Sorry the update took so much longer than normal, everyone. With Christmas going on and everything, I haven't had as much time to write, but now I'm back and ready to start the updates again! Hope you enjoy. Keep on reading and reviewing!

Chapter Ten: The Clash Begins

"Bruce this is a terrible idea." Diana said flatly.

"It's better than the alternative." Batman argued.

"But Bruce you aren't getting it! Brute force isn't the only answer!"

"Then what would you suggest Diana? Stopping by and talking to Henshaw?"

"Who knows? It might work better than hitting him!"

"Diana I've dealt with people like him before. There's no reasoning with him, no getting through to him. It doesn't matter what you say, because all he hears are his own twisted, obsessive thoughts. We have to take him down, and we have to do it fast."

"I'm not necessarily in love with this plan either, just for the record." Flash said.

"Like I just said, it's better than the alternative."

"Which is…?" Flash cocked an eyebrow.

"If this fails, Question and I are seriously considering letting Superman loose."

"I'm beginning to like this plan a little more. But it doesn't really seem complete… I mean, I'm taking Doomsday half way across the country. What if just decides to stop chasing me and destroy something else?"

"Doomsday has no actual thought process, only the instinct to kill. And this makes him easy to manipulate, and extremely obsessive. We just have to get him focused on you, and then killing you will be the one and only thing on his mind."

"Ok, this plan sucks again." Flash gulped.

"Just in case though, try to stay out of cities. Keep Doomsday in unpopulated areas as much as possible." Batman continued.

"Got it. Keep him away from people. But another thing… what happens after he destroys Cyborg? I mean, assuming he does it without tearing the country apart in the process."

"Leave that to me. I've devised a way to take him down as soon as he takes Cyborg down."

"Alright, just one more question then. We're in Hawaii, and I've gotta lead him to Jump City? I'm going to be taking him across water. So like, can Doomsday swim?"

"We'll find out." Batman said dryly.

The group reached a the hidden area near the bottom of Mt. St. Helens. "It's going to be really, really hot in there." Batman warned.

"Well no kidding Bruce, it's the inside of a volcano." Flash rolled his eyes. Batman nodded and activated a transmitter device that broke Cadmus's security lock. A rock rolled over, revealing a doorway for Flash to enter through. He began to step in. "I won't get melted or anything though?"

"You shouldn't have to worry about that. Those stairs will actually take you down below the mountain, below most of the magma." Batman handed Flash a COM Link. "I'll keep in contact with you the entire time."

"Sure you want to come with?" Flash asked in a pleading tone.

"No. Doomsday has to become fixated on you, and only you. I can't be down there when it happens."

"Alright then." Flash sighed and began his descent down the stairway, the artificial rock rolling back into place behind him. It was dark. Flash switched on the night-vision goggles Batman had given him, and zoomed down to the bottom of the stairs, already panting in the heat.

"You weren't kidding about it being hot down here, Bruce." Flash said into the COM Link. "I'm sweating like a hooker in a church."

"Do you see any security at all?" Batman responded.

"No… should I be?"

"According to Kara's dreams, SHIELD has something to do with Cadmus. And I highly doubt that Cadmus didn't bother to put security in their top secret holding chamber."

"Alright, well I don't see anything, but just in case… I'll fly down this hallway too fast for any cameras to pick me up."

"Don't get reckless. There could be traps, too."

"Relax bats, I'll be careful-" Suddenly Flash stepped into a laser trip wire, and two machine guns began firing on both sides of him! Flash used his superhuman reactivity and leapt to the front just in time.

"Clearly you and I have different definitions of the word careful." Batman said coarsely.

"Hey, I'm alive aren't I?" Flash groaned.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"I really hope you're joking."

There was no response. Flash continued down the hall. He soon came to a large steel door. He touched his hands to the door and vibrated extremely fast, burning a hole in the steel. He stepped through and was greeted by a loud moaning. A lot of really loud, really desperate moaning.

"Flash, what's your status?"

"Not sure… I entered this room, and it's really dark… and it sounds like there's a zombie orgy going on."

"Huh… turn on the light I gave you."

"Oh, right." Flash activated the light, illuminating the room. Lining the walls were what looked like jail cells, and they were filled with people. Some of the tiny cells had up to twelve people crammed in them, sharing one blanket, one pillow, and one toilet. One with no plumbing or anything, of course. The people looked starved, like they hadn't eaten in days. Many were dying. Many were already dead, and just rotting in their cells, creating an unbearable stench that mixed with that of the toilets. Flash actually vomited as the smell hit him.

"What's going on in there?" Batman demanded.

"This is sick, even by Cadmus's standards. I can't even describe this to you Bruce." Flash muttered. "It's some sort of prison." Flash looked at a fallen sign in the middle of the hallway. It read, META-GENE CONTAINMENT AREA. "Meta-Gene?" Flash looked at all of the mistreated prisoners. "None of these people look like metas to me."

"They aren't." Batman said. "It's a Meta-Gene Containment Area, which means that the people here aren't metas, but they're humans who carry the meta-gene. Cadmus locked this people up because they could pass the gene on to their children, and those children could potentially become metas."

"What? So these people are suffering in here because of what could happen? That's twisted. I'm breaking them out of here."

"No Flash, don't." Batman ordered.

"Why not?" Flash shouted, stunned.

"Think for a minute. Your mission is to get Doomsday. If you let these innocent people out now, they'll only attract his attention. It's for their own good that you leave them be for now."

"But-"

"I'll get them out of there as soon as you're gone Wally, I promise. But for now, you need to focus on the mission at hand."

"Fine." He moved further down the hall, trying to block out the tortured screams around him. Trying to ignore the smell, and the rage that was building up inside of him. Cadmus had gone too far with this. As he was lost in thought, a bony, decrepit hand lunched out toward his face. Flash had to the jump back. He saw that the hand belonged to an elderly man, who seemed to be withering away.

"H- Help me…" The man begged, coughing up a spat of blood.

"Help is coming, sir. I promise." Flash assured him, though he wasn't even certain if the man had heard what he said. As he moved on farther, he noticed the most disturbing part yet… some of the cellmates had become so desperate for food, that they had begun to eat each other! "Bruce, I can't watch this. They're seriously turning to cannibalism!"

"Focus, Flash. The sooner you get out of there, the sooner I can get in and free them."

Then, amongst the moaning and screaming, Flash heard a familiar voice. A voice that made him cringe so deeply that he wished he had just let the machine guns kill him. It was unmistakable… it was Linda.

Fearfully, Flash walked to the cell the voice had come from. Inside was Linda. Inside was his wife. She didn't look like she had been in there long. It couldn't have been long, Flash had just seen three days ago. "Linda… oh God, Linda!" He cried.

"Wally." She was tearing up.

"When- when did this-"

"Right after you left." She said. "Right after I kicked you out of the house and all that, they came and got me. I've been in here for a little over two days now." She said.

"But- But why?"

"They found out…"

"Found out what?"

"That… well… Wally, you're going to be a father."

"What? You mean-"

"I'm pregnant. About a month now, actually. Cadmus… they were worried you would pass down your powers to the baby, so as a precaution, they put me in here." She began to cry. "They said they would let me out after the baby was born… but they were going to kill it."

"Is that why…" Wally began.

"Yes. I'm so, so sorry Wally. That's why I had to push you away… that's why I filed for the divorce, that's why I did everything. I didn't want them to get to you too."

"Damn it." Flash grabbed the bars. "Damn them… I'll take them down one by one…" He muttered.

"Flash, remember the mission." Batman repeated.

"I'm getting her out. Right now." Flash began to vibrate, melting through the bars.

"Flash, don't! Do you want Doomsday to kill her?"

"Forget Doomsday. Forget Cyborg. Forget all this mess, I don't even care anymore. I'm getting her out!"

"Wally, wait." Linda touched her hand to his. "Wally, don't sacrifice other lives just to get me out of here. If you have something more important to do, then-"

"Nothing is more important!" Flash interrupted her.

"Wally… I think I can wait ten minutes." She said, her eyes pleading. "Please Wally, do what you have to. I'll get out of here no matter what. But you have other responsibilities, and I can tell that right now, there are lives at stake. So please Wally… go."

"Ok." Wally sighed, stepping back. He then moved the rest of the way down the hall, where he reached a large metal wall.

"Think Doomsday's behind this wall?" Flash asked through the Com Link.

"I have no doubt in my mind."

Flash reached out and vibrated through the door. Sure enough, inside was a roaring doomsday, bound by powerful chains. He looked at Flash and screamed in rage.

"Hey big guy. You remember me don't you?" Flash waved. "You hate me, right? I don't think there's a whole lot that you don't hate…" Doomsday roared in response. "Ok bitch, let's do this." Flash tossed small but powerful magnetic explosives onto each of the chains. He then turned and began head start, and pressed the detonator. The small explosives went off, and that combined with Doomsday's pulling, broke the chains. The monster took off after the flash. Flash was already headed toward the staircase and on his way out, when suddenly Doomsday landed in front of him, having leapt across most the hall.

"Ok, plan B it is then." Flash said, turning around. He then vibrated through the ceiling, and was quickly followed by the leaping Doomsday. They were now inside of Mt. St. Helens. Flash ran up the wall of the volcano, sure to move at such a high speed that he was hardly even burned. Doomsday climbed up after him, and Flash began moving down the side of the mountain with the monster close behind. "You're keeping up pretty good Doomsday, then again, you've fought me a couple times now. Probably evolved quite a bit of speed."

Within a matter of minutes they had reached the ocean. "Let's see if you can swim!" Flash moved across the water. Doomsday leapt into the ocean like a torpedo, and began moving through it like one too! A large grey hand shot up and nearly grabbed Flash's leg. Flash jumped up and briefly went underwater before regaining his footing.

"Yeah! Doomsday can swim! Doomsday can swim really fast!" Flash shouted to himself, continuing forward.

Meanwhile, at the Bat Cave…

Denise La'Sure woke up slowly. She looked around to make sure that everyone was gone. Then, with a smile she grabbed the bars on her cell and ripped them apart with little effort. Apparently Batman had forgotten to take her genetic enhancements into account. She walked casually out into the batcave, seemingly appalled at her surroundings.

"Disgusting." She muttered. "Impressive tech though." She moved over to Batman's computer, and started looking through files. "Let's see if I can find out who you are, pointy ears."

Suddenly a crossbow bolt drove into her back, pushing her forward into the computer screen!

"I don't think so." Huntress said from behind. Because of her broken ribs, Huntress had stayed behind in the bat cave.

Denise stood up slowly, and pulled the bolt from her back. With her steel like skin, it had barely even made a puncture wound. "You shouldn't have done that, bitch!" Denise snapped the arrow in half and turned around, facing Huntress down. She attacked.

Huntress attempted to dodge, but her wounds were severely slowing her down. She knew she could not fight in this condition. Denise prepared to land what probably would have been a fatal blow, when she was struck by a powerful blast of super breath. She flew into the stone wall and looked up to see Kara, in her wheelchair, looking angry.

"You again…" Denise touched the scar on top of her head where the head vision had hit her before. "Time for revenge, little girl." She clenched her fists. In an instant she was attacking Kara. She kicked the blonde out of her wheelchair, sending her flying head first into the ceiling! Kara fell hard onto the floor, and was greeted by a blow to the back of the neck from Denise. Kara desperately tried to walk, but kick, to do something, but her legs simply would not respond.

Huntress grabbed Denise in a choke hold, but Denise easily won out with her super strength, and threw Huntress straight into an old model of the batmobile, smashing the windshield and denting the hood. Huntress screamed as glass from the windshield embedded itself into her back, and the shock from the impact attacked her already broken bones. Huntress slumped out of the car slowly, bleeding, and was then kicked in the chest by Denise. Huntress hit the door of the batmobile and caved it in, tumbling out the other door. Denise grabbed the fallen heavy steel car door and struck Kara in the back of the head with it, drawing blood. Huntress started to stand again, stubbornly refusing to back down. Denise threw it and knocked Huntress back.

"Now… which one should I kill first…" Denise said thoughtfully, picking both women up by the hair. "The blonde super-slut who put a scar on my otherwise flawless skin…" Then she looked to Huntress. "Or the mafia baby, who thought it'd be a good idea to shoot me in the back. Did you learn that trick from your daddy? I'm sure he could have taught you all sorts of ways to hurt people. When he wasn't hurting you, anyway."

Huntress spit in Denise's face. "Go to hell." She said defiantly.

"The mafia baby it is then." Denise said, preparing to finish off Huntress.

"Excuse me Ms.!" A voice called. Denise looked to see Alfred standing in the room, with a shotgun aimed at her! Alfred glanced at the damaged batmobile. "Who do you think has to clean that car?" He lectured.

"What the hell is this?" Denise broke in laughter, dropping both women and walking casually toward Alfred. "This is just priceless. The big hero here is some decrepit old maid? Hah!"

The shotgun fired, and Alfred shot Denise right in the face! "I am no maid!" He exclaimed. Denise fell to the ground, and wiped blood from her forehead. She was bleeding. She stood up fiercely, burning with anger.

"That'd better not leave another scar!" She shouted, rushing toward Alfred. He fired another shell, this time puncturing her shoulder. Blood sprayed from the wound, but she didn't slow down at all. She grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and twisted it upwards, destroying the weapon. She grabbed Alfred by the throat.

"You know, you aren't the first butler I've killed." She said, squeezing harder. "I had plenty of butlers as a kid, they all had accidents too, just like all my husbands!"

In the corner, she spotted something that caught her attention. A small blinking light… her detonator. She grinned and threw Alfred down, walking toward the device. "But before I rip you all apart, I'm going to blow Metropolis sky high!" She pushed the button on the detonator…

Meanwhile, at the ruins of the apartment in Central Metropolis…

"I can't believe I got stuck with bomb duty." Dick groaned, disabling another bomb in the apartment building's boiler room.

"We need to make sure we disable all of these bombs, Dick." Question stated. "It's a crappy job, I agree, but it's better than cleaning up all the bodies if the bombs go off."

"You're view of life is nothing short of charming, Vic." Black Canary said sarcastically.

"I agree with Dick on this one. We should be in Jump City helping out, not here doing the bomb squad's job." Green Arrow chimed in.

"Olli, if you don't quit being such a grumpy ass, I'm going to rip off your beard." Black Canary said.

"Yeah right, my beard's too hot to come off." Green Arrow added.

"He always has to have the last word." Question shook his head, prompting Black Canary to elbow him in the ribs.

"Hey guys, I just disabled the last bomb." Dick said, walking toward the group.

"Are you sure?" Asked the Question.

"Well we haven't found anymore, and we've been here an hour. I think it's safe to assume that we got them all." Dick shrugged.

Suddenly there was a loud beeping underneath the boiler. "Oh crap." Black Canary sighed. They all broke into a sprint. A final hidden bomb went off, in turn causing the boiler to explode, turning the abandoned area into a crater! The heroes barely managed to escape with their lives.

"Ok… I've been wrong before." Dick groaned, feeling like an idiot.

"The boiler… we've been here an hour, how did we not look under the damn boiler?" Green Arrow muttered.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Question asked.

"What?" Black Canary raised an eyebrow.

"It means Denise is awake, with Helena and Kara."

Meanwhile, back at the bat cave…

"Hah, hah, hah! Central Metropolis is probably nothing more than a crater by now!" Denise exclaimed, when suddenly her detonator exploded! Denise was blasted six feet into a wall, covered in blood, and Huntress laughed.

"What the hell just happened…?" Denise moaned.

"Do you really think Batman would just leave that thing laying around in the open? He rigged your detonator to explode when you use it!" Huntress said.

"That's low… good one." Denise grinned, falling unconscious, streaking blood on the wall as she slipped onto the floor.

Alfred walked up with a broom and a mob. He threw the mop to Huntress. "You clean up this bloody mess. I'm going to dispose of this woman." Alfred literally began sweeping her body across the floor.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure she's dead Alfred…" Huntress laughed.

"I don't care. I want her out!"

Meanwhile, at the SHIELD Detention Center…

Volcana watched as Galatea broke the last of the shackles binding her. The blonde then scanned the walls with her x-ray vision, only to find that every inch was lined with lead. "Damn it! There's lead everywhere." Galatea looked desperately to find any place without the material, and finally smiled when she looked below them. The floors had no lead whatsoever. "Yes!" Galatea stomped hard into the ground, smashing away the tile. Below was hard earth.

"We can tunnel our way out." Galatea grinned. "And then we're free."

"Freedom, huh?" Volcana said distantly. "Wonder how long I'll keep it this time."

Galatea stopped digging and looked at the mistress of fire strangely. "You don't have to get out and start causing trouble again, you know."

"Yeah, I do." Volcana sighed.

"What for? I mean, you've got so much power... shouldn't you be able to choose how you use it?"

"Galatea, do you know why I went to crime in the first place?"

"Well… I read your profile while I was at Cadmus. But there wasn't much about you, really. It just said you deserted government work and turned to a life of crime." Galatea shrugged.

"Hmm. Figures. Cadmus only focuses on the actions, they don't give a damn about the motivation for those actions." Volcana leaned back against a wall. "I was a teenager when I discovered my powers. My parents, they flipped. They weren't too crazy about having a metahuman freak for a daughter. So they took me to a lab doing experimental research with the meta gene, and they let them test possible cures on me. None of them worked… and all of them hurt. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I broke out, I ran away. During the escape, I torched a doctor who tried to stop me. I didn't mean to kill him… it was just instinct. After that, Project Meta Control found me. They said that I had two choices; I could work for them, or they would send me to trial for the murder."

"So you joined them." Galatea said, knowing this much.

"Obviously. I spent a couple years with that whole organization, did a lot of covert ops. One of these ops involved delivered a special package to a military base called NORAD. And that was when I met Cody."

"Cody?" Galatea raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… Cody. I don't even remember his last name, isn't that sad?"

"Who was he?" Galatea asked, wanting to move the story along.

"Cody was a younger guy; actually he was still in High School I think. He broke into the NORAD base."

"Why?"

"Because Cody was a thrill junkie. He was just looking for trouble. Anyway, I caught Cody. Only instead of getting rid of him, I talked to him. We talked for hours, he was an amazing guy."

"Then what happened?" Galatea asked.

"Well… then we did more than talking." Volcana grinned. "A lot more. Real romantic huh? I lost my virginity at a grungy military base. Anyway, Cody took off after that. I never saw him again. And guess what, I got pregnant!"

"Really?" Galatea was beginning to become interested in the story.

"Yup. I couldn't let Project Meta Control find out. If they found out, they would have killed me on the spot, before I could pass on the meta gene. So I fled. What else could I do? I deserted the base that very night. So then the government plastered my face on every wanted poster in the country. I couldn't find any place to stay, everyone knew who I was. I gave birth in a warehouse, even. Sometimes I think that baby would have been better off if I had miscarried…"

"Wait, so you have a son?"

"Yeah. That's why I turned to crime, Galatea. There was nothing else I could do… I had to support me and my son, with no job and no place to live. And since being a hero doesn't exactly get you a paycheck, I had to use my powers to steal."

"So what does your son do, I mean, when you're…"

"When I'm locked up in jail?"

"Yeah."

"Well… then he steals for himself and waits for me to get out." There was a long silence. "I never claimed to be mother of the year, Galatea. But please try to understand…"

"I think I do." Galatea said thoughtfully. "Now I think he's waited for you long enough… let's get out of here." She began digging.

A while later, in Jump City at the unveiling of the new LexCorp Power Suit…

Sergeant Jeffery Rhodes of the United States Military stepped out onto the stage, wearing the new LexCorp Power Suit. The crowd cheered. Jimmy Olsen began taking pictures.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Hope began, speaking into the microphone. "With this suit, the police forces all throughout the United States will gain the power to safely deal with threats that they previously could not handle. The suit augments strength and speed, allows for flight, has connection to police radios, is durable enough to withstand fire from an RPG, and is even equipped with dual shock cannons that can bring a criminal down in a matter of seconds, without the use of lethal force." The crowd went wild.

"With our police in these power suits, we will no longer have to rely on the Justice League to handle super-villain threats, a squad of officers can be dispatched and deal with the threat easily." More cheering.

"Come on…" Jimmy muttered. "Do a demonstration, give me some action, I need good pics!"

Suddenly there was a bright red flash. The stage split in half as the Cyborg landed! He immediately picked Jimmy out of the audience, and pointed. "You… you know what I need to figure out…" He began to move toward Jimmy, firing heat vision into the audience to clear the area!

Sergeant Rhodes attacked from behind, but his strength was not sufficient to take down the Cyborg. The Cyborg simply whipped the Sergeant off of him. Rhodes then fired the shock cannons, pissing Cyborg off. "Alright, apparently you want to die, so Olsen can wait!" Cyborg barked, moving toward the soldier.

Then there was a roar in the distance. Then another roar, this one a bit less distant… then Doomsday crashed down onto the scene! Flash stopped in his tracks, panting. "Ok, am in the right place-" He dodged a blast of the Cyborg's heat vision, and immediately decided the answer to his question was yes.

Doomsday stomped forward, his attention suddenly on Cyborg.

"What the hell is that?" Cyborg muttered.

"It- it's the thing that killed Superman!" Rhodes yelled. People immediately began to run away, screaming.

Doomsday's body was able to detect the presence of anything Kryptonian. And Cyborg's partially Kryptonian body was setting him off like an alarm. Doomsday roared, his attention focused toward the crazed robotic monstrosity.

"Alright… so you killed Superman huh…" Cyborg faced the creature down. "Well in that case, fighting you should make it easy to determine what I'm up against."

Doomsday charged blindly at the Cyborg. Cyborg charged as well. The two killers leapt at each other, preparing to strike…