As the white light faded away, the sight of a ruined Metropolis greeted the Justice League. Diana couldn't help but widened her eyes at the destruction, where once polished buildings were covered with cracks, broken-off pieces lying in the streets, a few of which were burning if the rising clouds of smoke were any indication, and then a couple flat-out leveled buildings. The morning light gave off a sense that the destruction was already finished rather than only beginning.
Someone brushed against Diana's shoulder, shaking her out of her astonishment. That person turned out to be Batman, who only seemed to give a cursory glance as he moved away from the group rather than share in the frightful stupor.
The vigilante suddenly spun around. "If the television broadcast was any indication, Superman is searching for Lois Lane. This isn't even close to her apartment building, so she's either not there, or Superman is not in the right frame of mind to check."
Hawkgirl stepped forward then. "So what's the plan?"
"You four try to calm Superman down. If that fails, take him out," Batman ordered. It seemed the seriousness of the situation rendered any shock value mute. Diana had at least expected Flash or Hawkgirl to protest, but all either of them did was nod their acceptance. The Amazon Princess did the same as well.
"What do you intend on doing?" J'onn inquired then.
"I'm going to track down Lane. Once I get her to a safe location, I'll be heading underground." The Dark Knight then raised his arms up, tapping a button on one of this gauntlets. In response, a light shined upwards, creating a city grid of what most likely was Metropolis. A red dot blinked over and over at one point, drawing Diana's curiosity. "If you're unable to subdue Superman, lead him to this location. It's underground, so under no circumstances are you to force him through the street. That would defeat the entire purpose."
"Mind telling us what you have in mind?" Hawkgirl pressed.
Batman shook his head. "He could be listening right now, so it's best I say nothing further." The holographic map faded away just before the dark-clad man dropped his arms to his sides beneath his cape, only for one to reemerge with his grapple in hand. "Good luck to you all."
The other four Leaguers gave sharp nods before J'onn and Hawkgirl took flight, Flash racing off down the street. Before she moved, Diana placed a hand on the Dark Knight's shoulder. "Be careful," she cautioned him.
The corner of Batman's mouth twitched up. "I will. Now go."
Giving him a comforting smile, Diana then lifted off into the air, giving chase to her comrades. Behind her, she heard the grapple gun fire, signifying Batman was on the move.
With the wind blowing her hair back, the Amazon picked up her speed until she caught up with the others, keeping pace with them as they sought out Superman. "Any idea where Superman is?" Hawkgirl asked, more to fill the silence than anything.
Up ahead, a sudden explosion rang out, sending a cloud of dark smoke into the air.
"There," Diana replied matter-of-factly.
Speeding up, soon the three were landing on broken pavement, watching with concern as Superman was dancing down the street, holding two cars upside down in his hands. Even more alarming was that he was singing off-tune.
"Oh where, oh where has my Looooois gone? Oh wheeeeere, oh where can she beeeee?"
"Okay, who wants to start talking to him?" the Thanagarian questioned as she raised her mace up, clutching its shaft tightly.
J'onn seemed up to the task as he took a step forward. "Superman," he called out, earning him the attention of the Kryptonian, the man spinning around to face them. The movement caused some sort of necklace to swing with his body, a glowing, purple gem bouncing on his chest. "Please, set the cars down."
For a moment, Superman's pale face seemed confused, that was until he began to smile widely. "J'onn! Old buddy, old pal! You can help me, hee hee! I can't seem to find my Lois! She has to be here somewhere!"
"We will assist you," the Martian promised. "You only need to calm down and come with us."
"Not without Lois, nope, nope, nope. I'm not going aaaaaaaanywhere without her."
"Please, I must insist. Look around you; you are damaging your city. Your people are in fear of you. For your sake, you must—"
"Find Lois!" Superman interrupted. "And if you won't help me, then your—"
It was about then that Diana realized that Hawkgirl was not at her side. So consumed was she at the sight of this manic Superman, she failed to see the winged woman slowly separate herself from their group and circle around until she stood right behind the Man of Steel. As Superman began to make his threat, the Thanagarian suddenly charged in, slamming her mace against the back of his head and sending him flying head first to the two Leaguers.
Unfortunately, this caused the upside-down cars in his hands to go tumbling through the air. Immediately, Diana and J'onn dashed forward and passed the careening Kryptonian, each one catching a car and holding it up in midair. A blur of yellow and green shot by the Amazon then, Diana realizing it was Hawkgirl giving chase as she held her electrified mace at the ready, letting out a war cry as she closed in on their friend.
Placing her car down right-side up, the dark-haired woman turned her head in time to see Hawkgirl reach Superman—who had managed to stop his flight and turn around—and swing her mace, slamming it against the side of his face and causing his head to snap to a side. Back and forth, the Thanagarian swung her weapon, each time landing a blow to one side of the Kryptonian's head and then the other, causing him to back up a step from every blow.
That was until Superman suddenly shot a hand up and caught the next incoming hit, his hand grabbing onto the mace's head. Despite the electricity dancing on the weapon, and subsequently up the Man of Steel's arm, he seemed to utterly ignore it. "You're being a rude little girl," he said in a teasing voice.
He then pulled the mace up and to a side, forcing a surprised Hawkgirl to turn against her will. Faster than a blink of an eye, Superman balled his other hand into a fist and rammed it right into the winged woman's ribs, the blow sending her flying away, crying out as she crashed right into the face of a building and busting right through it. A moment later, she emerged still flying out of control as she burst out through the roof, a trail of dust and smoke following her.
"Ha ha ha!" Superman laughed as he began to squeeze his hand, the Nth metal of the mace crumpling within his grasp. A sharp jerk of his arm and a release of his grip sent the ruined weapon flying like a missile until it slammed into a fire hydrant, destroying it and sending a geyser of water shooting up into the air.
"Superman is not in his right mind," J'onn suddenly spoke up, appearing at Diana's side. A glance to the Martian told her he was preparing himself for action, something she hadn't ever seen him do before. It was a jarring sight. "I've been trying to reach him telepathically, but everything is too chaotic and overwhelmed. I believe we are going to have to use force to take him down."
Diana frowned. "Can you tell what is causing this madness?"
"If you're implying that an outside force is controlling Superman, then no I cannot." It was the Martian's turn to frown. "In fact I cannot discern where the source of this is coming from."
That was something that Amazon did not like to hear. Had J'onn been able to detect someone pulling Superman's mental strings, such as they were, then he could've severed the link and end this now. Now though, they were left trying to figure out this mystery while avoiding injury to themselves and their friend. Unfortunately, their comrade did not seem as interested as they were in preserving life at the moment.
"Hee hee, c'mon guys, what's the hold up? That isn't all you have, right?" Superman taunted them.
It was a goad, though not a very good one. Still, they could not hold off this fight any longer.
As one, Diana and J'onn launched themselves towards their foe.
Hauling himself over the railing, Batman landed on his feet on the balcony. A cursory look around told him he was all alone with little he could consider dangerous to his well-being unless you didn't consider a sudden fall from ten stories deadly.
A sliding glass door was in front of him, a set of blinds blocking visual access into the room beyond it. Reaching to his belt, he opened one of the pouches and pulled out his set of lock picks. Eyeing the lock on the door, the vigilante opened the set, pulling out one of the picks. Closing the distance between him and the door, he slid the pick into the lock and made short work of it, opening the sliding door a moment later.
Brushing the blinds aside, Batman emerged into a furnished apartment, one that hadn't changed much since he was last here. A small television in the kitchen was on, the sound indicating it was displaying the big news story of the day. It was a testament to how captivating Superman's attack on Metropolis was that the apartment's resident didn't even hear him enter.
Silently he made his way through the room until he stood behind the dark-haired woman. Not once had she turned to look at him, but then, the horrified look on her face probably was a good indicator of what she was more interested in.
"Lois," he greeted.
A sharp scream echoed throughout the apartment as Lois Lane jumped where she stood before spinning around, her violet eyes filled with fear, which was quickly replaced with anger. Immediately, she slapped her hand on his chest, hitting him with as much strength as she could muster. "Don't do that!" she shouted, her other hand pressed hard against her own chest, as if it would help keep her beating heart in place.
Batman ignored the reaction. "You need to come with me," he told her succinctly.
That confused the dark-haired woman. "Huh? Why? What is going on here?"
"Superman is tearing apart the city looking for you. It would be in your best interest if he didn't find you."
"You mean all of this," at this Lois waved a hand towards the television, "is all about Superman finding me? He could level Metropolis at the rate he's going! Why not take me to him and end this?"
It was clear to Batman that the reporter knew very little about the situation at hand. He had little choice but to tell her just what her future entailed should she decide to do the very thing he rather her not do.
"Superman is currently in a state of mania induced by a new strain of Joker Venom. If he were to find you, he'd probably give you the same physical treatment he's giving to Metropolis."
Lois blinked her eyes owlishly before she turned to gaze at the TV, then returned her attention to him. "You know, I just had the thought that if I met up with Superman, he'd turn me into grape jelly. So how about I go with you and you tell me how he became Jokerized."
The Dark Knight held back a snort. "Still working on how he became this way."
The reporter gaped at him. "Still working...how do you not know how he started acting this way? I mean, if you don't know that, how can you say he's been Joker-whatever?"
"Ever seen a person's face go completely white and smile against their will?"
"Uhh, no."
"Well I have. The only difference is that those people died whereas Superman is clearly still breathing."
That seemed to stump the inquisitive woman, if only for a moment. "Do you have any idea how this happened? I mean, Superman's not human. Shouldn't he be immune to that stuff or something?"
That had been a question rattling around in Batman's head the moment he had seen Superman's image on the monitor screen. There was no other explanation to the mania the hero was under except that it was definitely engineered by the Joker, but the how of it was still a mystery. Unfortunately, the time for getting that answer was not now.
So instead of answering her question, the vigilante said, "We're out of time here. I'm taking you to a safe house that should keep you from being detected by Superman—hopefully."
"Well, that's reassuring," Lois replied snarkily.
Like a missile, Diana charged through the air, her hands balled into fists and held at either side of her. As the distance between her and the manic Superman shrank, she drew her right arm back before swinging it forward as she let out a war cry.
And just like Superman would have done against a new foe in his normal state of mind, he let the blow land against his face. However, unlike those previous times, Diana knew she had the strength to do damage against this man, and his head snapping to a side was proof of that.
Over and over she slammed punch after punch into the Man of Steel, each blow knocking him back a step as he attempted to regain his balance. Head, chest, abdomen, she attacked them all, hoping to pummel her opponent into submission. Oddly enough, she couldn't help but spare the occasional glance to the purple gem he wore around his neck, the jewel thrashing about from all the body blows she delivered. There was something about it she didn't like just on instinct.
Unfortunately, her plan to beat down her foe was dashed when Superman suddenly caught one of her punches, causing the Amazon to hesitate. "Now, that's not very nice," he said in a sickeningly sweet voice, one she had never heard uttered by the Kryptonian before. "I'm going to have to teach you some manners."
Superman's fist flew faster than she could see, but she definitely felt it when the uppercut collided with her chin. Head snapping backwards, the Amazon was sent flying backwards, allowed to as Superman released his hold on her hand the moment his hit landed. Crying out, the dark-haired woman sailed through the air until she managed to get control of herself. Returning her attention back to the Man of Steel as quickly as she could, she found J'onn had engaged the dark-haired man, having rammed a shoulder into his back and crushing Superman down onto the pavement of the street. The asphalt broke and crumbled, pieces of it jutting upward at the edges of the slowly forming crater.
Impressively enough, J'onn was actually holding Superman down, one hand pinning one of Superman's arms against his back while his other hand pressed down on the Kryptonian's head, pushing it further into the broken street.
Unfortunately, the Martian couldn't hold his opponent down. Without warning, Superman began to spinning around, becoming a tornado of red and blue. The whirling sound of rock scraping against steel rang out. Surprised, J'onn lost his grip, jerking his arms back to prevent himself from being caught in the vortex.
This left him wide open to the fist Superman extended out at the last moment, backhanding the Martian against his face and sending him skimming over the street until he crashed into the side of a building. Thankfully he didn't burst through the wall, instead creating a spider's web of cracks at the point of impact.
By this time, Superman had stopped spinning, the man beginning to stand on his feet. Immediately, Diana charged at him, this time leaning backwards as she extended her legs out in front of her. As she intended, her feet slammed into the side of Superman's head, knocking him off his feet and sent crashing to the ground. Yet, he didn't stop there, the force of the blow causing him to skid against the asphalt and leaving a trench of broken pavement in his wake. Eventually he came to a stop, lying face first on the ground, small clouds of smoke wafting up into the air from various points of the trench.
Landing on the ground, Diana assumed a defensive stance. She wasn't sure what to expect from Superman considering everything she knew from their spars had not proven to be the case here. Sure his defense was abysmal, but his attack patterns were too random to predict. With the power he had, that made for a very dangerous opponent.
That was when Superman began to move. Over-exaggerating his arms movements, he raised them up before bringing them down, pressing his palms into the asphalt as he pushed his upper body up. Soon he was back on his feet, turning around with a hunch in his back, looking at her with the same manic-laced eyes and looking no worse for wear.
"My turn!" he jeered before he took off flying, closing the distance between them rapidly. Dropping a hand to her hip, Diana patiently waited until the last moment before she leaped off the ground, swinging her legs up and over her head as she went into a flip. Superman flew by harmlessly beneath her, beginning to slow down as he realized he missed her. Completing her flip, Diana landed on her feet on the ground, her hand grasping one end of her Lasso of Truth.
Spinning around, the Amazon swung her arm out, whipping the Lasso right at the Man of Steel. Superman caught sight of the approaching golden rope and raised an arm up to defend himself. He obviously didn't expect the Lasso to fly right by him before swinging to a side. Rapidly, the coils of the Lasso wrapped around the Kryptonian, pinning his arms to his sides.
"The Lasso of Truth commands you to face its truth," Diana proclaimed, the rope glowing even brighter. In response, Superman's face flushed with pain, finally altering the wide smile that had been plastered on his face. He began to hiss loudly as the Lasso burned at the lies in his mind.
"Stop…it…" he grounded out between clenched teeth.
"Not until you rid yourself of the lies that infest you," the dark-haired woman returned.
For several moments they were at this standstill. This concerned Diana. It was as if the war between truth and deceit occurring within Superman was tearing him apart, at least that's what she could gather from his pained groans.
And then he looked at her, his eyes no longer infected with the madness he had been under. "Look...out…" Superman spoke softly before his eyes glowed red.
Alarms went off in Diana's head as Superman's heat vision fired twin red beams at her. In response, she jerked her arms up, deflecting the beams upward into the sky.
Unfortunately, that led to a break in her connection with the Lasso. Though she held it in her hand, her lapse allowed the taut cord to loosen slightly. That was all Superman needed as he forced his arms out, spreading the coils out wide. Using his super speed, he forced the Lasso up over his head where it seemed to hover in midair as a hive of rope.
In a blur of red and blue, Superman dashed towards her, leveling the Amazon with a powerful haymaker as his fist rammed into her chest. The force of the blow sent her flying backwards, the air in her lungs forced out, leaving her breathless. The next thing she knew, her back collided with a building, the wall giving out as she burst right through it; yet, her flight did not stop. Wall after wall broke against her until she exploded out the other side, finally hitting the ground and skidding across it until she came to a stop.
A sharp gasp escaped Diana's lips as she sucked in as much air as she could. That...that had hurt. Really hurt. She couldn't think of a time when she had been hit like that. Chest rising and falling rapidly, she tried to catch her breath.
A sound caught her ear then. Raising her head up, she saw Superman charging at her at full speed, a wrecking train promising certain destruction. Her body still recovering, Diana couldn't have moved to defend herself even if she wanted too.
The next two seconds happened in a blur. One moment she stared at the Man of Steel as he closed in on her; the next he transformed into a spinning, red tornado mere feet away from her. A powerful wind slammed into her, causing her hair to whip around wildly.
The tornado came to a stop, revealing Flash with his arms extended out in front of him, facing to her left. The sound of breaking stone caught Diana's ear, causing her to look to its source and found Superman's body embedded in the side of a building, cracks extended out in all directions on the wall's surface.
It took a moment for Diana to process it all, but eventually it came to her. Flash had arrived at the literal last moment and grabbed Superman, using his speed to spin them around until he threw him at the building. Thank Hera for that intervention.
"Looks like I got here just in time," the red-clad man quipped then, sparing a glance to Diana before returning his attention to the Kryptonian.
"Where have you been?" the dark-haired woman couldn't help but breathlessly ask.
"Oh, minding my own business, making sure Hawkgirl was okay, stopped for a bite to eat. You know, the necessities." Though his tone was joking, his next words became serious. "I take it you weren't able to reason with Big Blue."
"We weren't." Slowly, Diana got back onto her feet, turning to face in their friend's direction. "And we've had about the same amount of luck trying to beat him."
"Well, let's see what I can do to help."
That was when one of Superman's arms twitched. The entire time he had been stuck in the wall, it looked as if he had been sleeping, but now his eyes were open. Jerking his body forward, he pulled out of the building, small pieces of concrete falling off of him. Gradually, he drifted downward until he landed on the ground. "So, you want a turn, huh?" the Kryptonian mocked.
"Well, you are next on my dance card," Flash replied. "And I never miss a dance."
"Hee hee hee! Good one. I'll have to remember that." Then Superman charged, flying straight at the speedster. Drawing a fist back, he threw it, only to harmlessly hit air as Flash darted to a side. Undeterred, the Man of Steel threw another punch and then another, only for Flash to sidestep each and every one.
"You know, I could keep this up all day," the young man remarked, dodging another punch. "But I have places to be, people to see, and much better things to do."
That's when Flash ducked another blow and shot a foot out, kicking out Superman's feet from beneath him. Surprise lit up the man's face as he began to tumble forward, only for Flash to grab onto his extended arm. Twisting his body, the speedster swung the Kryptonian through the air and sent him flying, the man crashing face first into the base of a nearby building.
"Unfortunately, I think it's going to take a lot more than that to knock you out." Flash then looked to Diana. "Any ideas, Wondy?"
It turned out there was no time for her to respond. The sound of Superman standing up earned him both of their attention. "You're a fast one, aren't you?" he remarked.
Flash smirked. "Fastest man alive."
"That's what she said, hee hee."
Diana...did not see why Superman had said such a thing. Flash, on the other hand, did. His face dropped before he said, "Dude, that's so beneath you. Low blow, Supes. So not cool. A comedian, you ain't."
"I like to think of myself as an exterminator, actually. And since I can't squash the fly I need to kill with my hands, I just need to find a bigger fly swatter."
Superman's eyes glowed red before they fired his heat vision. Strangely, it wasn't at either of the Leaguers, but above their heads. Turning around, Diana saw the beams cut through a tall building behind them, doing so at an angle. The moment the heat vision stopped, the top portion of the building began sliding forward until it began to fall down on top of them.
"Oh, now I get it," Flash said.
Before either of them could react, someone else did, that someone being J'onn. Flying out of nowhere, the Martian caught the building with his arms extended over his head, stopping its descent. Signs of strain appeared on his face, but he didn't seem to be struggling aside from that.
"Johnny's back!" Superman exclaimed, smiling widely. "Glad you could join the party again! Don't think I forgot about you." Again his eyes glowed red. "In fact, you're just in time for the barbecue."
That was the only warning the Man of Steel gave for what he was about to do. The moment she realized it, Diana shot up to the air, flying towards a point between the Kryptonian and Martian. The moment red beams fired from his eyes, the Amazon was looking right at them as they closed in on her. Raising her arms, she felt the beams collide with her bracers, bouncing off of them.
However, the blasts soon stopped reflecting as they began pounding against her arms. The bracers began to heat up to uncomfortable temperatures, causing Diana to realized that Superman had adjusted the power and was intending on burning her arms.
"Take this!"
The voice was familiar and definitely angered. The flying manhole cover that collided with Superman's head a moment later stopped his heat vision as he winced in pain. Looking away, the Amazonian Princess saw Hawkgirl standing a long distance away, the opening of a manhole next to her.
"Every party needs a pooper," Superman began to sing then, keeping his head-tilted pose. Slowly then, he turned to look at the Thanagarian. "That's why they invited you…"
"And I'm about to invite my fist into your face," the winged woman shot back. "I know you're not yourself right now, but you're starting to piss me off."
"Party pooper...party pooper…"
And then the Kryptonian launched himself into the air towards the redhead. However, before either of them could attack, Flash raced passed Superman, wrapping his arms around Hawkgirl and hauling her off the ground. "Gotta catch us first, Supes!" he called over his shoulder as he raced down the street.
Superman obliged him.
"Diana," J'onn grunted then. "I need your assistance in keeping this in place. I can create a temporary fix, but you need to hold this."
"What about Superman?" the Amazon asked, even as she drifted to her friend and began holding the building up.
"I will deal with him shortly," he responded as he drew his hands away. "If you would hold this piece back in its place, I will use my Martian Vision to repair the break."
Doing as requested, Diana found herself doubtful about J'onn's claim. "What do you mean you will deal with Superman? He shrugged us both off like we were insects."
"We were both trying to reason with him and allowed him to obtain the upper hand because of it. I don't know about you, but I held myself back." His face hardening, he then fired the white beam of his Martian vision at the building, beginning his sealing of the two portions of the building.
"This time, I will do no such thing."
