NOTE: I do not own any major characters, but a few minor characters are my own. I am not making any profit from this work of fiction. Also, this is my first fanfic ever, so please read, review and let me know what ou think. Thanks!
"War does not determine who is right - only who is left." Bertrand Russell
Darkseid and Lex Luthor put their plan into motion and the war between good and evil has officially been set into motion.
Libraries are a place to increase knowledge in one's mind, but the library within Hades' Domain didn't only increase knowledge, it also increased hate within one's soul. Lex Luthor always enjoyed libraries, but as he sat at the large center table within Hades' beloved library, he felt hatred begin to pool within him and he enjoyed this new sensation.
"You know Luthor, I am not a big fan of team work because I do not want to be disappointed by another's own clumsiness. I am still unsure of the two of us working together." Darkseid glared across the table at the bald headed man who was dressed in a pressed black suit. Ever since Hades and Ares had rescued them, he had been dressing just like old times and was thrilled to get out of the grunge clothes.
"Ye of little faith Darkseid. This plan is as solid as you are. With the powers Hades and Ares will bestow upon us, we will destroy Superman and then go after the Justice League one by one," Lex shot back.
"You make it sound like we are bestowing the powers of the gods upon you," Hades' voice boomed as fire appeared in mid-air and the god of the underworld slowly materialized from the flames. "The only power we are gracing you with is new identities. We can't have the Justice Leaguers figuring out you are, shall we say, back from the dead? Now, lets go over this plan one more time before we grace each of you with a new identity."
"Today is the day Superman will die a painful death, while the Earth watches its precious adopted son die in agony." Darkseid stated to the god who proudly made his way to the head of the table.
"I asked for the plan you org, not what the outcome is to be." Hades hissed at the War Lord and then glared over to his left where Lex Luthor sat, calmly waiting for his turn to address the god of the underworld.
"Today, in Metropolis, the Justice League is allowing members of the U.N. to come up to their flying castle to take a tour via one of their Javelin Ships. Before the trip, they are having a press conference with members of the League and U.N. representatives. While the press conference is being held, Brainiac will download himself into the Javelin's computer. As they prepare to take off, the Javelin will come to life and take off under its own will and cause havoc in Metropolis." Luthor recited the plan from memory.
"With the new identities you will bestow upon us," Darkseid continued, "we will blend in at the press conference and be able to get up close to the members of the Justice League, in particular the Kryptonian. With kryptonite rods that will be in plain view but unrecognizable, we will weaken the beloved Superman and Brainiac will make the Javelin crash into the hero, killing him and all those on board the space craft."
"With the amount of kryptonite we will be taking with us, the blue Boy Scout won't be able to come within 10 feet of the press conference." Lex pushed his chair back, rose to his feet, and looked at Darkseid who was glaring across the table.
"With the amount of kryptonite WE will be taking, I will be the one carrying most of the kryptonite so it will be me that will bring down Superman." Darkseid stood up and locked eyes with the businessman.
Hades looked from Darkseid and then to Luthor with a grin of wickedness draping across his mouth. Ares had done his job well. When the gods caught up with the mortals, they were becoming close buddies. Now, years later and with Ares ability to bring out the worst in people had worked wonders on the two men before him. They had grown to loathe the other and wanted nothing more than to get rid of the other so he could have absolute power.
With one quick snap of Hades' fingers, a ring of fire encircled both occupants of the table. The ring formed at each of their wastes, splitted into two rings, with one ring traveling towards their heads and the other traveling towards the floor. Within seconds, two new figures stood where two of the greatest villains had been moments before. Both villains looked down at their new forms and then up to the one who had effortlessly changed their appearances without hesitation.
"Ares has taken Brainiac to the event," Hades' eyes blazed at each of them. "You know your parts and DON'T disappoint me." With the final words, Hades snapped his fingers again and two new rings of fire encircled the mortals once again and they were gone. Hades licked his lips, turned on his heels and headed out of the library.
"Excuse me, lady with a baby on board coming through," Lois Lane-Kent weaved her way through the crowd towards the press entrance for the Javelin Take-Off Event. Right behind her was Clark Kent, apologizing for Lois' behavior as she weaved in and out of the crowd that had assembled hoping to get a peak at the Justice League members who would be present to escort the U.N. Ambassadors to the Watchtower and take questions from the press while the others escorted the ambassadors for their 2 hour tour.
At the press gate, Lois and Clark flashed their press badges at the security guard who scanned the bars on the badges with his hand held wand and unlatched the gate when both beeped to let them know they were on the guest list. Clark, never forgetting his Midwest manners, thanked the guard and followed his wife into the press area. Still outside, the press area was gated off from the rest of the crowd by a tall chain length fence with barbwire encircling the top of the fence. Not more than 500 feet from where they had entered the press area sat one of the Justice League Javelins and standing next to the Javelin was Green Lantern, Green Arrow, S.T.R.I.P.E., and Star-Spangled Kid (Stargirl) waiting for the press conference to begin.
Lois approached the press area right in front of the Javelin and whispered under her breath, "I was hoping they would have chairs at this thing and besides where is Superman?" She shot the 'I know the answer to that question' look at her husband who really didn't seem phased that she would ask a question about Superman.
"He will be meeting with the ambassadors at the Watchtower once they arrive." That was partially the truth. He would be meeting with the ambassadors at the watchtower, but he first had to cover the Javelin taking off and once the Javelin was gone, he would find a remote area and have Jonn teleport him up to the Watchtower so he could greet the guests. Once the tour was over, he would teleport back down to the take off sight that was also doubling as the landing site to finish covering this milestone event between Earth and the Justice League. Lois knew the plan, but she had to play the part that she still had a school girl crush on the man of steel and sometimes Clark felt like she was over playing the element.
Clark gave a quick wink to Green Lantern as he took out his pen and paper and Lois took out her own pad and paper from the bag Clark had carried in for her. After Lois had announced her pregnancy, Clark had started doing more and more for Lois such as carrying her bags, cleaning around the apartment, and carrying her up the flights of stairs when the elevators had been out of order at both The Daily Planet and their apartment building. After her third trimester had started, Clark wouldn't fly her anywhere, he would only carry her on foot so not to hurt their child.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for coming on this gorgeous day and welcome to the U.N.'s first trip to the Justice League Watchtower." General Davenport's deep voice boomed from the microphone as he addressed the crowd. The general was one of the key members of the U.N. and would be the master of ceremonies for the event today. "I am General Davenport, liaisons between the U.N. and the Justice League. I would like to introduce the other 4 members of the U.N. who will be joining me on this voyage to the Justice League Headquarters. Derric Beresford, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Travo Ming, Lead General of the People's Republic of China; Ekaterina Gustov, Vice President of Russia; Esteban Sandoz, Secretary of State for Brazil." At the mention of their names, all four ambassadors stepped forward and the crowd applauded them.
With the introduction of the members, they climbed aboard the Javelin with Green Arrow leading the way, as he would be their pilot for the journey to and from the Watchtower. After the passengers had been secured into their seats, Green Arrow settled himself into the pilot's seat and waited patiently for the cue from Green Lantern to start the Javelin and start its taxi towards the runway for take off.
Clark was taking notes on his pad and never noticed the slow moving man making his way up to the front of the crowd. The older man began to make his way towards the Kents, but he was more interested in the General's speech to notice that he was standing not 10 feet from Clark Kent. Lex Luthor had taken the identity of a Caucasian male in his late 60's who needed a cane to steady himself as he walked. To everyone around Lex, the cane looked like any typical cane you could purchase at a home health store or find at any hospital. To Lex, it was a glowing rod of Kryptonite that was more than enough to drain the powers of Superman.
As he approached where the Kents stood, Lex never glanced to his right or he would have seen Clark Kent begin to sweat. Clark wasn't the only one having problems, Lois stopped writing in mid sentence, dropped her pen and began to turn pale. The baby had been moving around with out a care in the world since their arrival, but now it stopped and the twitches she felt within her were raising red flags. She also began to feel a wave of pain slowly move through her body. She went to look at her husband who was standing at her right but found him sweating and falling to his knees with both hands holding his head.
"Clark, the baby has stopped moving." Lois' left hand went straight for her stomach and her right hand was draped on Clark's shoulder. She was now kneeling next to her husband.
The sudden collapse of Metropolis's finest reporters was starting to cause heads to turn towards the couple. Lex Luthor's head turned towards the source of the commotion and instantly he started to walk towards the scene. As he walked towards the Kents, he noticed, as he got closer to them, the more pain Clark Kent seemed to be in. He had seen someone else act like this whenever in the presence of kryptonite, Superman.
As the worn green eyes of Lex's new identity stared at the doubled over reporter, the sound of the Javelin roaring to life filled the air and began to taxi itself to the runway.
Green Arrow stared at the controls that had started moving on their own and touched his comlink with in his ear. "I hate to say this, but Houston we have a problem."
Green Lantern looked from his fallen comrade in the crowd to the Javelin that was taking on a personality of its own. Without hesitation, John's military background snapped into action and he was barking orders at his fellow leaguers.
"I'll take care of the crowd, Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. go after the Javelin and try to bring it down without hurting anyone in the spacecraft or on the grown," with those orders John flew towards Clark and Lois and engulfed them into a green bubble. "Please, everyone stay calm and let me help these folks."
Lex stepped back and his eyes widened with what he had just witnessed. Superman had been living amongst humans all these years and he now realized that it had been none other than Clark Kent, the shy reporter from the Daily Planet. Along with living amongst humans, he had also reproduced with Lois Lane. The plot thickens Lex thought and decided the time to strike would be now or never. With a sly smile, he began to turn around to get out of the mob so he could get in contact with Brainiac and tell him what he had just figured out and put an end to Superman and his future child once and for all.
As Lex turned around, he came face to face with an African American gentleman.
"We need to fall back. We know his secret and with this knowledge, we can crush him slowly and painfully." A thick Jamaican accent came from the gentleman's lips and Lex realized he was standing next to Darkseid in his new identity.
"I tell you what to do; no one dares to tell me what I should do." Lex shot back and made his way out of the mob with his comrade walking behind him carrying a video camera that was loaded in stealth mode with kryptonite just like the cane Lex used.
A good distance from the crowd that was more occupied with the run away Javelin, Darkseid stepped in front of the elderly man who was trying to get away, "we both want him dead, but why not drag his death out and make him watch the ones he loves die first. Fathers will go to great lengths to protect their families, but to have him see the death of his own child knowing their was nothing he could have done would bring the so called man of steel to his knees."
Lex thought it over. His comrade was right; they would retreat and inform the gods what they had discovered. With a silent nod, both men walked out of the press area and made ready to get in contact with Hades.
Brainiac had plugged himself into the outlets in the Javelin Control Room on the ground and was raising havoc with the spacecraft. He was in control of the machine and he was giving the passengers a ride they would never forget. The Javelin did barrel rolls, flew inches within buildings, and more than once did a nose dive into the ground only to redeem itself at the last minute.
The computer system at the watchtower had gone berserk and Jonn was on top of things. As he ran a diagnostics on the Javelin, the computer informed him of a foreign computer program that had taken over the system. The computer program of Brainiac was now controlling the Javelin and its passengers were at the android's mercy.
"This can't be possible," Jonn muttered under his breath as he began typing on the keyboard, trying to isolate the Brainiac program. If he could isolate the program and make sure it could not return to Brainiac's body, he would destroy the program once and for all.
Brainiac was enjoying his game of chicken with the Javelin so much that he never felt the presence of the virus Jonn had created begin to infiltrate the system. Before he knew it, Brainiac was starting to be reformatted within the Javelin's computer and he knew he had one chance to get out of the foreign system and back to the safety of his shell before the program would terminate him. At the speed of light, Brainiac fled towards the port that he had entered only to find it shut off.
"What has happened," Brainiac thought to himself as he tried desperately to escape the Javelin's hard drive. It was to late, he felt his program begin to terminate and in a matter of seconds, there was nothing left of Brainiac.
"Just a casualty of war, but then again, he had no soul so he really isn't a casualty." The blond engineer chuckled to himself as the connector between the shell of Brainiac and the control panel sparked from where they had been cut.
With a stern grip, he placed his right hand on Brainiac's head and the instant he made contact with the metal, Brainiac began to melt into a puddle of silver liquid. In a matter of seconds, nothing remained of Brainiac and no visible proof was left that the android had even been present in the control room.
With an evil cackle, Ares stood where the engineer had been. A circle of fire engulfed the god and he disappeared moments before guards could break into the locked control room only to find the area vacant.
Green Arrow had control of the Javelin once again and landed the vehicle in the same vicinity where it had taken off. Always the gentleman, Oliver Queen escorted the people off the rogue machine and tuned into his com link.
"What is the status," Green Arrows somber voice boomed over the speakers in the watchtower's med bay.
"Green Lantern has brought the Kent's to the watchtower and I am examining them as we speak." Jonn Jones calming voice echoed back.
"Then, what in the world just happened," Green Arrow shot back.
Jonn had to only say one word to make Green Arrow freeze in his tracks and make his heart skip a beat, "Brainiac."
The Kents were reclining on their separate exam tables next to each other. Lois was hooked up to a fetal monitoring system while Clark, who was still pale as a ghost, was receiving yellow sunlight from artificial lights above him. The fetal monitor produced the sound of the unborn child's heartbeat and that was all Lois needed to hear to know her baby was just fine. Clark stared at his wife weakly and smiled at the sound of the heartbeat that consumed the room.
"Lois, the baby is fine and so are you. I recommend some much needed rest starting immediately though, you really should consider bed rest." The Martian manhunter looked from the pregnant lady on the exam table to her husband who occupied the table next to hers. "Clark, I am going to take you off the work rotation for a couple of weeks. The amount of kryptonite you were exposed to was phenomenal and has caused your immune system to slow down. I also recommend that you stay in bed along with your wife for the next couple of weeks until your strength increases."
"Now, I like the sound of that prescription. Just staying in bed with my husband. I know I can handle that," Lois shot a wide grin to Clark who smiled at her, but she could tell he was still weak as he hadn't said a single word or protested to Jonn for telling him to take time off. Seeing the state her husband was in made Lois nervous and fearful of his health.
"The world thinks that Clark has suffered from heat stroke and that his wife was comforting him. So far, the press hasn't been interested in that but in the fact a Justice League Javelin went rogue with some of the most influential political leaders of Earth aboard."
Lois glanced at her husband, but looked back at the Martian as he continued to speak, "however, I have been informed that you had prior commitments for tonight so I am allowing you two to have a quiet evening at Wayne Manor and once you are done there, I am requiring that you two stay in the watchtower for the next 2 to 3 days or until Superman is up to full strength. Ma and Pa Kent have called the Daily Planet to inform them that the two of you will be staying with them until Clark recovers and I think that would be the best place to go after you both regain some strength. Some country air would do all of you some good."
"Sounds like a plan to me. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get ready for supper." Lois got off the exam table, removing the cords that had been monitoring her and the baby's heart rates, and made her way out the door and towards the quarters she shared with her husband when duty called.
"Never stand between a pregnant Lois and a free meal," Clark informed his friend and silently laid back onto the table and settled in for a powernap before they would head to Wayne Manor.
