Author's Note: Wow this has been sitting on my computer for a long time. I always meant to update it sooner I just got sidetracked with other projects. I'm hoping people are still intrestred in it. Let me know what you think.
Justice League: Resurrection
Chapter 4
Clash, Part 2
In another town a young figure stood hunched over the body of a dying man in the rain. The silhouette of a young man with green skin supported the body of a man in an orange jumpsuit and black jacket. Their faces were skewed as the figure of a young woman stood a short distance off with her face covered in grief.
"This is the end for me. I've fought the good fight and done all I could. But now in my last moments, I realize something. You can carry on my legacy. Therefore I bequeath to you my mantle. The mantle of Animal Man. May you wear it proudly in my memory. Carry my legacy Gar...your the only one that can." he said as Beast Boy cradled his dying form.
The young man grit his teeth as he stared back at him, he didn't really want the mantle of Animal Man at least not right then. The young man swallowed and nodded gently accepting his namesake.
"Garfield tell my family...that I love them." he told him.
"I will." he promised.
Buddy Baker smiled as he breathed his last and died in his arms. The thunder rolled as the young woman came forward and touched his shoulder as he cradled the dead man's body.
"Come on Gar we have to get out of here." she told him. A flash of blonde streaked out as the wind and rain whipped around them.
"Okay." he said as he set down the body. The young woman then helped him up and put her arm around his shoulder as they walked off. Leaving him as he lay.
"I just wish I could have done more for him." he told her.
"I know, but he wanted it this way. And at least now he'll have a legacy to honor him." she said trying to raise his spirits.
"I just feel like I could have done more." he said remorsefully.
"I know Gar. I know." she said as the earth broke out where they stood and lifted them off into the air.
"I just don't know how I'm going to tell them." he said as they flew off.
"You'll find a way Gar. And I'll be there with you." she assured him. A moment later thier communicators activated.
*'Come in anyone!'* Aquaman yelled on the other end.
Gar took out his communicator and answered.
"This is Gar what's up?" he asked.
*'We got a serious problem down in Star City.' * he told him.
"What kind of problem?" he asked.
*'They're back! The original Justice League is back and they're attacking us.'* Garth said.
Gar and Tara looked back at each other alarmed as he mouthed a 'what?'. Tara took the communicator and spoke into it.
"We'll be there as fast as we can." she said kicking the rock they were on into overdrive.
Back at the hospital Team Arrow had also received the call on Roy's communicator. Conner and Mia raced out of the hospital room leaving Roy to his devices, who looked on crestfallen at his teammates. Several blocks away the standoff between old and new guards continued as the two teams glared at each other. In Metropolis Conner Kent had received a similar distress and was forced to abandon the citywide party in his hometown. By this time the local TV affiliate that reported on Roy's hospitalization stumbled onto the battle between the two Leagues. As a middle aged female reporter and her cameraman hid around the corner behind some tall shrubs.
"I think its safe to assume their not the originals." Dick said with an arrow still pointed at him.
Donna narrowed her eyes as she glared at her counterpart.
"Who are you guys?" she demanded.
The clones didn't answer her at first glance.
"Answer me." she growled.
Green Arrow looked back at them coldly before firing an arrow at Dick. The Neo Dark Knight dodged it, and impaled a concrete wall behind him. The news team was shocked at what they'd just seen while the camera rolled.
"Oh my god." the reporter murmured.
"So what the hell do we make of this?" her cameraman asked.
"I don't know. I wouldn't think the original Green Arrow would do that." she whispered.
"But he's dead isn't he?" he asked. The woman shook her head.
"I don't know." she said.
"You wanna go to live feed?" he asked.
"Let's just see what happens. But keep rolling." she told him.
"Last chance who are you guys?" Dick asked.
"What are you going to do? Kill us?" replied Superman.
"Sure as hell not the originals I can tell you that much." said Bart.
"Your a shining beacon in the Bay of Stupidity." the clone replied.
At this time the newswoman decided to go live with the report and relayed it to the station. Iniating the breaking report, at that same moment the news station interrupted its programming as Roy caught sight of the Leagues.
"What the hell?" he said shooting up in his seat seeing the deceased Justice League facing down his teammates.
He began tearing out his IV and other lines sounding an alarm as doctors rushed in to restrain him.
"No! Let me go! I gotta go help them!" he yelled.
"Your in no shape for that!" a doctor yelled trying to hold him down.
"You think I'm going to sit on the sidelines? You got another thing coming!" he yelled as he fought back.
Another doctor came in carrying a needle and applied it to his arm trying to sedate him. Roy grabbed a hold of the syringe and tried to keep the shaft from going into his IV line. More orderlies raced into the room and attempted to restrain him, but the hero despite his injuries was more than they could handle as more of them attempted to pin down his arms.
"Guess we don't have to ask them what their here for." Bart said as he and his teammates continued to back up.
"No, you don't." Superman replied with eyes glowing.
"Oh boy." He said.
"Scatter!" Dick yelled as Superman opened fire on them.
The Dark Man of Steel's heat blast struck the middle of where the group once stood. Batman dove out of the line of fire and hurled a Batarang at the cloned League that was quickly countered by Bruce's doppelganger while simultaneously vaporized by Dark Superman's heat vision kicking off the battle. The neophyte League quickly took to battling their cloned mentors. The roar of a motorcycle engine rounded the corner as the newest Green Arrow Conner Hawke entered the fray with the new Speedy Mia hanging onto him.
Ollie turned and faced his son and leveled an arrow at the bike as they came at him. The trick arrow flew at them forcing them to eject blowing up the bike. Conner and Mia came down upon the clone with a dual dropkick. The evil Arrow swung his bow at the pair and took them out in midair knocking Speedy into Hawke. The younger Green Arrow recovered quickly and slid back across the pavement on his knee whereas Speedy's landing wasn't so nimble and landed next to her teammate.
"I would have expected better from you. Who would have thought you'd attack your old man?" the clone said.
"Buddy, your not my dad." Conner spat.
Ollie leveled another arrow at them.
"Move!" Conner yelled as they attacked him.
The arrow sailed at them unveiling itself as a net arrow and went to ensnare Conner. Mia ducked past it and tackled Ollie's midsection, the Green Arrow clone backhanded her across the face while Conner slashed his way through the net and plunged the knife at his father's chest. The Green Arrow clone brushed the knife aside with a sweeping motion and hit his 'son' in the face. Conner tripped up his dad with his legs as he fell taking both men down. Mia jumped back up and aimed her bow at the clone's head while still tangled up in his son's legs.
"Don't move." she growled.
The clone's eyes glowed red and grabbed her bow and arrow with the same hand and catapulted her over his shoulder. Then with the strength of his legs cracked one of Conner's breaking free of the leg lock.
"What are you?" his son asked as Green Arrow's eyes continued to glow.
"Something better." The clone smiled.
The evil Flash raced alongside his successor as dodged the doppelganger's punches at superspeed. Bart blocked the punches as best he could while Wally glared at him through his mask. Bart's expression was more vivid as he reluctantly battled his older cousin and mentor, while the clone of Aquaman lunged his spear hand at his own successor, Garth avoided the tip as best he could while the clone bended the water around them.
Donna battled the Wonder Woman clone as the two Amazons clashed. Their indestructible bracelets clashed together and two women grappled each other. The evil clone stared coldly back at her one-time protégé while Donna held her. The successor grit her teeth and threw Diana over her shoulder and crashed into the base of a fountain destroying it. Dinah recovered and slugged Donna almost immediately afterwards. The younger Amazon flew backward into a statue and destroyed it on impact. Wonder Woman's shadow appeared over her and grabbed Donna by the throat slamming her into the stone horse and rider. The Dark Amazon's eyes glowed as she readied to deliver the final blow.
"You shouldn't have stolen my title. You don't deserve to be Wonder Woman." The clone said coldly.
Donna's eyes widened as the Amazon pressed tighter on her windpipe, her left fist cocked ready to kill her. A loud hit resounded as the Bat-doppelganger crashed into Diana a second later freeing her. Her teammate Dick flew to her side soon afterward.
"You all right?" he asked, she nodded the look of shock still apparent.
"We gotta fall back. We can't handle them." he advised the team.
A loud punch was heard as Bart suddenly flew between them and landed on his neck behind them. The Scarlet Speedster groaned with his legs still in the air, the neophyte Flash sat up and rubbed his neck. Another explosion went off to the left of them as Conner and Mia were sent flying and landed on top of Flash. The younger hero groaned as their combined weight fell on top of him. A few more hits occurred to the right as Garth continued to fight Aquaman with several marks on his face, before being sliced across the ribs by his hook hand. The Atlantian groaned and staggered back to Dick and Donna holding his side. Donna grabbed him from behind and cradled him beneath his arms. Flash finally wiggled out from under Speedy and Green Arrow on his knees and got to his feet. The rest of the Dark Justice League assembled infront of the defeated heroes with eyes glowing.
"Any bright ideas?" Bart asked not hearing their earlier exchange.
"Like I said, fall back." Dick said throwing a smoke pellet on the ground.
Dark Superman took a step forward but was halted by Wonder Woman as the team vanished from sight. Behind the bushes the reporter and cameraman remained in shock having caught the whole thing on tape.
"What do we do now?" the camera guy whispered. The older woman narrowed her eyes and contemplated their next move.
"You can come out. We know your there." Superman told them. The pair went rigid as he spoke and exchanged a wary glance before making themselves known to the League.
"Angela Conner KSC News. Could you please tell us what just happened?" she asked standing up from the bush. Superman flashed a crooked grin at the reporter.
"Simple point of the matter is, we're back." he told her.
"If you are back, then why did you battle the new League?" she asked.
"They're impostors." Batman told her gruffly.
"But aren't these guys your sidekicks? I mean at least one of them resembled one." She said. The reporter bit her tongue unsure if she should have revealed that or even if they already knew?
"We didn't ask to be replaced." Green Arrow said folding his arms.
"You seemed especially rough on them." the reporter noted.
"It comes with the territory." He remarked sharply. The newswoman raised an eyebrow at this.
"If you are who you say you are, then how did you come back?" she asked rather poignantly. Superman then stepped forward and commented.
"Some of us are superhuman." He said with a hint of arrogance.
"But what about Batman and Green Arrow? Neither of you have any powers. Then again there are criminals in Gotham that'll swear up and down that your not human." She said turning her attention to the Dark Knight.
"And I like to keep that perception." He replied grimly.
"But there was a public funeral for you in your hometown. Thousands of people filed by your casket. Practically everyone in the city was there, kids filled your coffin with action figures of you. How is it that you returned from death?" the reporter prodded.
"I think that's enough for now Ms. Conner. We have more pressing matters to deal with." Superman said stepping between his teammate and herself. The newswoman shot him a distrustful look.
"The public will want to know." She affirmed.
"And you'll have your answer…in time." he replied in a manner that was more reminiscent of the original.
"If you'll excuse us." He said. The field reporter shot him a sour look before she and her cameraman turned away. The League watched the pair until they were out of earshot.
"Kill them." he ordered.
Wonder Woman nodded and made her way towards them while Green Arrow took aim at the cameraman. 50 feet away the pair continued walking the Amazon Warrior landed silently behind Amanda and snapped the reporter's neck, while a razor tipped arrow went into the cameraman's back and fell. The evil clone stepped over the young man and retrieved the videotape with a smile.
The Amazon flew back to the Man of Steel and handed him the film.
"We'll have to review it and see if they actually filmed anything." He said.
"There's a chance its already been broadcasted." The Dark Knight added.
"Which made killing them kind of unnecessary." Flash added.
"We better report back to Luthor." Aquaman said interrupting the conversation.
The Dark Man of Steel nodded and the team teleported in an explosive blast.
Author's Note: Well suprisingly I finally got this chapter up which is something I never thought would happen. Even more suprising Anon's ranting about how Luthor will 'save' the Earth (we all know he wont) helped shape my protrayal of the Dark Justice League. I guess in hindsight they could be seen as something simular to either the Justice Lords (JLU) or the Crime Syndicate (JL: Crisis on Two Earths). I actually glad to finally have this chapter finished its been on my to-do list for the longest time. Let me know what you think of this chapter.
Please review,
Green Gallant.
