Disclaimer: DC comics owns all of their respective characters, and Marvel owns theirs and blah blah blah. I wont try and take their money unless they give it to me. *HA*

(This is a tie-in for my story titled "Superman and the New Avengers". This is the third story I've written for this continuity, but it ties directly into the events of the story I just mentioned. For the full story on what happens to Superman while in the Marvel Universe, check out "The Marvelous Adventure of Superman"; and watch as the story unfolds in my upcoming stories, "Superman and the Family Fantastic"; and "Lex Luthor: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D".)

Chapter 1:

Bruce Wayne cleared his throat loudly as he stood before the assembled scientists; wearing a business shirt which had the sleeves rolled up as he looked from face to face. Ray Palmer; Aka The Atom, had been kind enough to allow the assembly to happen at his lab in New York; he wore his signature uniform under a lab-coat, his mask pulled down to expose his shaggy brown hair. With degrees in several scientific fields he was a perfect candidate for the project.

Next was Mr. Terrific, or Michael Holt as he used to be known before his wife had died; since then he had been Mr. Terrific, and nothing else. His pitch white eyes stared towards Bruce Wayne as the billionaire examined the 'T' painted across his face. Being labeled the third smartest man in the world made Mr. Terrific a prime addition for Bruce's team.

Bruce's eye's then came upon the face of Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle. Having his own rival company to Wayne Enterprises, Ted had been a little shocked when Bruce had called him; but after hearing about what had happened to Superman, Ted was game for any science experiment Bruce had in mind.

"You three," Bruce began, "are some of the finest minds man-kind had to offer. That being said, I want us to be getting straight to work." Bruce turned on his spot and began to walk towards a lab table which had a plastic drape over it, the was an object beneath the drape which dropped it up a foot off the table. "Approximately seventeen hours ago I received a call from Superman; there had been an attack on Metropolis which had been orchestrated by Lex Luthor; resulting in the deaths of over ten thousand of its residents." The others followed Bruce as he spoke and joined him at the table. "Superman asked me to help him triangulate Luthors base of operations, and it didn't take me long with the information he gave me. Five minutes after Superman, Supergirl and a Special Assault Unit from Metropolis P.D. assaulted Luthors hideout, there was an unknown incident which caused a whole room from Luthors base to disappear. It has been determined that Superman and Lex were in the room when this device activated." Bruce grabbed hold of the plastic cover and pulled it off the table to reveal the strange cube like machine.

"As far as we've been able to determine, it does contain trace components of Darkseids Mother Box." As Bruce spoke the three League members gazed intently at the device; simple in its design, yet it baffled all of them that Luthor had been able manipulate the Mother-Box technology. "We know that the Mother-Box was able to create 'Boom-Tubes' which enabled instantaneous travel between near infinite distances; and Darkseid claimed that he was able to travel through alternate versions of reality with it... We've never seen it tear out a whole section of a building though.I don't think I need to stress how difficult it's going to be to pin-point where this thing sent Superman." Bruce began to the index finger of his right hand across his brow; Mr. Terrific noticed it as an obvious stress indicator.

"First we must figure out how this device works; Luthor may have used pieces of the Mother-Box, but it looks more complicated in its design. I take it Luthor did not have any blue-prints laying about?" Mr Terrific said as he observed he device, noticing the different lights and switches that were on the device.

"Nothing. Luthor keeps his designs locked up tight. I have Cyborg working on hacking into the system, but it's been giving him a hard time." Bruce looked towards Ray Palmer as he spoke. "We need to figure out what this thing does, and after we figure out the device we can start working on how to get Superman back home."

...

Nineteen Hours later...

Ray Palmer sat in a chair at the lab table which had Luthors device on it; Ray was hunched over the tablet as he rested his head on the table, staring intently towards the device as he tried to deduce how it could be activated. Several feet away were Mr. Terrific and Ted Kord, working away one several mathematical formulas; arguing between themselves about mass-displacement through a worm-hole. As hard as they had all been working they were still no closer to understanding how the device worked.

Within a sound-proof room that Ray had built into the lab, Bruce Wayne was on his cellphone; holding it a foot away from his head as the voice of Lois Lane-Kent screamed through the earpiece, "He didn't even wake me up before he left; he was just gone! Where is he Bruce? Why haven't you found him yet?" Bruce's face held a stern look as he cleared his throat.

"We're doing everything we can Lois. The device is built around the tech that built a Mother-Box; it's not exactly easy to decipher." Bruce said as he looked through the sound-proof glass window, watching his fellow Leaguers try to figure out the device. "I know you're worried. I know you're scared; I'm scared for him too..." There was a silence that chimed through the phone; Bruce was surprised Lois was letting him have his say. "I wish I could tell you that we've made more progress than we have, but this is one of the most advanced pieces of technology in the universe; do you understand the scope of that? Civilizations that have colonized entire star systems are baffled by the tech that Darkseid has at his disposal. We're working as hard as we can Lois."

"Well work harder." Click. And just like that Lois had left Bruce to get back to work; which he was very thankful for; yet Bruce knew from her tone that she was dead serious, and she was right. They needed to work faster; all this time and still nothing to show for it was unacceptable..

"What do we have?" Bruce called out to the others as he exited the sound proof room and came back into the lab; Ted Kord and Mr. Terrific both turned and began to approach Bruce, asking him to confirm which of them was right about mass-displacement through worm-holes. Bruce cast them both an aggravated look. "Really? We have more important things to do than argue inter-dimensional theory. No matter how relevant the subject matter is we have to stay focused on the device. Palmer, tell me you have something." Bruce said as he walked by the two scientists and towards Ray Palmer; who turned on his seat and faced Bruce as he straightened himself up.

"I've been thinking over a few encounters we had with Desaad where he had used the Mother-Box, and I can't think of a single instance where there wasn't some sort of trace signature left after it's use." Ray said as he looked up to Bruce, who was rubbing his brow with his index finger again.

"I already checked the lab; if it did leave a signature then I don't have a device that can pick it up." Bruce said as Ray Palmer shrugged his shoulders; he really thought he was on to something. Bruce turned back to the others as Ray turned on his seat and went to resume his vigilant observation of the modified Mother-Box. Yet as Ray Palmers eyes met the device, he was startled to see that it was emitting a strange red glow.

"Uh, guys. It's doing something!" Ray Palmer shouted as he looked back to the others. There was a small shock-wave that emitted from the device that sent Ray Palmer backwards off of his seat and to the feet of the other League members. The strange red glow that emanated around the device began to grow and spark; causing a strange red energy sphere to encase it. "What the hell?" Ray Palmer said as he picked himself up to his feet, "I didn't touch it; I swear!" Ray said intently as he looked towards Bruce Wayne, who cast him a confused look before his gaze was quickly pulled back towards the strange red sphere, which seemed to be growing in size.

"Terrific, start getting readings on this thing." Bruce called out as Mr. Terrific reached into his belt; tossing several of his T-Sphere's towards the growing red orb. The T-Sphere's began to emit and electrical grid around the sphere; Mr. Terrific examined the T-Sphere's recordings on his data-pad. There was a sudden electric feedback from the red energy orb that caused the T-Spheres to malfunction; falling to the ground lightly as the energy sphere began to grow again. "What did you get?" Bruce said as he looked towards Mr. Terrific with worried and uncertain look across both of their faces. It was obvious to Bruce that Mr. Terrific had no idea what to make of his readings.

"Aaaahg!" A voice came shouting through the energy sphere as the four scientists looked terrified towards it; fearing that something awful was about to come out. The shout was heard again, but this time Bruce recognized it a shout of pain; and a familiar one at that. Bruce's eyes opened wide as he began to approach the glowing red energy sphere. Ted Kord and Ray Palmer looked to him not knowing what the hell he was thinking, while Mr. Terrific examined his T-Sphere's data.

"Clark?" Bruce shouted into the sphere as the others looked to him with looks of bewildered hope. "Clark, it's Bruce! If you can hear me, say something!" Bruce shouted again into the sphere as it hung in the air. For what seemed like an eternity, the four sat and waited for something to call back; hoping with all of their might that providence had struck. Moments passed and there was no answer; hope began to dwindle, then another cry of pain was shouted through the sphere as a familiar voice called out to them.

"Bruce? He-help me...please!" The pleading voice of Clark Kent echoed throughout the laboratory as the four men stood; their eye's brimming at the thought that they had found him. Bruce stepped closer to the energy sphere, reaching out as he approached; yet as his hand made contact with it the orb imploded on itself; causing a shock-wave that shattered the shatter-proof glass and sent the others onto the backs as Bruce Wayne came soaring past them, sliding on the floor until he collided with the solid metal wall.

Ted Kord rushed to Bruce Wayne's aid; noticing that Bruce was bleeding from his nose and his left ear. "Are you alright?" Ted asked as Bruce began to nod his head; Ted placed his hands on Bruces ribs; and when he was sure that they weren't broken to turned to the others. "He''ll be alright." Ted said with relief as Ray Palmer turned to Mr. Terrific with a worried look on his face.

"Did your drones get anything useful?" Ray asked with an urgency in his tone; Mr. Terrific reviewed his findings with a confused; a long sigh escaping him as he shook his head.

"These readings are off the charts. It's as if all of space-time were bending into that thing; even on a sub-atomic level." As Mr. Terrific spoke a light grin cut across Ray Palmers face; he had waited a long time to have his chance to repay Superman for all the times he had saved his butt; and he wasn't going to pass up his opportunity.

"Sub-atomic is my area of expertise; I'll go get Clark back." Ray said as he discarded his lab uniform; pulling up his mask with one hand as the other reached down to his belt and activated his mass-control device; leaping towards the device as he began to shrink down to a sub-atomic level. Ray could hear Mr. Terrific shout after him about it being too dangerous; something about the readings being too unpredictable; but Ray knew in his heart that this might be their only chance at getting Superman back, and he wasn't about to pass it up.

His feet touched down on the metal floor; yet a the sub-atomic level it was hard to tell; the only way Ray really knew which direction he should go was by the trail of exploding red particles that were floating about the air; mere relative yards away from him. The particles exploded with dazzling displays of red sparks; yet as nice as they were to look at, they were Rays ticket to saving the day. Ray began to run towards the particles, leaping with all his might as he crashed into one of the particles.

Strange sensations ran through The Atom as he was tossed about in a strange energy storm that now brewed and swirled all around him. He felt as if his skin was being frozen, yet his inside felt like it were on fire. He opened his eyes and could see nothing through the thick red energy that enveloped him. Then almost as quickly as he had entered the particle, he felt his body crash into solid ground.

The Atom coughed slightly as he tried to regain his breath; rising to his knees he began to take in his environment. There was a strange red energy that flowed in the sky above him; the colour was oddly reminiscent of the sphere in the lab. As he continued his examination of the sky he couldn't help but notice that it not only appeared that he was on the sub-atomic level of the laboratory floor, but seemed to be on another planet with several moons in orbit. "Who dares enter my realm?" A shrewd coarse voice called out from behind The Atom as he swung around to the sight of a humanoid mini-hulk; his body was adorned with a strange green battle armor of a design Ray had never seen before. His yellow face was rough and jagged to match the design of his armor; and it was hard to tell where the suit ended and the man began. "I am the Chief Scientist and ruler of the technocracy governing the five planets of the Sub-Atomica system within the Microverse." The man began to stand himself up as tall as he could, towering over Ray Palmer as the hero began to metaphorically wet his pants. "I am known as Psycho-Man; and this is my realm."

(No, no, no. He was looking for 'Superman', not Psycho-Man! Ah well, that's what happens when you don't listen to Mr. Terrific.*sigh* Looks like Ray Palmers rescue attempt may have been a little more ill conceived than even Mr. T thought? Hope you enjoyed the spin-off; there will definitely be more to come that will tie directly into "Superman and The New Avengers".)