other story. I will not update on the Smallville threads, so please make sure you go over to the Superman threads!