Validus
!SOUND EFFECTS! "THOUGHTS"
Chapter Two
In his orbital space station, the Leader was contemplating what he had done to his most recent escaped prisoner. "Rick Jones or Validus as he now calls himself is gone forever and won't be able to come back. My Ultimate Machine, even though Rick had wrecked it, still had some power left in it. I took that power and used it to send Validus into another universe. I would have preferred to have exacted my own personal revenge on him but what I've done will have to suffice. Oh well, on to the next plan."
XXX
"Where am I?" Validus thought to himself as flew around the solar system. "Wait! There's the Earth right over there!"
"I wonder who that is," a chalk skinned being with a goatee and a mustache riding a space worthy motorcycle thought as he noticed a green blur fly towards the Earth. "That guy's tough; I can see that from here. I think I'll go follow him. I've been meaning to visit the Earth again anyway."
In a few hours, Validus made his way through Earth's atmosphere, looking around and finding nothing familiar. He then took off for the eastern seaboard of the United States planning to land in New York.
"What was that? Did I just fly over the Daily Planet?" Validus thought to himself as he flew past a city that had some familiar landmarks. Validus doubled back and took a good look at the huge globe over the tall 50 plus story building.
"Am I in the D.C. Universe?" !CRASH! Val saw a man wearing a blue tunic with an S insignia on his chest and a red cape violently knocked into a 40 story building across the street. Then he saw what looked like a man in a suit of green armor that looked technologically superior to anything he'd seen Ironman wear fly towards the man red caped man who had just slammed into the building.
"That looks like Luthor's armor. The face shield in the helmet is black so I can't see whose face is there. If memory serves me correctly, Luthor usually has someone do his dirty work for him. At least that's the post-crisis Luthor. The pre-crisis Luthor was a mad scientist who hated Superman because he lost his hair while Superboy saved his life. The post-crisis Luthor was a corrupt businessman who hated Superman due to jealousy. Then there's the New 52 Luthor which I don't know a whole lot about. Maybe that's a remote control armor. I remember Ironman doing that at least once," Val thought to himself as he flew towards the combatants.
"It's over, Superman," Luthor said as he showed the man of steel the green radioactive rock attached to his wrist. "My kryptonite has weakened you and my power armor is more than a match for you. As I told you before everyone will know I've killed you and no one will be able to prove it; I'll see to it."
"Wrong, Luthor!" Validus called out from the recently made hole in the building, floating in the air as he regarded the genius supervillain. "It's over! I don't know what your game is, or if you're a wanted criminal or not but, I won't let you kill Superman!"
"Who the heck are you?" Luthor asked turning around.
"I'm a new superhero named Validus!" Rick announced puffing his chest out in a pose.
"Who does this interloper think he is?" the armored super villain thought to himself as he regarded the green-skinned, green/black haired young man who hovered in the air. The long-haired man wore greenish-black boots, gauntleted wristbands, pants, and a cape that billowed in the wind.
Are you trying to kill Superman because you lost your hair when he saved your life when you both were younger or because you're simply jealous of him being the most powerful man in Metropolis?"
"Saved my life? Lost my hair? What kind of ridiculous reason is that? This is all about revenge. I do what I want! Now get out of here, fool!"
"That answers my question," Val said as he flew towards the armored man with so much confidence that it seemed as if he was strutting towards him. "Is that kryptonite you're using on Superman? I'm afraid I'm going to have to take that."
Luthor turned towards Validus in a rage. "Any friend of Superman is my enemy! And no one takes anything from Lex Luthor! Now, die!" Luthor announced as he blasted Validus with a powerful death ray.
"Aaarrrgh! Now you've made me mad!" Validus exclaimed as he charged the armored super villain, flying into him at an even faster speed, hitting him several times.
"This jade jackass is as strong as Superman and getting stronger. I don't know where he came from, but I can't afford to allow my means of destroying Superman to leave my grasp. I must needs depart," Luthor thought as he created a cloud of blackness, barely making good his escape.
"Where did he go? I was just getting warmed up." !ZOOM!
"He's gone. Even I can't find him now with my supervision at this point. Did you say your name was Validus? I remember fighting someone with that name but he didn't look anything like you," Superman said as he stumbled, getting up.
"Gee, you got hurt pretty bad. Was it the kryptonite or the beating you got?"
"It was a little bit of both, I'm afraid. I'll be all right though. How did you know about kryptonite; most people don't even know about its existence."
"Uh, yeah. That's a long story. Have you ever heard of alternate universes?"
"I vaguely remember something happening a few years ago based on that. But there aren't supposed to be any alternate universes around anymore."
"Well, in the universe I came from you and some other superheroes in the Super Friends are comic book characters."
"Super Friends?"
"Um, the Justice League." Then Validus looked around to see if anybody was in earshot of them. "Look, I know you're Clark Kent in your secret identity," Val said in a low voice. "I also know you're girlfriend's either Lois Lane or Lana Lang. You may have even been in love with a mermaid at one time."
A look of shock appeared on the man of steel's face as he regarded the emerald-skinned, physically powerful newcomer. "So you say you're from another universe?" Superman asked, starting to believe the muscular man before him.
"Yeah. But there are a couple of things I don't know for sure. Does Luthor hate you because he's jealous of your power? Is he a respected businessman or a mad scientist? And are your parents still alive?" Rick asked, taking a good look at Superman's uniform.
"Yes to all of your questions; Lex Luthor was a respected businessman but he pushed things too far and now he's a wanted criminal. Did you actually think he hated me because I somehow made him lose his hair?" Superman asked incredulously.
"Hey, I don't know everything. That may have been another version of Lex Luthor. Now I know what's up. By the way, you haven't moved the earth, have you?"
Superman looked at Validus as if he were crazy for a moment. "No. I'm nowhere near that strong. Moving the earth? That's pretty much impossible."
"That pretty much answers all my questions. But do you know a Dr. Fate?"
"I know him, but not too well. Why would you want Dr. Fate?"
"He might be able to get me back into my own universe. Unless you know someone else who's capable of getting me back to where I'm supposed to be."
"How did you get here in the first place?"
"A supervillain called the Leader sent me here after he killed my wife. I'll get him if it's the last thing I do!" Val said in a rage.
"Take it easy there, Validus. The best thing for us to do is to go to the Justice League Satellite. There might be someone there who can help you. And thanks for the save."
"All right! Let's go. We can go straight over there; I don't have to breathe and can survive in outer space," Val explained.
"Are you a Martian?"
"No. Have you ever heard of the Incredible Hulk?"
"Yes. There was a television show called the Incredible Hulk when I was a kid. Come to think of it. Your green skin does resemble his."
Then Superman clicked on his JLA communicator. "This is Superman; I'm coming along with a guest. Transport us in," the man of steel said in his JLA commlink. In an instant, both he and Val were in the satellite.
The Leaguers who were there were the Flash, Green Lantern, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Wonder Woman, Supergirl and some others.
Once introductions were made, Wonder Woman made a suggestion. "I'd feel better if I put my magic lasso around you while you explained who and what you are."
"That's right. Your magic lasso makes everyone tell the truth, doesn't it?" Validus asked remembering the Wonder Woman TV series.
"Yes. Will you go along with it?" the Amazon asked.
"Sure, babe. No problem."
While being forced to tell the truth, Validus explained his story and how he got where he was now at the moment. After she was satisfied with Val's story, Wonder Woman released him of her lasso.
"I don't know how to get you back, but you're welcome to stay here while we figure how to get you back home."
"Thanks, Wonder Woman. You're a lot hotter than Lynda Carter," Val answered.
"Uh, yes, thanks," the Amazon answered, bewildered.
"I can't believe you're that loser, Rick Jones. I read Marvel Comics when I was a kid, so I know all about you," Blue Beetle said while Booster Gold nodded in agreement.
"I guess you finally got to be a superhero. But the uniform you have now is so tacky!"
"All those years carrying the Hulk's water and being the Avengers mascot! What a joke! I always thought you were a schmuck, Rick," Booster Gold said with a laugh.
"And your uniform leaves a lot to be desired. Don't they have shirts where you come from?" Blue Beetle said with a smirk.
"I like his uniform," Supergirl said with a smile in Rick's direction. "The look works for him."
"Thanks, Supergirl."
"You were a loser!" Booster Gold interjected sharply.
"Loser? I was never a loser. I wasn't a joke either. I even helped to save the universe a few times!" Rick said in his own defense.
"La la la la la la losaa!" Booster and Beetle said in unison.
"You guys have a lot of nerve calling me a loser. You, Booster! You stole that suit and flight ring, time traveled to the present and called yourself a hero after you got thrown out of that football league for gambling! And you, Beetle! You gained over a hundred pounds! You were a fat tub of lard! Then the both of you guys ripped off Maxwell Lord in order to finance a get rich quick scheme that fell through. If anyone's is a loser, it's you two!"
"Listen, you hero wannabe! Both of us have had some hard times, but that doesn't make us losers!"
"Yeah!" Blue Beetle agreed with his friend.
"All right, guys. That's enough! Validus here saved my life, so let's not put him down," Superman ordered.
"Do you get stronger when you get angry as the Hulk does? I'm an artist so I've read a lot of comics as well," Kyle Rainer A.K.A. Green Lantern explained.
"I do get stronger, but it's unlikely I'd go berserk. You don't look anything like Hal Jordan or even Guy Gardner. Are you a new superhero, too?"
"I'm not all that new; I've been around for a while," Green Lantern answered proudly.
Then Supergirl got closer to Validus. "You're handsome. I like the Conan the Barbarian with a cape look; you look great, green skin and all."
"Thanks. You're really hot, too. I like the new look," Val said with a smile.
"New look? This is the only 'look' I've ever had," Supergirl said as she smiled up at him.
"Didn't you used to wear a blue blouse with an S symbol on your upper left breast with hot pants?"
"No." At that point, Supergirl looked at Validus strangely.
"I guess I got you confused with someone else," Val said a little embarrassed.
"I've put in a call to Dr. Fate of the JSA. He's not there, but he'll be informed of your problem when he gets there. Don't hold your breath because he keeps his own hours," Wonder Woman said as she came back from the communications room.
"If all else fails maybe we could use the cosmic treadmill," Flash opined.
"We'll make that a last resort. Let's exhaust all other options first," Superman said.
XXX
"You've done a good job helping me out even if your relationship with my cousin disturbs me a little. But right now you can help Supergirl and me patrol Metropolis," Superman said as the three flew over the city.
"All right. I'll just be as helpful as I can," Validus answered. "I'll never get used to flying with Superman and Supergirl no matter how long I've been doing it."
During this time, over a period of a couple of years, Validus had aided Superman and the Justice League countless times, helping Superman lower the local crime rate by stopping street-level crime and fighting supervillains; he also helped him stop natural and unnatural disasters.
But there was someone who had not forgotten having been foiled by Validus. "No one knows where Superman's rescuer came from, but that's not the point. It's difficult enough dealing with Superman and his super-powered cousin. Now he has a jolly green giant backing him up. Therefore, I also need reinforcements."
"Superman doesn't know that I've used my genius to transport the three Kryptonians he thought he had killed from that pocket universe he visited in an inter-dimensional stasis field. Even though I've put in some safeguards like making sure they won't be able to attack me, I've been loath to let them out, but now things have gotten serious."
"Validus, as he likes to call himself, is not quite as strong as Superman but gets stronger as the fight goes on, even surpassing the Man of Steel's much-vaunted strength. I'm going to have to let my uninvited guests out of the bag, so to speak," Lex Luthor thought to himself as he sat in the chair of his current, hidden base of operations.
While still in his armor, Luthor pressed some buttons causing three figures to appear. "Well, greetings, General Zod, Non and Ursa. I have a proposition for you."
"Exactly what do you have in mind?" the general asked in an imperious tone.
"I want you to destroy someone."
"Who would that be?" the general asked.
"I want you to destroy Superman, his cousin, and his new green-skinned friend," Luthor answered with authority.
"Is that so?" Zod answered.
"You will obey and do as I say!"
"As much as we would like to destroy Superman and any of his friends, you dare give me orders?" the general asked.
"Yes."
"Why do you say this, when you know I will kill you for it?" General Zod replied coldly.
"I have the means for your destruction," Luthor said as he showed them the glowing green rock.
"All right. All right. Put it away!" Zod said as he and his cohorts dropped to the ground, writhing in pain.
"Good. We understand each other. Keep in mind I'm a lot more powerful than I appear to be," Luthor said from within his armor.
"Where are Superman and his friends?" Non asked trying hard not to glare angrily at Luthor. Non was the largest of the three and the least intelligent.
"They're right there," Luthor said pointing at the monitor which showed the three of them mopping up after dealing with another uprising from Intergang.
"Is the blond haired girl Superman's cousin?" Ursa asked.
"Yes. I'll explain Superman's family tree later. Now get them!"
"Yes, of course," General Zod answered, feigning respect.
Luthor watched them as they left but thought to himself, "I know for a fact that beings that powerful can't be controlled for long. So when I'm finished making the anti-matter gun I'm working on I'll vaporize all three of them along with Superman, his cousin, and his jolly, green friend. While they're distracted fighting each other I'll go into the Fortress of Solitude and get what I need to finish my anti-matter gun. With Superman out of the way nothing will stop me from ruling the Earth!"
XXX
"Do you plan on remaining that man's lackey, Zod?" Ursa asked in a seductive manner.
"Of course not. I'm nobody's lackey. I'll figure out some way of dealing with our 'host' soon enough. For the time being, we shall deal with our 'executioner' and his friends."
"That girl looks like she's related with the House of Zor-El. I've always hated the family of Zor-Els. They got my family in a lot of trouble when they ratted my father out. I'll take that little bitch out," Ursa said wickedly.
"I'll take on the big green guy. I've been itching for a fight," Non said cracking his knuckles with such speed he created the sound of machine gun fire.
"Very well. That leaves Superman for me. We must use the element of surprise on them. We'll hit them hard and fast, coordinating our attacks so that the three are hit at the same time. Once we've defeated them we'll snap their necks and kill them!" Zod said as he and his compatriots flew at super speed towards their unsuspecting targets.
XXX
"Good job, Validus, Supergirl. That went a lot smoother with the three of us than if I had to have dealt with these guys by myself," Superman said as the Intergang enforcers were being taken into custody, their armored suits and vehicles having been wrecked beyond repair.
"You've really been a great help all these months, Validus."
"Thanks, Superman. I've really learned a lot. That fight took so long that its 8:30 p.m. now. There's just enough time for me to get back to the Justice League Satellite and watch the O.C. I'm happy to say I'll have a lot of experience when I get back. Wait until the Avengers find out I've worked with Superman! They won't believe..."
!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM! Val didn't have time to finish his sentence as three black-clad figures attacked them knocking them each into different buildings.
"We don't have time for games. Finish your targets!" Zod called out as he flew into a dazed Superman, smashing into him further through a concrete steel wall.
Ursa grabbed Supergirl and spun her around at super speed finally throwing her several blocks into a car making factory. "Am I driving you insane, Supergirl?" Ursa said as she flew towards the building after Supergirl.
"They look like those three phantom zone villains from the Superman II movie I saw years back. Uh, oh. Here comes Non again. He looks exactly like the Non from the movie, beard and all. I'm going to have to take this fight to a place where no innocents will get hurt. When I get pissed off, there's going to be a lot of destruction and carnage," Val thought as he saw the larger sized Kryptonian come barreling towards him.
"Where did these three black-clad people come from?" Katherine Sassoon asked out loud from the daily planet building as she and the others watched the fight from several monitors which were hooked up to satellites and helicopters filming the event.
"We don't know, but Luthor probably has something to do with it," another reporter said.
"The big guy's as strong as Superman!" another office worker said out loud.
"He's not even fighting Superman. He's fighting Superman's new friend, Validus.
"Are you sure that isn't the Martian Manhunter?"
"Yes, I'm sure! No one knows where Validus came from, but he's a friend of Superman. It's a good thing he's there too, or Superman and Supergirl would be outnumbered!"
"That Validus guy reminds me of that cartoon character the Hulk," another reporter said.
"He looks a lot better than Lou Ferrigno ever did. Validus can take me flying anytime," Kat Sassoon said with a wistful smile.
During the battle, Non grabbed took hold of his opponent's cape and threw him end over end a mile away into a large electrical Coco Cola sign. !CRASH! "Aargh! You're really pissing me off, Non!" Val screamed through the pain of all the electricity coursing through him. Then he broke out of the sign.
"How did you know my name? Bah! It doesn't matter. As soon as we're rid of you three we'll take over the world." But as Non flew towards Validus at superhuman speed, Val struck him in the jaw with a left cross that sent the Kryptonian back end over end into a large office building, crashing through a large window, shattering it, and causing shards of glass to fly everywhere.
"Rick's beginning to lose his temper; that might make him stronger, but he becomes a danger if he's not careful. We need to draw them away from the populace." "Ungh!" Superman cried out in pain as Zod struck him with a rabbit punch.
'You really should be paying more attention to me instead of your green friend. Besides, I'm going to get my revenge for your attempt to kill me."
"How did you survive?" Superman asked as he blocked and counter-attacked with a right hook that missed.
"Your enemy, Lex Luthor, 'rescued' us before we 'died'. He thinks he has us under his thumb but I'll soon show him who's boss. But right now, it's payback time!" Zod grunted as he put his hands together striking Superman down with an ax handle attack smashing the man of steel into the lower floors of the empty building they were in.
"You don't know who I am, do you, Supergirl?" Ursa asked as she attempted several rapid snap-kicks Supergirl barely avoided.
"No, I don't," the maid of steel said as she kept backing up.
"Your father ratted out my father ruining my family name for years! I shall have my revenge on you today!"
"Really? Now I remember. Your father was a mad scientist and a criminal; his experiments were wrecking the planet. He may have been the one who put Krypton on the road to destruction in the first place!" Supergirl said as she used her super breath to blow Ursa back several feet.
"Smart ass bitch! Do you think I care about that mudball? I'll give you a beating you'll never forget!" Ursa said, running towards Supergirl at full speed, charging into her and knocking her out of the closed car factory she had previously slammed her into.
"Ungh! It's not over, yet!" Supergirl then dropped to the ground as Ursa flew over her attempting another attack. As soon as the black-clad vixen was over her, Supergirl got up, striking her with a powerful uppercut, using the momentum of flying upward to add to the power of the punch.
In another area of the city, Validus smashed through the hole Non had just made, making an even bigger hole as he went through it. Everyone in the office building got out of the way of the combatants as papers and office equipment went flying all over the place. !ZAP! "Aargh!" Val screamed as Non hit him with heat vision.
"Fool! I can do so many things you can't! Feel the heat!" Non yelled as Validus kept coming at him despite the pain or because of it! The emerald gladiators ran towards Non in a rage with such speed and power he slammed the Kryptonian through the other side of the building with papers bursting out of the even larger hole after the combatants had flown out of the building.
Eventually, Validus and Non were in the air going at it toe to toe until Validus finally kneed his opponent in the groin, causing Non to lurch forward then Val kneed him in the chin snapping his head back. After that Val threw a straight forward power punch in Non's solar plexus sending him into a water tower. As Non came crashing into the water tower breaking it, gallons of water came pouring down on the people below who were watching the fight.
"The green guy's causing a whole lot of damage!" Kat Sassoon said out loud as she watched the fight.
"Isn't he working with Superman? He seems really angry," another reporter from the newsroom said.
"Wait! It's Supergirl and that short-haired chick! The short-haired lady just grabbed Supergirl. She's throwing her. Supergirl's headed this way! Look out!" someone screamed as Supergirl got closer and closer.
"I have to put on the brakes before I smash into the Daily Planet," the maid of steel thought to herself as she barely kept herself from slamming into the outer glass of the fiftieth floor.
"Whew!" The people inside breathed a sigh of relief as Supergirl stopped an inch from the glass.
"Wow! What a nice ass she has!" a smiling man said, admiring the view of Supergirl's upturned skirt.
"Look! That other chick is flying towards Supergirl. She's gonna ram her! Look out!" !CRASH! Everyone ran away from the incoming combatants and the shattered, flying glass which scattered all over the place! When the women came crashing in they both began to grapple with each other, tearing at each other and pulling hair."
"Wow! A cat fight!" a man exclaimed as the fight between the females caused their clothes to tear and rip.
"Heck. Both of them are hot!" another man said with a huge smile on his face as women's clothing became more and more torn.
"Is that all you can think about, you perv?" a rather plump woman with glasses said in a frown as she glared at the man who had the huge smile on his face.
"You wish you had a body like either of them and you know it!" the man with a huge smile replied.
"We need to get out of here. Who knows what else could happen!" Jimmy Olsen said out loud.
"You can go if you want, I'm not missing out on this," another man said, leering.
"I'll kill you, you self-righteous bitch!" Ursa cursed.
"Oh, screw off!" Supergirl said as she struck the criminal with a roundhouse kick that sent her out of the building with the maid of steel right on her heels.
"It's over Kal-El. I know you were weakened by your fight with those other people. Now I shall destroy you," Zod said as he grabbed Superman and threw him through a wall outside into the street where Superman barely avoided getting slammed into a truck.
"We absolutely have to take this fight away from here," the man of steel thought to himself as he looked around to see where and how Val and Kara were doing. Val! Kara! We're getting out of here! Follow me!" Superman said, using his super loud voice to make himself heard above the carnage.
As Superman flew away Supergirl followed quickly, but Validus hesitated, first spinning and throwing his large opponent to the end of the street and out of sight. "Where are they going? Oh, that's right. Superman wants to take the fight away from the populace. He did something like that in the movie," Validus thought as he flew after them.
"Where are they going?" Ursa asked no one in particular.
"That doesn't matter! Follow them!" Zod ordered.
Then Supergirl flew right beside Validus. "I know you can't fly as fast as Superman or me, so grab onto me and hold on tight."
"All right," Validus said in compliance.
"And don't use the time to feel me up or tickle me," Supergirl said with a giggle. "However, if you're nice to me, I might let you feel me up and tickle me later," she said with a smile and a wink while Rick blushed.
XXX
"I'm just about done. There, that's it. This Kryptonian technology is impressive. I'll have fun examining all the other devices and technology here later but right now, I'll need to prepare for the destruction of Superman. Wait! What's that noise? Someone is coming," Lex Luthor thought to himself as he wielded his new weapon of destruction deep inside the Fortress of Solitude.
XXX
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Be here next time for the fortress fight! And be sure to send me some reviews for this!