A/N this was supposed to be up three days ago, but I got sick and I was in no shape to write. But as a compensation this chapter is packed with action. I loved writing it. Finally some more actual combat!
"We are facing a global crisis here. Qurac has some strong support in UN. Many see their preventive attack as just. ..."
...They were Ares personal army. The fallen who lost the battle and had to pay their debt to the god of war.
"...Not even your League will stop me in time. Partially because I have other things to keep them busy. I am like ten supermen. ..."
"It's awful. Who would do such massacre." M'gann almost cried.
"A professional." Artemis gritted her teeth.
"...Miss Nightshade is in not a member, employee, nor an associate of the league. We did not sanction any mission."
"My master demanded to release the beast..."
"You are already too late. The monster was released. He will prepare the world for my arrival. Soon, you will all fall before my power." This voice was nothing like what they knew. It was... ancient.
Images of all the current events were displayed on a glowing mirror in the air. The Highfather watched with distraught. By looking into The Source, he could see glimpses of past, present and future. This confirmed what Zoe Nightshade, the newest New Goddess, told him.
"Now you understand? I need your help. New Gods are the only one that will be able to fight him. The Justice League is outmatched and too tangled into politics." She reasoned. "If earth falls under Ares' dominion, they will wage war on all universe. And by his blessing they will be able to win. The bloodshed must be stopped before he unites the Earth under himself."
Inzaya pondered her words. He had to be very careful when dealing with old gods, but Miss Nightshade made a good points. Left to his own, Ares could become a problem. At the same time, he was also constrained by the laws and tradition of New Genesis. They were forbidden from intervening in the matters of 'lower civilizations'. Until any country on earth actually embraced Ares or allied themselves with him in any official way, he had to treat this as a hearsay or at best a legitimate accusation needed to be proven.
"I see your point, but my hands are tied. Nothing I could do would be fast enough..." The old ruler bowed his head in regret.
"What! That is ridiculous!"
"I am truly sorry child. Time is not on our side." He started to walk away. "I wish there was something I could help you with, but I have no idea..."
Zoe was fuming. She thought that New Gods of all people would understand her trouble. They were at the state of constant war with Apokalips. Surely they would be willing to help with very similar problem. She thought when traveling here. Oh! How naive. By now she wasted probably two days of earth time. Her last, greatest and only hope of allies. This was all or nothing. And it turned out nothing.
While strolling through the beautiful, highly advanced town toward her chariot she encountered dreamer. The Huntress was in no mood for any talk, but pink-clad woman stopped her. "Zoe! What are you doing here? How did you even get here?"
New New Goddess sighted. "I needed help. This was the last place I could find any. Now... Now I..." She was at the loss of words. For a moment she was gonna give up, but her instincts kicked in. She was a warrior and sooner the Olympus would fall than she would surrender. "Now I must find another way. By now Ares have already plunged the world into conflict."
"That's awful. I wish Forever People could help." Dreamer sighted. "But like Highfather said, we are forbidden."
"By whom? Who can forbid thou?" An idea formed in Zoe's head.
"The guardians of the universe. They are living embodiment of emotion spectrum just as New Gods are embodiment of Source. In the past, we wanted to help lower species achieve greatness, but it proven... dangerous." Dreamer was clearly ashamed of whatever incident happened, but Zoe did not pry. "They are the ones behind Green Lantern Corps."
"Can they help? Can they do something?" A new hope glimmered in her eyes as the huntress spoke.
"I do not know. New Gods leave us alone as long as we abide to the treaty. I have no idea what they will do."
"It's worth a shot..." Zoe sighted.
"I wish you all the best. Maybe we shall meet again, this time in less... dire situation?" Dreamer sounded genuine.
"I... I would like that. You are a good friend." After a moment of hesitation, the huntress admitted. If it was not for dreamer, she would probably wait too long to make a move on Percy. Or she would keep hating all the males. It was wrong, but it took some outside perspective to understand. Meeting only the worst of the kind for millennia tend to bias one's judgement.
With haste, Percy went to her chariot and pulled a crystal which contained map of the known universe, a handy thing she borrowed from Superman. He asked her only not to break it before running off to another league emergency. Something about monster in metropolis, but she had to hope that others will take care of it.
Metropolis
November 15, 5:33
On the outskirts of Metropolis what remained of the Justice League bravely tried to make their stand. The monster that media already dubbed Doomsday was relentless in his march of destruction. When he appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the night, first few leaguers were deployed. Batman and Captain Atom were closest ones, so they responded fastest, but the beast proven more than capable of wiping the floor with two sorry heroes. More leaguers responded, but they made a crucial mistake of coming in waves. One by one, the heroes were knocked out or they suffered great bodily harm. Green Arrow had his left arm broken by debris thrown by enraged monster. Emerald Archer tried to distract Doomsday from going after group of citizens and managed to taunt him out of the most populated city area, but finally the beast got him. It it wasn't for Flash, Oliver would be ended there and then, but Scarlet Speedster managed to move Emerald Archer out of the way. Barry then proceeded to strike the monster at several angles until beast, tired of trying and failing to catch the zooming hero, punched the ground. The sheer force broke asphalt in fifty feet radius and shockwave was strong enough to knock Barry away. Doomsday then jumped at the hero, but he was intercepted by Captain Marvel.
Two Goliath exchanged punches one for one, but neither was really being harmed here. Instead, the mystical hero opted for another tactic. He grabbed gray titan in the headlock and exposed his chest to sky.
"SHAZAM!" The discharge of mystical energy traveled from the sky. It hit Doomsday right in his chest, but to Marvel's surprise, the beast did not even feel it. He seemed to disperse all the magic just before it made contact. There was no time to analyze it now, because before he knew it, the red-clad hero was tossed onto the ground. Billy stood up and readied himself for another round. He tried to punch Doomsday, but before his first connected the monster punched him in the face. Beast then repeatedly pummeled the young hero. First bruises appeared. Finally, the one punch was strong enough to send Captain Marvel flying away. He crashed through a wall into a living room of a house. He silently prayed that the building was empty as brutal killer machine broke through the roof. Marvel dodged and then reciprocated. He put all the strength of Heracles into this one punch and it sent Doomsday through another wall back onto the street. Captain dashed after. The giant crater on the floor in which Doomsday laid was slowly filling with water as apparently the pipe broke. This gave the hero an idea. He flew to nearest lamppost and tore it off the ground. Doomsday was still dazed from the punch. Using two wires left from where the pole was just a second ago, her tore them further and flew back to the pool of water. Beast prepared to take the punch but instead he was met with sudden shock of thousands of volts traveling through his body. The whole quarter went dark.
Marvel hoped that it was over. He kept the wires in just for a moment longer to make sure when suddenly a hand shot from Doomsday and grabbed him by the neck. Monster was now ignoring the electric currents traveling through him and held the hero high by his neck. Some sparks jumped over to Captain, painfully stinging him. The beast then pummeled him down into the charged water. Billy wanted to cry in pain as the high voltage went through him. The only thing stopping him was that his head was fully submerged. If he did, the water would get into his lungs. Still, slowly, his consciousness escaped him bit by bit. In last desperate attempt he punched the large arm holding him. He heard a sound of shattering bone, but it was his own fist. This time he finally let out a cry of pain and almost immediately water filled his lungs. He had one last trick that could save him or kill him. But since he was dying anyway, the risk was worth it.
"SHAZAM!" He shouted through bubbles of water. Lightning fell from the sky and instantly made all the water evaporate. Doomsday was not affected by it in any way, but Captain Marvel turned into Billy Batson. The monster was not ready for the sudden change in shape, so Billy managed to slip out of his grasp. He wanted to change again, but the monster lunged at him. He landed right in front of him creating a shockwave that pushed him away. He hit the wall and fell unconscious. Monster wanted to finish him off when finally more Leaguers arrived. Hawkman, Hawkwoman and the Reds appeared. Five more heroes took battle stance and rushed together at the enemy.
Somewhere over Atlantic Ocean
November 15, 11:16
Bioship was traveling at high speed barely below the clouds. They could not go above and into orbit without triggering at least some satellites. Their destination? Qurac.
After Lady Shiva was freed from... whatever this creepy thing was, they handed her into police custody. League was dealing with them monster, but they had other problems. Apparently, Zoe was now number one most wanted for attack on General Assembly of United Nations. She contacted them, telling that she was 'leaving to look for allies'. Now the monster was tearing down Metropolis, god of war was about to pull the world into greatest conflict in the history of mankind, amazons started preparing to march on the Qurac and anyone who dares to try and stop them, Atlantis became torn between their ancient treaty with Amazons and recent pacts made with NATO and to add to the chaos both Green Lanterns were still off-world and Doctor Fate was AWOL.
M'gann said it could not be any worse and then the universe decided to prove her wrong.
*few hours before*
Superboy and Tempest handed over tied Lady Shiva to the police and returned to the rest of the team. They just contacted the league and received a full update. It was not looking good. If they had to imagine end of the world, this would be pretty much it. Maybe there would be more alien ships in case of Wally or some cool giant dinosaur if you asked Garth. Who knew Atlanteans did appreciate monster movies.
"What happens now?" Artemis asked. "I mean what can we do? League is trying to control the situation, but it's clear that it's way out of hand."
"The only thing we can do..." Aqualad stated solemnly, "Is do our best. We can't give up hope. It is not yet too late." He tried to lift their spirits, but it didn't work that well.
"I fear this might be the beginning of the end." Garth said sadly while holding Tula's hand. The girl remained completely silent, opting to just stay close to her lover.
"Don't worry. There is still Percy. He defeated Ares twice. And the league will deal with the monster." Robin tried to retain the good attitude, but maybe he overdid himself because M'gann was too cheered to remember rule number zero.
"Yeah. At least it won't get any worse than it already is, right?" This made Wally, Artemis and Zatanna grasp.
"Oh no. You had to say it? Really? You know what happens now?" The green archer moaned.
Right on cue, the communicator beeped. Kaldur was the one to pick up. "Yes?"
"Uh... Hi? I am Marie Logan. There is an unconscious boy in some torn clothes. He managed only to say 'The Team' before passing away. Who am I speaking too?" This woman was clearly in much more panic that she showed.
"This is Aqualad. Miss Logan. Did he by any chance carry a Trident?"
"He does have a tattoo of a trident on his right arm..." She spoke over the comm.
"Percy!" The others, who all listened to the talk, grasped. Aqualad tried to remain calm, but he was starting to get worried.
"Please listen. In his belt there should be a vial with liquid looking similar to apple juice. Please pour it over any wounds he might have and make sure he drinks some. If you give us the address, we will come pick him up as soon as possible. Do you know who he is? Or who I am."
"He is a superhero Neptune. You are Aquaman's protegee. Just because I live in a desert does not mean I don't watch the news." Woman now sounded angry.
"Good. Please wait patiently. We are coming." The Atlantean ended the call and turned to his teammates. "Looks like we are going to Qurac after all." He said and showed them the address.
*Now*
They were only half-an-hour away. The tension was high. From what they managed to get, Percy appeared in the middle of the day on their couch, bleeding profoundly. His body was littered with wounds and bruises. He was in his superhero outfit until he pressed the button on his belt and it all turned into his normal clothes. He handed Marie a communicator and managed to say 'the team' before passing out.
Right now they spoke only once more. His condition was stable, but he was still unconscious. They had to get him out of there before anyone realizes. Only M'gann seemed overly excited with all this situation.
"Hey, M.? Are you okay?" Artemis decided to finally ask. "Given everything that happened recently and for someone flying to literal war zone, you seem quite... ecstatic."
"I am about to meet Marie Logan. Of course I am enthusiastic. She is my idol." she noticed the weird looks they were sending her. "I mean... Uh. The work. Her work. I mean the work she is doing for wildlife preservation." She started to babble. The rest opted to ignore her strange behavior. The pressure was more than probable explanation.
During their flight, they had to avoid several air patrols. Luckily, there was no air battle here. The front line was more to the north for now. This region was of no strategic value with minimum human activity. Well, outside of the Logan Animal Sanctuary that is. The camouflage mode was some help, but many of the aircraft were equipped with state-of-art scanners and various other tech. Finally, they saw a single house in the middle of savanna. The bio-ship approached and landed in the yard between the main building and the barn. A middle-aged woman walked out of the building. She was a Caucasian female with red hair, blue eyes and freckles. Her hair was kept back in a short ponytail. Marie wore firm boots, cargo shorts, and a safari jacket over a white shirt.
"Good. You are finally here. I was starting to get worried. With war raging everywhere I feared you might get shot down or something." She stopped dead in her track when she saw M'gann. If the martian changed her skin color to white, they could pass as sisters. A younger boy also run from the house.
"Mom! A spaceship just landed. I saw it from my room!" he then stopped and saw a bunch of superheroes. Sure, one randomly popped in their living room a while ago, but he was some random dude. This were Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash... and a bunch of other superheroes. "Whoa..." He then saw Miss Martian. "You look just like my mom, but... green."
The team sent Miss Martian a questioning stares. They could see the resemblance, but somehow they felt there was more than just that. M'gann looked like she wanted nothing more than to go camouflage and hide. There was a kind of uncomfortable silence for a moment before Robin finally spoke up. "How is Neptune?"
Marie was glad for the change of subject. "We patched him up. Whatever was in this vials probably saved his life. His wounds didn't close but bleeding diminished enough that we could actually do something. He is still asleep though."
"Figures. Shadow Travel is a very taxing technique." Tula spoke like she was an expert. "What? Remember what he told us about Nico? According to him the guy could sleep for weeks." She smiled triumphantly to Garth. She always had better memory than him.
"Let's see him." Kaldur suggested.
"Right this way."
Metropolis
November 15, 7:20
All three reds were now in pieces. Their cores were miraculously intact, so they could be repeaired, but the damage they sustained was near-critical. Hawkwoman and Hawkman were both unconscious. He had both of his wings broken while she had shattered ribs and her arm was dislocated. Their Nth Metal armor provided to be pretty much useless against the beast. Doomsday's body was unfazed by the properties of alien material. Instead, he wiped the floor with them. Hawks tried to use dive-attack technique, but monster just caught both of them and then proceeded with beating them to unconscious. While unconscious Shayera was dying from internal bleeding, Katar tried to fight despite his injuries. He stood between rampaging beast and his wife with Mace raised high and ready. Doomsday charged and Hawkman readied himself to deliver one last, desperate attack. Monster closed the distance in fraction of second and was met with devastating swing, but it was a moment too late. The spike on his knuckle connected with the armor and pierced it. Doomsday lifted the impaled hero before discarding him. It decided that the bleeding would kill him soon enough.
Beast was about to proceed with it's killing of Shayera when in the distance sonic boom could be heard. A blue blur zoomed through the sky and slammed into Doomsday at mach seven. The force thing didn't stop there and instead picked the monster up and flew with him. The impact wave shattered the remaining windows in the now evacuated sub-urbs.
Superman was flying as fast as he could. At the same time, he was moving Doomsday by delivering rapid punches to his face and gut. They were above Metropolis when suddenly monster grabbed kryptonian by it's neck and spun him around before using the extra momentum to launch him down at the city. The man of steel landed in the middle of city park, sending dirt flying in all directions and obliterating the whole place. Crater was thirty feet deep at the lowest point. Before Clark could stand up the falling mass of bones and unbreakable skin pummeled into him. Kryptonian absorbed most of the impact, but he felt it. Hard.
The monster started to give back for all the punches during their brief flight. Superman in response fired laser beam at the beast, temporarily blinding him. He had to take it away from the city. Even if they evacuated most of it, there could still be some civilians and even if not, the damage from such fight could level this place. Before he could do anything, monster flung his hand almost randomly and backhanded the man of steel. Clark was sent flying away. He crashed through several concrete walls of the nearby skyscraper until he finally stopped on the other side. Doomsday was not far behind.
The two landed in front of Lexcorp building. The only upside of this situation was that Clark was there faster. He had enough time between landing and arrival of his opponent to stand up and get ready. He was now floating slightly above the ground. Doomsday crashed in front of him, sending a shockwave in front of him. Should Superman stand on the ground, he would surely be knocked off balance, but the monster was predictable enough. Beast relied only on pure strength and ferocity and could be defeated with tactic. Batman would be proud of Clark right now. He was actually putting to use what the dark knight tried to teach him for years.
I can't defeat him by overpowering him, but he must have some weakness. If I just say up long enough to find it I might be able to knock him out. It sounded very similar to Bruce's voice in his head. Then, Clark heard another, slightly different. Not killing isn't always an option. Sometimes you must choose between one life of a villain and millions of innocent. It sounded like a cross between Percy and Diana. They both made such arguments more than once. He had no idea what was the drive in this monster, but he didn't show any sings of intelligence. Just mindless rage.
The two titans stared at one another for what felt like hours, but was more like fifteen seconds at best. Then, the beast roared and lunged at the man of steel. He ducked and instead delivered an uppercut. Then, as a follow up a quick series of punches to the unarmored area of beasts stomach. Superman then flew up, only to go down again delivering an incredibly strong hay-maker. To his surprise, Doomsday just shrugged off most of his attacks like they were nothing. The monster instead grabbed him by the neck and did an overhead throw. He wanted to jump onto the hero, but Superman fired lasers on him with such force that he was actually tossed back a few feet. It gave him time he needed to stand up.
To his dismay, Doomsday was pretty much not even scratched while he was already feeling some wounds. His skin was not pierced in any place, but the stain each punch put on his body was tremendous. The monster did not wait for him to feel better. Instead, he lunged at him and delivered haymaker on his own. Clark realized too late that because he was flying, the force would send him away. He crashed few dozen feet away. Shaking his head to clear the remaining dizziness, the man of steel then dashed back, achieving mach seven almost immediately. The soundwave created by him moving on hypersonic speed shattered all the windows in the area. He smashed into the monster with one strong punch to his lower abdomen, which was the least armored part, right where the bone plate on his chest ended. The monster cried in pain as the very thing that was supposed to protect him pierced his skin. Dark, almost black blood flowed a bit, but the wound quickly sealed. Superman still used this opportunity to punch him few times, drawing a bit more of his blood before all finally healed.
The beast roared, but Clark could also hear another type of roar: the sound of helicopter engine. He looked up to see Daily Planet chopper. Inside was, of course... Lois Lane. He could hear her transmitting live from the fight. The man of Steel mad a crucial mistake of looking in that direction. Monster also turned his head there. Before Superman could react, he lunged at the machine. His boned knuckles cut through the tail and sent the machine tumbling out of control. Clark dashed without thinking. He caught the helicopter and placed it on the nearest roof.
"Superman. Any comment on the situation?" Lois Lane was a journalist before she was woman, human or a living being. It seemed to be hard-coded into her DNA. It was the only explanation why in the middle of a battle between two force of nature she found time to ask them for a comment.
"Lois. Listen to me! Get out of here now. Hide, run, but most importantly stay out of this. It's not safe." Clark spoke, hoping to appeal to her sense of self-preservation. But he forgot that she exchanged it for her second Pulizer prize.
"No way. You are here. We are perfectly safe." She was stubborn too. Clark could hear the monster smashing through different buildings down below, searching for him. Making a split-second decision, he fried the camera with his laser vision and crushed the microphone.
"transmission over. Get! Away!" Before she could react in any possible way (rage and send him to sleep on the couch for next month at least), he was already gone.
Superman flew over the trail of destruction. In the distance, he could see the monster tearing through empty cars and buildings. He was charging at the giant statue of the man of steel holding the globe on his shoulders. Poetic to many, stupid to Clark. He dashed forward and slammed into the beast. He pushed Doomsday into the statue and melted the bronze it was made of. White-hot liquid covered the creature as tons of metal formed a mound around him. The metal cooled and imprisoned Doomsday under over ten tons of durable material. The man of Steel thought this enough to imprison anyone, but yet again the monster abolished every thesis regarding his strength and managed to shatter it all from the inside. The elements flew in every direction. Some embbed themselves in the walls or concrete, others devastated more cars. Some assaulted Superman who closed his eyes and withstood the attack, but one really unlucky projectile broke right between his eyelids and got inside. Clark screamed as unbearable pain went through his head. While the skull stopped it from damaging anything important and the eye could regenerate, it would first need to be surgically removed before healing process could start. Enraged, Clark zoomed at doomsday and delivered yet another series of punched to his lower abdomen. It was clear that while most things were useless against the monster, his own body was the best weapon. Thus, the man of steel aimed his attacks at the points where his bone armor connected with the skin or where he could tear some of the spikes.
Suddenly, the sound of thrusters filled the air. A giant mecha-armor flew to the scene. On it's chest was Lexcorp log. Above it was a small TV screen on which was head of Lex Luthor himself. Not far behind it was Lois Lane and her cameraman. Of course she had backup equipment in the chopper.
"Now the whole world can see that aliens only bring destruction." Luthor spoke with pride and anger in his voice. While he had his back turned to camera, it was clear he wanted to make a scene. "Only we, humans can save ourselves. It goes like... THAT!" Suddenly his left hand, which Clark only now noticed was a giant canon, fired a green beam of energy at both other combatants. While Doomsday was pretty much unfazed by it, Superman screamed in pain. Kryptonite laser.
Monster lunged at the mech. A bubble shield appeared around it, but monster kept punching it. Slowly, with each punch, the energy shimmered more and more. Finally, it let go and monster was free to tear out the arm with cannon. Inside, Lex was panicking. The beam he fired was supposedly strong enough to cut through diamonds with ease and yet it did nothing against the monster. Doomsday already destroyed both of his hands. Luthor raised right leg of his armor and aimed it at his adversary. Beam of hot fire hit him in the chest and at the same time propelled the billionaire back. He balanced himself and several plates on his back opened. Barrage of missiles flew out and hit the monster square in the chest. He only grunted and for a moment Luthor could swear that it smiled at the attempt.
The armor's energy reserve was rapidly decreasing. Lex checked, only to see the kryptonite core which powered the whole invention was damaged. Any second it could blow up. Thinking fast, Luthor pressed eject button, but only after activating thrusters and launching the machine at the monster. The powerful construction crashed with killing machine. The explosion that resulted destroyed large chunk of the road and surrounding area, but Doomsday was barely scratched. Few wounds here and there which all closed almost immediately.
Damn you Thrawn. This experiment of yours might cost us everything.
Doomsday came with a response to the attack: smash the human who hurt him. The relentless beast lunged at Luthor, but the billionaire was saved last moment by blue blur.
"Great. Now whole world saw me get saved by big blue scout." Lex grumbled. He then turned to camera "Thank you Superman. I don't know what would happen without you..." To keep his PR high, he had to act like he was grateful. Ugh. could this day get worse?
Superman already was far away, locked in blow-for-blow battle with Doomsday. They were still in the crater created by the kryptonite explosion.
It's pointless. I can't subdue him. He is too resistant. None of my attacks work. Clark was still blind on one eye. he couldn't even risk using heat-vision, least he was ready to risk permanent damage to his eyeball. Should he melt the bronze in it, it would damage the nerves and probably make the semi-blindness permanent. Clark looked back to see Lois at the edge of the crater. I must stop him. I can't let him run rampart through my city, my country, my planet! I. must. save. LOIS!
With the last effort, Superman flew back, only to five at his opponent. He started to spin with his hands in front of him. It was like a drill was going at Doomsday with mach seven and god only knows how many rotates per second. His hands connected with Monster's chest, but while he did hear shattering sound, and the bone protrusion that protected his vital organs shattered, together with probably most bones in the beast's body, Clark felt excruciating pain pass through his chest. He looked down to see a hand going through it. Not a hand, a spike from knuckles of Doomsday. While the monster's body started to fall lifeless on the ground, Superman felt his strength slowly leave him as well. The bone was still there, probably the only thing that stopped him from dying. When the two titans fell, the cape got caught in exerting pole and tore from the suit. For only a brief moment he was stuck to it, but it was enough to move him from the bone protrusion. As he felt the blood sip from him and his consciousness escape, the last thoughts were directed toward Lois. He cherished the fact she was safe. He did what had to be done to save her. The woman he loved was no longer in danger...
Forgive me...
Cameraman and Lois looked down the crater. They saw two lifeless-like bodies. The whole world watched how the greatest hero known to them died, protecting the city he loved. The journalist felt her legs give up on her. She fought against her own body to get to her lover. Her high heels were not helpful but she managed. Clark was bleeding profoundly. The large hole in his chest was just enough prove of how bad his condition was. She wanted to hold him, to hug him, to at least tell him it would be okay. She wanted to tell him that everything was done.
"You won. The monster is dead... Now it's time to go home." She was crying. Her tears fell on his lifeless body. The cameraman ended the transmission, unable to hold his own tears. Today, earth lost it's greatest citizen.
Qurac
November 15, 14:33
Heroes stayed inside with Percy. The further examination proven that he was more or less stable, but it was dangerous to move him until his wounds closed completely. They decided to stay inside while the Logans conducted their daily activities at the sanctuary. It was for the best. Should they've been seen, it would cause great deal of trouble to the family, who was so kind as to let them stay and saved Neptune's life.
"Ugh. The waiting is killing me. There is nothing to do here. And to add to that, I don't even know what is going on out there since we are under 'complete radio silence'. Stupid war." Wally kicked the wall. Of course in the fit of rage he forgot to control himself. A pained yealp escaped his mouth. Artemis let out a chuckle and walked to him.
"Now you are bored, anxious and in pain." She gave him a triumphant smile before helping him stand. She turned to her teammates. "I will go get him patched."
"Miss Logan said that the first aid kit is still in Per... Neptune's room." Tula wanted to follow them, but Artemis gestured her to stay sited.
"Thanks. I will manage."
The two of them entered Percy's room. Artemis put the speedster down on the chair and looked around for the first aid kit. While he took off his shoe, she spoke.
"Do you... do you think we can win?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't we?" He answered immediately. Too fast even for him. She could see through the illusion, but he didn't sound like he tried to convince her. He was trying to assure himself.
"You can't" They both heard the voice in their heads. "Not with them. But I give you a choice. You can die here, or accept my invitation. Pour the potion I gave you into his mouth and you shall be ensured to thrive in the new order."
Just for a second, they saw themselves having a happy life. Away from the danger. Wally was a scientist, the head of the Star Labs and she was a teacher at nearby school. The whole happy life under new regime flashed and was gone before even second passed. The images felt more like memories that were embed into their minds in an instant.
Artemis felt her hand instinctively go to the pocket in which she kept the vial, but stopped half-way. She looked to see Wally have almost the same reaction. Two of them exchanged glances and nodded.
"No!" They both said aloud. Not loud enough for their teammates to hear, but they wanted to make it clear that this is final. That they are willing to die if it means protecting their friends.
"Ashame. You had so much potential in you. A daughter of two assassins and the man who survived drinking ichor. But you are mistaken. Your death will protect no one. Because you do not die today."
Suddenly, both the archer and speedster felt their respective cursed items pulse with power and in an instant, any and all resistant was gone. All the pain, all the rage, all the love, all the emotions, all of them was emptied. Only thing that remained were bodies. The soulless Artemis pulled the vial and walked to Percy. She poured the content into his mouth and then made a pseudo-bandage on Wally's leg. Without his 'me', his body did not process pain. In their puppet-master's mind there was no need to actually fix his body.
When the two returned to the room, the others were just trying to watch the news. A reporter showed scene of Superman's death. They all watched in horror as the man of Steel fell. There was no question about him being dead. His chest was pierced up to the point where the bone was sticking from the other side. They both laid in the crater: The monster and Knight who defeated him, saving the princess, alas at the cost of his life.
The feed ended with Lois Lane holding the lifeless body and crying. Seeing the scene, both Wally and Artemis walked out of the room. Nobody really suspected anything. The team shrugged it as their way to deal with it. Everyone mourned. Superboy wanted to deny it, but there was suddenly this void inside of him that he could not explain. There were no tears at his side, but he felt grief.
OA
Zoe was led in front of the Guardians by two lanterns, neither of whom was human. She stood in front of multiple pillars formed from dark green stones. Above each such pillar floated a short man in red robe with symbol of the Green Lantern Corps on it. They all had grey skin and white hairs. Another alien, who stood by the platform came to her. He had pink skin and his black hair was combed back. The most prominent feature of his face was a mustache that screamed 'villain from early television'. He spoke in some language that Zoe could not understand, but luckily it was translated by his ring.
"You stand before the Guardians of the Universe. State your business." He sent her a glare which meant to say that he was superior to her in every possible way. To his surprise and dread, she responded with different glare. Sinestro was not an easily frightened man, but it sent chill down his spine. It was the type of glare that without any words communicated an idea: 'I can kill you in hundred way before you managed to blink and I am willing to follow up on that threat'. To say Zoe was furious would be an understatement of the decade. Her emotions were going haywire. She was scared, worried, angry, irritated, anxious and dozen other things at the same time. The fear about her newfound home and her boyfriend. The worry for the future and the friends she made. Angry at the mortal world for playing into Ares hands. Irritated with how much formality she had to go through to get help. Anxious about being about to speak with her real last hope. That is unless there was some other super-powerful organization in this universe she didn't know about.
"I come to ask for help. Green Lantern Corps is organization dedicated to creating peace across space. On earth, the old god known as Ares managed to instigate a war that by now have probably already engulfed the whole planet. His plans are unclear, but he is not to be taken lightly. He enchanted the leaders of the world, making it impossible for them to form any substantial resistance." She tried to speak clearly and act diplomatically, but her fuse was practically nonexistent at the moment. It would take one spark for her to blow up with a force of a nuclear warhead.
"This seems like planets internal conflict. Why should we worry ourselves with this?" The guardian in the middle, apparently their leader, spoke. This was it.
"Maybe because you stupid, useless males claim to stand guard of peace in the universe. Ares has only two goals: Power and instigating conflict. He is the ultimate incarnation of bloodlust and anger. His mere presence can make frieds jump at their throats! So move your small gray podices and go do something!" She screamed at them. Her silver aura flared and for a moment all present could smell the scent of pine trees native to earth.
"You will not achieve anything through violence here, child. We have law against intervening in planet's internal affairs. Green Lanters can work with authorities to stop criminals, but war is a matter of politics. There are never clear boundaries between good and bad. Each side always have some right to them." Another guardian spoke.
"Except when one of the sides is literary under the command of a being that feeds of conflict. Ares will decimate the population if it means he gets more power. What do you think will happen once there is no more fighting on earth. He might be stupid, but he knows that there are other alien civilizations. He is the last old god of war. He is the sole owner of this domain. And war always has it's followers. They will be those who will follow him. Be it for power, glory, riches, or maybe from sole love of violence. He will not stop unless someone stops him. If you are just wasting my time, I will leave. But I will remember that in the future. And immortals tend to have a very good memory." Her face was full of rage. There was not a fraction of understanding for the Guardians' actions. In her eyes they were cowards hiding behind laws they put in place. She sent them the worst death stare ever. Her silver aura was flaring around, ready to explode any second.
Guardians started to chat between themselves. Some sent her wary glares. Finally, their leader spoke. "Guardians will debate on this matter now, but you are no longer needed here. You shall be escorted to a place where you can rest and aw..." He didn't finish, because Zoe finally exploded. Silver light engulfed everything, accompanied by scream of rage. For a moment, everyone were blinded.
"I am done. I no longer care what will thou and thee comrades decide. I am leaving for earth to try and do something. Should thou decide to help, I shall await it in action, not by sitting with my hands crossed." She then ignored the lanterns who tried to escort her and walked to her chariot. Nobody dared to try and say anything. Their rings could pick up emotions radiating from her and they all came to the same conclusion: stopping her right now is the worst way to commit suicide. Jumping into a star is at least quick.
Artemis and Wally floated in darkness. Outside of them, there was nothing. Only blackness in all directions. They had no idea what was going on or what was happening to them. Well, Wally had some idea...
"Great. My soul was sucked from the body... again." He groaned. At least with the helmet of fate he had hope of being freed. Here, there was nothing. The only good thing was that he and Artemis were here together. Find your own little spitfire, one who won't let you get away with nothin'.
It sounded almost like Kent Nelson's voice. At least he is happy.
"Say... WHAT!?" Artemis screamed at him on top of her lungs. "Soul? Sucked from the body? We are dead? I can't be dead." She (or rather her spiritual self) started to hyperventilate.
Wally remembered how Kent explained it. "We aren't dead yet... I hope. Our souls were just forced from our bodies. We no longer control our actions."
"Souls... Since when do you believe in magic."
"I... I accepted it the night I thought you would die from this stupid necklace. It was in spur of a moment. I just... I could not think of a scientific way to save you and I was willing to accept everything. Kaldur said that my denial was about control, so guess I was willing to relent this little control I had if it meant saving you..." He knew he sounded dorky and cliche, but to his surprise she floated closer to him and pulled him into a kiss.
It lasted for unknown amount of time. Neither needed to breathe and there there was nobody to interrupt them. Finally, she broke it. "It's... I am moved. Now let's figure some way out of here."
"Yeah... probably not going to happen. I have no idea how to escape it. We can't even bargain with whoever is holding us. So unless you are sorceress supreme of earth and know how some spell to get us out..." He was suddenly interrupted by a chuckle. They both turned to see a boy younger than them standing on the darkness like it was solid. Or he was standing in the air. The boy was at best fourteen, with pitch black hair that almost melded with the surrounding and contrasting pale skin. He wore oversized bomber jacket, black cargo pants, black heavy combat boots and a shirt saying 'Back in Black' and a symbol of two torches. They noticed two black swords with some violet glimmer on them attached to the boy's belt.
"I don't know any sorceress who could do that, but maybe I can help you. Name's Nico Di'Angelo and I am the god of magic among other things." He said to them and smiled. "My father will want to speak with both of you."
A/N Part two done, time for part three of the endgame. It's not over yet. I plan one more chapter after endgame to sum up everything and clear up some side-plots. And give some teaser of Hero's Darkness. Have a nice day and don't forget to smile.