And we are in the final stretch of the story here now; part one of the finale is here!
And what an episode we have for you today folks! Time for the villains to take center-stage for their very own episode to shine!
Apologies once again for the wait, but I had to make this chapter extra epic for you all. Besides, it is our TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Can you guys believe it, two years already! For this occasion, and the fact that the finale is next, I would like to announce the next QnA special.
Just leave as many questions as you would like in the reviews, or even send them in PM to me and I shall answer them for you in the intro to the next chapter! Ask me as many questions as you want, if you already send a review with a question and you have another you want to ask, go right ahead and make and ask it! Leave as many as you want! And they can be about anything; the future stories, the sequel fic, character moments, personal opinions, they can be about anything. Nothing is off the table.
Speaking of reviews, let's take a look at them!:
JJChandler: What can I say? I just had to do it.
Lucian Naruto: Hell hath no fury like Zatanna, well at least as long as it comes to Flint.
The Keeper of Worlds: Indeed it is. Deadman's departure in the show was always a disappointment so I was more than happy to fix it. The Light will continue to grow... right into the sequel.
Creeves59: I'm glad you've enjoyed my little story
Killer Frost 225: I very much enjoyed writing this comedy. Zatanna was definitely among the apex of it for this chapter too. And are you sure? Did you really? Have you found my Easter Egg? Because if you did that's impressive.
Alpha701: Fuck yeah!
Thanks again for all the reviews I appreciate them all every time.
Be sure to keep sending them, especially for the QnA next chapter!
And now, onto the disclaimer: I don't own anything beyond the idea and inspiration. Sandman and all related characters are owned by Marvel and Disney. The Secret Society/Legion of Doom, Lex Luthor, Darkseid, and the Justice League are all owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros. Please support the official releases.
And with that out of the way, onto part one of this fic's finale!
With Luthor's return to his own body, the Secret Society had once again returned to business as usual. For Luthor, that meant once again returning to the depths of his laboratory to continue working on yet another attempt to bring back Brainiac. For the rest of the Society, however, that meant they were once again left with nothing to do. They were becoming antsy and impatient. Some still had loyalty to Luthor, no matter how strained, but others were very clearly unhappy with the recent developments.
And with Luthor's current attempt to revive Brainiac currently shaking the entirety of their headquarters with violent explosive energy, they were more than a little worried for his mental state. A crowd of them had gathered outside of the laboratory door, watching the wall shake as the door occasionally shot forth bolts of lightning.
Tala was among those gathered. After a few minutes of watching the energy burst from the door, she shoved through the crowd to reach the lab. She passed Blockbuster, Goldface, and Atomic Skull, all of them wearing varying degrees of worry or frustration on their face before she entered inside.
Inside the laboratory, Lex was hunched over a control panel, goggles firmly on his face, as he gave a manic grin to the scene before him. The Brainiac fragment was suspended in the air by pure energy as he bombarded it with electricity of varying frequencies.
All of the apparent destruction this was causing seemed to go unnoticed by him, as Tala shielded herself from the debris before walking to stand behind him. "Lex, stop it! You will blow us all to pieces!" she said sharply, her tone full of worry as she slowly placed a hand on his shoulder.
Lex simply shook her hand off, a sneer on his face. "Not now woman! Something's happening…. It's… It's…!" he said excitedly, watching the energy spontaneously get brighter. However, there was suddenly a burst of light before the machine exploded. Luthor shielded himself behind the console, and Tala behind him, as the explosion subsided.
Once it was over, the Brainiac fragment fell to the floor harmlessly. Lex stared at the piece, slowly removing his goggles. "It's just another steaming flop!" he bellowed angrily before smashing the console with his fists. Once it was thoroughly destroyed, he moved on to throwing around the other laboratory machinery, as well as breaking everything in sight in his frustration.
Tala watched him, a worried expression on her face. "Baby…"
"Nothing works!" he yelled, ignoring Tala as he continued to vent his frustrations.
She watched him continue to rant and rave before she stormed over. "Lex, forget about bringing back Brainiac" she said seriously.
Lex just regarded her with a frustrated sneer. "I don't need input from some crystal gazing parasite; one who's confused a wench's grip on power with the real thing!" he raved, forcing her to back up with each step. She eventually stopped when her foot connected with the Brainiac fragment on the floor.
She picked it up before holding it out to Lex with a frown. "This is the real troublemaker for us, its pure wild goose chase! Look I'll prove it. I'll show you what is in there!"
"Don't be stupid" he scoffed. "This is science, what good is your sorcery? Unless you plan to turn stone into gold, or maybe a frog?"
"Such ignorance…" she scowled before lashing out at him. "Transmutation is what you're trying to do!"
Lex laughed in response. "Transmutation is…" he trailed off before considering the possibility. "What are you waiting for? Do it!" He ordered her.
"Okay!" she snapped back.
"Okay!" Luthor retorted childishly.
She gave him another sneer before floating cross-legged in the air, suspending the Brainiac fragment between her palms with pure magical energy. Lex watched with disinterest as she slowly rotated in place, focusing on the fragment intently. "By the slaughter of the innocent… by pestilence and plague… reveal the hidden unto me"
After she recited this incantation, her eyes glowed before firing a beam of energy into the fragment. She focused intently, attempting to uncover any and all secrets locked within, as Lex watched carefully. After a few moments, the energy stopped and she turned to Luthor.
"There, you see? Just a rock. A worthless piece of- oh…" she muttered, suddenly interested by something.
"What?" Lex asked.
"It's not important…"
"Show me!" Luthor suddenly demanded. Tala studied him, as if she were trying to determine if he were worthy of her knowledge. Then she fired the same beams again, only this time into Lex's forehead. He gasped in surprise before suddenly looking around the room as his scenery changed with the information she showed him.
Instead of being in the Secret Society headquarters, he found himself inside the large asteroid-based space station that Brainiac had once used as his established base. However, the entire station was slowly crumbling as the automated voice of Brainiac spoke from all around. "Critical system failure in three seconds… two seconds… one second…"
Once the timer counted down, the entire station exploded as Lex and Tala soon found themselves in the emptiness of space that the station once occupied. The new information, coupled with the failure of the Brainiac tech was starting to prevent Tala from holding the image for much longer. She groaned in exertion from trying to keep the image present as it started to fade away.
"No! Keep the image!" Lex orders before using the last few seconds of energy Tala had to study the stars. He made careful note of their position and layout before she finally lost all strength to hold onto the image before she fell to the floor.
Once the picture faded, Lex suddenly grinned before rushing to the only undamaged console with renewed vigour. "There's still Brainiac in the universe!" he said determinedly before typing away.
"There's no way to tell where it happened" Tala said weakly, holding her head in pain.
"Wrong" Luthor interjected. "I saw enough of those stars to determine the explosion's coordinates. It should be a simple matter…"
Tala slowly stood up before frowning at Lex's response. "You saw the wild goose again" she sighed before moving to his side and placing a hand on his shoulder, trying to garner his attention. "Concentrate on us. Space is too far, together… we can rule this world" she urged.
Lex paused for a moment, growing silent as he slowly turned to face Tala, his hand moving over hers. She looked at him hopefully, believing her patience to have finally paid off, before Lex suddenly grasped her wrist and threw her away roughly. She fell back on the ground before looking up at him as he regarded her with cold disdain.
"If you like this world so much keep your fool mouth shut, and I might let you keep it" he declared before returning to the keyboard. He smiled darkly as he uploaded the coordinates to the system and drew up new plans that he intended to begin work on right away. "Me? I'm going to be a god again"
Once Lex had seen the star map, he immediately set to work on his plan to retrieve the remaining fragments of Brainiac. His plan would take quite a bit of work, with his intent to have it completed as soon as possible, he immediately called the Society together before setting them to work. Although he didn't reveal exactly what his end goal was to them.
As such, the entirety of the Society was now moving around large pieces of electronics and shielding, laying ground cables, and helping to layer more metal to the walls of the base. Lex walked through the base, carefully watching the Society as they worked.
He passed by Cheetah as she laid down a length of heavy cable, nodding as she made sure to keep it as clean and straight as possible. Bloodsport moved from work station to work station, his cart full of tools and other assorted fixtures for their various tasks. Atomic Skull delivered another large stack of support beams to where Parasite and Hellgrammite were working before Luthor came past where Heatwave and Volcana were using their flames to maintain the heat in a large oven they were using to melt some spare scrap metal.
"Speed it up!" Luthor ordered, the two nodding as he continued on his way, finding Sinestro using his ring to carefully weld the floor together with new panels. Lex looked down on him from the upper floor he was walking before stopping to look over the railing.
"Sinestro, don't forget the floor. I want radiation shielding from every direction" he called, earning a nod from the Lantern as Rampage walked past. "Rampage!" Luthor called, grabbing her attention before all three turned at the sound a large and heavy impact across the room.
They turned to find Bizarro struggling as he attempted to put a large square peg into a round hole. Luthor, to his credit, only sighed before shaking his head. "Help Bizarro…"
Further down in the base, Weather Wizard and Killer Frost were working together to make sure the seals on the new panels were as tight as possible. Weather Wizard used his wand to carefully melt the panels while Killer Frost used her ice to rapidly cool the metal, effectively fusing it together.
Luthor stopped behind them, observing for a moment, before scowling at Weather Wizard's methods. "Don't distort the metal moron!" he chastised while Weather Wizard simply rolled his eyes.
"I don't even know why we're doing this" he muttered. It was true, Lex had refused to reveal any details, beyond what he had ordered them to do. However, Lex wasn't one for the attitude, so he shoved Weather Wizard's head into the metal bulkhead roughly, holding his face quite precariously under the still molten metal.
Lex continued to scowl, before letting him go and turning to Frost. "Killer Frost, if Weather Wizard here doesn't shape up I'm holding you accountable!"
"Tch, whatever" the cryokinetic said, folding her arms in a bored fashion.
"Structural integrity is crucial!" he countered, his voice having taken on a very dangerous tone. Frost raised her hands defensively, trying to placate Luthor.
"Okay, got it!" she said quickly before Luthor stormed off down the hall again. She watched him leave with a sneer. "Jeez…" she muttered before going back to cooling the metal.
Just what was the bald megalomaniac planning?
Much to Luthor's satisfaction, the work didn't take nearly as long as he thought it would. In fact, the entire base was exactly to his specifications in less than seven hours. He had just finished his final touches on the electronics up above before he entered into the meeting room.
The entire Society had once again gathered together to hear what Luthor had to say. This time they were all impatiently waiting to hear exactly why they had been forced to work on everything. Melting down the scrap metal for molds? Welding panels to the floors and walls? Radiation shielding? Nothing Luthor was planning made any sense at all.
None of them had even bothered refusing his requests either. After the incident the week previous with the brain-swapping, Luthor didn't take kindly to any more internal rebellion. No one even knew exactly what had happened to Doctor Polaris. Only that Luthor had clearly beaten him within an inch of his life and then left him… somewhere.
As Lex entered the room, the villains all slowly turned to regard them, their own chatter dying down as he raised his right hand to call their attention. After a moment of silence, he proceeded. "Soon people, the Secret Society will be no more" he began, drawing their curiosity. "Instead you'll become the new ruling class of the universe. You are the lucky few, witnesses to the moment I seize my godhead"
Tala stood off to the side, barely even listening to him. As he once again mentioned seizing godhead, she couldn't help but scoff. In truth, she had been avoiding Luthor all day, trying to distance herself as much as possible. The rest of the Society found it odd, where she previously couldn't keep away for even a second. Luthor himself found it a most wonderful reprieve.
Not everyone was convinced though, and Toyman was the first to speak up. "Luthor, what kind of game is this? Because so far, it's no fun"
Luthor simply chuckled in response. "Bear with me Toyman, you'll get the hang of it" he said before turning back to the others. "You're going to help me collect some newly discovered pieces of Brainiac"
The assembled villains all murmured among themselves at that revelation. None seemed too thrilled about discovering what their true mission was. In fact, some seemed rather peeved that all of their buildup and their lack of results was for something so… so… trivial. None of them were surprised that this was the fanatical result Luthor came to. None of them were too enthused either.
Goldface just happened to be the villain who decided to voice his complaint right to Luthor. He stood up, levelling as cold a glare as he could muster, before he slowly stalked toward the billionaire with dangerous intent. "Swell… so you merge with the living computer like you did before. You become more powerful than all of us put together, but what do we get?"
"You'll all be my lieutenants in the new order" he answered simply. He took stock of his surroundings and noticed several other villains having risen as well, slowly making their way towards them. He took note of who they were before shrugging. "Of course if you don't like those terms, you'd better stop me now while you still have a chance" he noted before casually placing a finger over his belt. "But you'd also have to remember what happened to poor Goldface…"
With that he pressed a button on the belt and immediately, steam erupted from behind the eyes of Goldface's mask. The villain cried out in agony, grasping his face before he collapsed in pain on his knees, the other villains watching in shock. "I'm already more powerful than all of you put together" Lex smirked before taking his finger off of the button and kicking Goldface's weakened form aside.
After remembering the number of fail safes that Luthor had against them, the other villains all stepped back warily, while the ones who remained seated internally congratulated themselves for being spared his wrath. There was an uncomfortable silence after, and after a minute Atomic Skull finally raised his hand, albeit reluctantly, to ask a question.
"Excuse me" he started, calling Luthor's attention. "Don't take this the wrong way, but what exactly are we doing?"
Luthor took out a small remote before smirking wider. "I was getting to that" he answered before pressing the lone button that was on it.
Almost immediately, the entire room began to shake as the base of their fortress slowly rumbled. It started gently but quickly grew to be more and more powerful as the entire base quaked violently. Various members of the Society stumbled where they stood or were thrown out of their chairs. Toyman flew across the table before colliding with the wall across the room, while both Tala and Rampage were immediately tossed to the floor. Goldface weakly tried to stabilize himself but he too was sent flying by the violent shaking.
Outside the base, the supports slowly lifted off the ground as massive jets erupted out of the swamp. Slowly, but surely, the Society's headquarters flew off of the ground before exiting the Earth's atmosphere. Once it had escaped the atmosphere the shaking ended and Lex lead the various members up to one of the upstairs rooms, which he had transformed into a makeshift bridge. Outside the widow, the vastness of space was laid out in front of them.
They looked on in awe, completely stunned by this revelation as they looked around. None of them believed it had even worked, some still had trouble believing it. Lex simply chuckled at their surprise before stepping forwards.
"I reconfigured Grodd's cloaking field, into a hyper-spacial drive" he revealed, surprising the Society even further.
"You're not serious…" Frost said, eying him carefully.
"Little bit" he replied before pressing a few buttons and then pulling a lever. There was a brief pause, before the former headquarters, now turned space shuttle, rocketed into hyperspace.
Down in the basement of the newly christened spaceship, the shaking of the jets taking off had awoken Gorilla Grodd. He barely had time to process what the rumbling sensation was before the ship jumped into hyperspace sending him flying into the bars on the other side of his cage. He grunted in pain at the impact before slowly standing up.
In a moment of odd clarity, given the situation, he looked around curiously before realizing exactly what was occurring. "Why is my headquarters moving?" he asked himself. "Hey, what's going on?" he called out.
After taking in the emptiness of the room, he approached the bars, grasping them roughly. He listened for an answer before growling. "I demand to know, what's going on!" he bellowed.
He would soon be answered by someone shushing him, before they slowly approached. Tala stepped out of the shadows, a serious look on her face. "Quiet Grodd"
He regarded her with a frown. "Oh it's you. Come to gloat at me again?" he asked before his frown turned into a deep scowl. "I'm not some monkey in a zoo throwing-"
"Shh, listen!" she interrupted, quieting him again before she sighed regrettably. "I've been very bad. I backed the wrong party… it should have been you"
Grodd blinked once in surprise. "Oh. So you finally sussed it out? That hairless sweetheart of yours isn't a leader, he's a thug"
"And how" she commented dryly before reaching through the cage and stroking his chest. "I don't like to compete for Lex with a dead computer. I want you to be in charge, like before" she said before her voice took on a more sultry tone. "So baby… what do you want?"
The gorilla's face immediately softened as he gently took Tala's hand in his own. "Why, only you my dear" he said with a soft smile before thinking about it. "And Luthor's fat head on a platter" he decided as Tala took on a dangerous smirk.
Back on the bridge, several villains had since taken on responsibilities in ensuring their flight remained smooth. Cheetah was monitoring their surroundings while carefully watching for obstacles, while Toyman was gleefully steering the ship. Luthor watched the numerous stars and galaxies pass by them at unimaginable sped as Atomic Skull stood beside him.
"That's one mother of a laser show" Skull said, very impressed by what he was seeing as Luthor gave a short nod.
"Toyman?" he called out expectantly.
"We should be reaching the Brainiac remnants soon. By the way, thank you for making me your navigator Luthor" the small man said with barely restrained excitement. "I always love learning a new controller"
"Just keep us on course" Luthor said seriously. "The slightest error and we're dead"
As if in response to his comment, the wall behind them was suddenly blasted open by an explosion. Toyman luckily, was able to keep control, but that didn't stop Luthor and Skull from stumbling forward in surprise. Smoke billowed out from the now gaping hole before Grodd stepped through holding a large bazooka.
He wasn't alone however, as he was flanked not only by Tala, but by a large contingent of the other villains in the Society. It seemed their patience had run out, and so Grodd had formed a mutiny the instant he was let out by Tala.
"I wouldn't worry about it Neanderthal" Grodd said smugly. "The way I see it you're dead either way. I'd like to complete this with as little bloodshed as possible Lex, so put your hands up and have Toyman turn us around" he ordered, aiming the bazooka square at Luthor.
Luthor took a moment to see who exactly was backing him. Immediately, he had Sinestro, Atomic Skull, Cheetah, Captain Cold, Mirror Master, and Toyman. Most of his more loyal followers were still below deck, with Heatwave and Bizarro among them. Toyman in particular slowly got out of seat before looking to Luthor expectantly.
"Don't look at him big boy, Grodd is leader" Tala said before Grodd seemingly ran out of patience, as he opened fire on Luthor, forcing him to the floor to avoid the blast. After the first shot, Luthor and his allies immediately scattered to try and fight back, while Grodd and his mutiny were in hot pursuit.
He explosion shook the floors below as the various villains suddenly took notice of the fight just above their heads. Bizarro sat up quickly from where he was sitting, his super-hearing having picked up on the conflict. "Luthor?" the clone said in alarm before flying off, leading Heatwave, Evil Star, and Volcana to investigate.
As they entered into the next room, they found Luthor quickly descending a staircase in order to avoid the numerous shots that Grodd fired at him. Grodd was soon joined by several of his allies, who jumped down to attack Luthor's supporters. Rampage gleefully lead that charge, followed soon after by Major Disaster and Goldface.
Grodd had just made it to ground level, readying another shot at Luthor. He was interrupted as Bizarro suddenly struck him across the face before the clone attempted to strangle him. Rampage was quick to notice and so pulled him off of Grodd.
The gorilla rubbed his throat tenderly before looking up at her. "Rampage, Electrocutioner; finish that oaf!" he ordered as Rampage struck the clone several times in the stomach before Electrocutioner flooded his body with numerous volts of electricity. Bizarro cried out in pain before collapsing limply unconscious.
This victory was short lived as Giganta soon kicked Rampage aside before grasping Grodd tightly in her hands, raising the gorilla to eye level, sixty feet off the ground. Grodd grunted in pain before giving a sheepish chuckle. "Giganta… you're out of jail. How's your head?" he asked, a nervous smile on his face.
Giganta smirked coyly at him. "Pretty good, considering you tried to fry my brain" she seethed before slowly crushing him within her grasp.
"Don't get grabby thunder thighs" Tala threatened, harnessing magic energy. "Grodd is mine now" she said before blasting Giganta with her magic, knocking the giantess to the ground, releasing Grodd.
Grodd quickly stood back up before pursuing Lex through the chaos as the Society devolved into a full on brawl.
Back in the control room, Weather Wizard was marching through with the rest of Grodd's mutiny before they quickly found themselves circling Captain Cold and Mirror Master. Monocle and Crowbar, two of Grodd's loyal villains wore triumphant smirks while Weather Wizard looked to his two allies almost regrettably. "Leonard, Evan"
"Mark" Captain Cold greeted. "Are you ready for what comes next?"
Weather Wizard gave a wistful smile, shaking his head. "Lenny, I'm always ready for what comes next" he chuckled, before suddenly shooting lightning at Grodd's two flunkies, electrocuting them. They screamed out in sudden surprise and pain, falling to the floor as the Rogues, now reunited, ran out to find their final member, Heatwave.
Back in the room however, Toyman had sought refuge from the conflict behind one of the numerous consoles and was hoping to remain as hidden as possible. However, this proved to be difficult as Killer Frost soon leaned over the console, giving him a lecherous smirk.
"Hey" the cryokinetic woman greeted as Toyman gulped in fear. She grinned wide, prepping a blast of cold. "One creepsicle coming up!"
Before she could release the blast, Toyman suddenly leapt up, head-butting her, striking her hard in the nose with his ceramic mask. She fell back in surprise as Toyman bid a hasty retreat, the icy villainess glaring after him.
"Oh, you are so annoying!"
Thanks to the commotion surrounding them, Luthor was making a great deal of headway as he avoided Grodd. He passed by Volcana, who attempted to use her fire to keep Goldface at bay, while Silver Banshee used her deadly cry to attack Heatwave. Heatwave was luckily saved just moments later by the timely arrival of the other Rogues, who helped him back up before all four ganged up on Parasite, who was attempting to siphon Giganta's powers.
Luthor ascended another staircase, before starting to run across a support bridge. However his exit was cut-off as Tala used her magic to destroy the section of bridge in front of him. "Trapped like a rat" she smirked triumphantly, laughing at the situation they found themselves in.
Luthor simply stared at her impassively, turning around with his arms folded at his sides. She scowled at his indifference before preparing another attack.
"It's very weird… you were never this much fun when we were together" she commented before firing yet another burst of magical energy. Lex watched the energy rapidly approach him, but before it connected, it suddenly came into contact with a barrier, shielding Lex from the attack and instead rebounding it to strike a completely unprepared Tala with twice the force.
Luthor approached her, now smirking as he pulled a bronze medallion out from where he had stashed it inside his suit, as she looked at it weakly in surprise. "You wouldn't believe what this cost me" he chuckled before passing by her to find another exit as she blacked out.
Despite the chaos going on around him, and the very violent cryokinetic that was quickly gaining on him, Toyman descended the stairs rather calmly as he played with his yo-yo. He heard the sound of crackling ice and looked up to see Killer Frost making an ice slide to catch up with him.
He watched for a moment before spinning the yo-yo in a circle. "Around the world?" he asked before suddenly flinging it out as it destroyed the ice bridge and sent her falling to the floor.
She sat up among the icy blocks, holding her head in surprise before seeing Toyman quickly bearing down on her again, preparing another strike with his yo-yo.
"Rock the cradle?" the shorter man asked again, Frost weakly attempting to build an ice shield to defend herself. However it proved futile as he easily broke through it with another strike from his dangerous toy.
"Heh, sleeper" he chuckled, looking at her unconscious body before walking off.
Luthor had now joined the fray out of necessity, using shots from his pistol to take down both Neutron and Fastball, before he noticed Atomic Skull caught in a deadlock with Goldface. He grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and prepared to strike in Skull's defense before Sinestro called out to him.
"Luthor, look out!" he yelled, as Luthor ducked in time to avoid yet another shot from Grodd. He stood up quickly before running down an open hallway, easily baiting the gorilla into following him. Grodd followed down the hall where he found himself in the cargo bay. Luthor was looking at him expectantly, pulling on some metal gauntlets that crackled with electricity, ready for the brawl.
"Give it up Lex" Grodd sighed. "It's time to stop delaying the inevitable"
"You're right" the billionaire nodded. "I really should hurry up and kill you, I have a busy schedule after all"
Grodd's reply was another blast from his energy bazooka, however Luthor held the gauntlets in front of his face, where the easily absorbed the energy from the blasts. Grodd smiled in a superior fashion before tossing his weapon aside. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather snap your neck with my bare hands" he said, cracking his knuckles eagerly.
Luthor lunged at him, intending to strike, but missing twice. Grodd responded with a vicious backhand, then followed up with a flurry of strikes that sent Luthor flying backwards.
"This mutiny was easy" the gorilla gloated. "The Secret Society hates you"
"Like they love you" Luthor sneered, attempting to stand before Grodd kicked him into a wall. Luthor grunted from the impact, clutching his side. "Idiot simian… you half-baked objectivist!"
"You're ill-equipped to lead Lex" Grodd chastised, as he grasped Luthor's collar and raised him up to eye level.
"A lower primate…" Luthor laughed. "Masquerading as an intellectual!"
Grodd growled at this, tightening his grip. "I'm the more accomplished, both physically and mentally!" he roared before using his telepathy at full force against Luthor. That was what Lex was waiting for however, as he pressed another button on his belt and rebounded the telepathy to Grodd.
Grodd cried out in pain and surprise as he felt Luthor take telepathic control of him, before he dropped the now chuckling scientist.
"Took you long enough, I was beginning to think I'd figured you wrong" Lex sighed, catching his breath. "Now, bow down to me" he ordered.
Despite Grodd's attempts to refuse, he was no match for the telepathic control Luthor had exerted over him. Slowly but surely, he was forced to kneel down in front of the man he despised most.
"Who is master here?" Lex asked, internally awaiting the response he so desired.
"You… are…" Grodd struggled to say as Lex nodded in approval.
"Get up" he ordered, as the gorilla followed his commands. "Now, take six steps forward" he said. Once again, Grodd followed his every order until he was face to face with an airlock door. Lex put a command code in the keypad as the door slid open.
"Get in" he said finally, and once the ape was inside the airlock, Luthor closed the door again, before pressing another button on his belt. Immediately, the control was severed and Grodd came to his senses. Once he had control of himself again, he leapt at the door, angrily pounding against it.
"I should have let you rot in jail!" the ape bellowed angrily.
"Goodbye Grodd" Lex said in a much more morose voice. "It could have gone the other way"
Grodd took a few breaths, calming down as his expression softened at Luthor's display of good sportsmanship. "It really could have, couldn't it?"
"No" Luthor decided, a dark smirk coming over his face. "But why speak ill of the dead?"
With that, he hit another button as the airlock released into space. Grodd clutched to the door as tightly as he could, snarling his last insults to Lex. "You backstabbing, poor excuse for a hominid, I'm not done with you!" he yelled before his grip came loose and he was sucked into space. "I'll get out of this and when I do…!"
"Can any of you give me one good reason to let you live?" Luthor asked, looking down at all of the villains who dared to partake in the mutiny against him. Despite their opponent's overwhelming numbers, Luthor's side ultimately emerged victorious, with the few survivors of Grodd's faction looking up at Luthor and his followers fearfully.
Killer Frost stepped forwards in response, her choice already made. She thought about Shark, about their relationship, about the life awaiting them on earth, about their future…
Her hand touched her stomach gently before she suddenly turned around, freezing the rest of the mutineers inside a large block of ice. Once she was done, she turned back to Luthor who nodded approvingly.
"Killer Frost, you've got a future. Dump this garbage into space" he ordered.
"With pleasure" she saluted before they were all called to attention by the commlink on the ship. Toyman's high-pitched and disturbing voice called out to them.
"We're heeeeere!" he said happily as Luthor immediately went off to where Volcana and Sinestro were holding the last survivor of Grodd's mutiny; Tala.
Tala looked at Lex weakly, trying one last attempt to win him over. "Darling, I don't know what came over me. Grodd must have used his mind control!"
There was a drawn out silence as Sinestro and Volcana shared matching looks of disbelief. "Okay… maybe not" Tala admitted. "But baby, you don't ever doubt that I love you correct? I… I know I did something bad. I'm a sick person. You don't know what it's like to be me"
"Don't be afraid darling" Lex said in a sympathetic tone, cupping her chin. "You still have a big role in my plan. In fact, I can't do this without you"
Volcana then stuck her in the back of her head to knock her out.
Tala woke up, every limb of hers bound as she was attached to some strange machine. Down below her, Lex gave a small shrug as his followers had gathered around him, Toyman in particular eagerly awaiting his next command.
"I used to think that magic was unknowable, unpredictable and not to be trusted. You've taught me so much Tala; even my wealth of scientific knowledge would never have been up to this task" he said, tilting his head with a smirk before continuing. "You will be the mystic conduit that will siphon Brainiac's essences from the debris outside the ship. I'll be able to reconstitute him from that energy… but I doubt you'll survive the process"
"You… you planned this all along… Didn't you?" she asked fearfully.
"I'm a sick person too"
"Lex, please!" she cried out, struggling against the restraints. "I'm begging you!"
"Hold that thought" he said before turning to Toyman. "Do it!"
He looked back at Tala before frowning as nothing occurred. "What are you waiting for?!" he asked, looking at Toyman, who's hand was frozen over the controls. "I said do it!"
"He can't hear you Lex" a young woman's voice said, as Lex turned to see a very pale girl dressed in all black sitting on a chair behind him. She wore a silver ankh around her neck and was holding a black umbrella. "I asked my brother to pause us in time so that we might talk"
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"I have had many names… the Raven Queen, the entropy, but most agree on who I am. I am Death, eldest sister of the Endless" she greeted.
"Death? So you're going to kill me before I can complete my objective?"
"No, I'm not. My elder brother forbade that, as it is not written in his book. However, I am here to warn you. Your actions are an insult to my domain, and you are to summon a being who was never meant to cross back to the realm of the living"
"I should hope so, I'm bringing Brainiac back to life. I'm going to be a god again" he boasted.
Death simply stood up as ethereal energy swirled around her. "Arrogant mortal, you do not know what a god is! You are going to bring back something far worse than you could ever hope to imagine, and your arrogance will have caused it. I can only hope that the heroes of Earth can stop you… just remember" she said, turning around. "More than one being calls this place their grave"
With that, she disappeared with a black mist before Toyman's joyful singing could be heard in the background. "Twinkle twinkle Brainiac, Tala's going to bring you back!" he announced before pulling the lever and activating the machine.
The coursing energy caused Tala to cry out and convulse in pain, as her magic was forcibly torn from her body. Inside the chamber below, the energy came together, slowly forming a body. Luthor watched with a manic grin. "Yes… yes..!" he said excitedly. "Brainiac, I'm coming!"
Through Tala's anguish she found another being's essence, hidden amongst Brainiac's. She may not have be able to save herself, but she would give Luthor one last act of spite. She summoned her own energy to blend the two essences before screaming out in agony.
Finally, the effort reduced Tala's body to dust, while in the chamber, the effort was a complete success as a silhouette could be seen through the smoke. Lex grinned wide as he saw the result.
"People… meet your new lord and master!" he said as the smoke faded and he soon realised his mistake. He remembered that it wasn't just Brainiac who died here. He and all of the other villains soon wore matching expressions of horror as they gazed up at a large grey-skinned face, its eyes glowing a faint red as it stared down at them.
Darkseid had died here as well, and Luthor's efforts had now not only brought the lord of Apokolips back to life… but it fused him with Brainiac's technology. Darkseid looked at the now fearful villains before raising his hands and destroying the glass wall of the chamber with ease.
"It seems I have you to thank for my resurrection" he surmised, almost bemused. His own amusement was cut short as his face became impassive once again, and his voice took on a far more menacing tone than before. "Though your world will suffer slowly, I grant you a quick death"
With that, his eyes glowed bright for a split second….
Then the entire ship exploded.
On the ravaged, fire filled battlefields of Apokolips, two rival armies stared each other down. Numerous soldiers were garbed in armour, flanked by war hounds and parademons on both sides, each armed with tanks and war machines. One side was led by Virman Vundabar, a former lieutenant of Darkseid. He was joined in his attempt for a hostile takeover by Mantis, and Kanto.
Across the desolate wastes from them were the last of Darkseid's loyalists. Granny Goodness lead their charge, and she was joined by her Female Furies; Bernadeth the leader of the Furies, Stompa, Lashina, and Mad Harriet. Guillotina and Bloody Mary were both on missions of conquest in deep space. Also joining them was Kalibak, the son of Darkseid, who was recently freed from prison on Earth by Granny Goodness in order to assist in this battle. Rounding out the loyalists was Steppenwolf, the general of Apokolips and Darkseid's own uncle. He was eight feet tall, and clad in a very intimidating suit of grey armour, with a large horned helmet, and a massive battle axe.
Bernadeth scoffed at their opponents, drawing her Fahren-knife. "That rodent Vundabar believes he can rule Apokolips in Darkseid's stead…" she mocked. "We'll be the ones to deliver his pestilent corpse to Granny Goodness!"
With that, Granny sounded the charge as both warring forces immediately raced off towards each other, each wishing to draw first blood. The hundreds of bloodthirsty warriors would soon be halted in their confrontation by a massive explosion of energy in the middle of the battlefield, when they were just metres apart. They shielded their eyes from the bright light, before looking up in shock and awe to see Darkseid.
The hushed whispers of Darkseid's name made their way through the crowds, before all warriors soon fell to their knees in worship of their now returned master. "Welcome home, almighty Darkseid" Bernadeth greeted, before Darkseid raised his hand.
"Arise my children, let this meaningless battle for control end today" he announced to the crowd before they all soon rose to their feet.
"Of course lord. We had thought ourselves bereft forever" Kanto said, his voice full of honest reverence.
"Only the slimmest of chances has allowed me to overcome my death at the hands of Superman. But let the universe howl in despair, for I have returned" Darkseid declared, clenching his fist tightly as his army, now united once again, roared in approval.
"What is your will, my lord?" Bernadeth asked, bowing again.
"As ever, to search for the Anti-Life Equation, that I may bring order to this aimless universe. But first, Superman must suffer for killing me" Darkseid answered. "His adopted world will die screaming. Only then will I seek the ultimate end"
At that, his forces nodded, all ready for his next orders. "Steppenwolf, rally the troops and prepare the tanks. I want a full invasion prepped and ready within the hour"
"Shall I lead the charge, sire?" the large man asked.
"You will lead one of the invasion fronts. However, I will helm this task myself" he revealed before turning to Bernadeth. "Bernadeth, you shall prepare the Furies for full battle. Take any prisoners you wish, and feel free to add more hopefuls to your ranks"
"Of course, Lord Darkseid" she nodded, a malicious smirk on her face.
"Forgive me lord, but an attack on Earth would violate your pact with Highfather" Kanto noted nervously. "New Genesis would doubtless retaliate"
Darkseid looked to Kanto, almost bemused by what he had said. It was true, New Genesis, his planet's own polar opposite, would be sure to retaliate for the attack on Earth. But Darkseid had little to fear from them.
"Where do you think I'm going next?"
"I'm telling you guys, If Luthor really hated being bald as much as he says he does, why didn't he make a cure for baldness when he had Brainiac?" Flint asked, leaning against one of the tables in the Metro Tower. "He had the resources to do it, it would only take him a few minutes, tops"
"Gotta admit, you make a good point" Superman chuckled. "I'm surprised he didn't steal any more cakes"
"That's true too. I mean, he stole forty on his own. With Brainiac, he could have stolen forty-thousand!" Flint smirked.
"Forty-thousand? But that's as many as four ten-thousands!" Wonder Woman said in mock horror.
"And that's terrible" Superman chimed in again, before all three broke into hearty chuckles. Their laughing was soon cut short as one of the many workers in the tower rushed through the door before hurrying to Superman.
"Superman, you better come outside! Quick!" the man said in a panic. At his the direness in his tone, Superman immediately rushed outside, followed closely by Flint and Wonder Woman, as well as the other heroes on duty in the tower.
When they arrived outside, they were greeted by an alarming sight; the remains of the Secret Society were standing there, waiting for them. Bizarro, Giganta, Toyman, Cheetah, Star Sapphire, Sinestro, Heatwave, Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Killer Frost, Evil Star, Atomic Skull, and Volcana stood before them, being led by Lex Luthor.
Lex stood with his arms folded behind his back, staring down Superman and the League, who were all tensed and ready for combat.
Luthor looked at him impassively before speaking. "We have a little problem"
And there you have it folks, the first part of the finale has ended, and the next part begins with a full scale invasion. Fitting seeing as that's how we started (Guess I do open at the close).
You may have noticed some changes here too. Namely Weather Wizard's survival and the inclusion of the Furies and Steppenwolf to the invasion force for next chapter. The first is because I really don't want to kill the Rogues. They're too great as far as characters go, and Weather Wizard always got the short end of the stick here. As for the expanded invasion force, that's just to raise the stakes and to make the finale more epic. See next time to see just how epic.
Yet another reference to the forty cakes has occurred, and I have also shed light on a question posed to me a few months ago about Luthor's baldness. I hadn't thought about it until it was brought up, but now I can't stop wondering why he didn't even try.
But with that said and done, it's time to move on and prepare for the next outing. Flint will join the League in fighting a full-scale invasion. An invasion led, by a destroyer!
As always, be sure to read and review. And remember to leave your questions for next time.
Ciao for now!
~WafflesTheApprentice