answers to reveiwers questions and statements:
Gamelover41592: We'll be seeing soon.
omega hunter: Spider-man will not be getting a Green Lantern Ring to fight Superman with.
darthwolf: Kory's reaction to Dick's deah will be saddening.
superpierce: For now at least.
Watcher of alternate universes: From how the comic put it, the Phantom Zone in a sense 'preserves' how you are or were when you go into it. Like how Superboy was kept alive even though his ribs were crushed and his heart was serverly damged but it never healed.
Yohnos: True, but by lack of restraint, with Zod it's lack of moral restraint. Superman, as bad as he is at the moment, still has some sense of moraility in him. Zod, has absoultuely none.
Harbinger of Kaos: He could, but Zod is a soldier and in his mind, once being free, is to eliminate any and all hostiles in the area, aka the Ultimates. Plus Zod knows, or still believes, that killing them will draw Superman to him. I have something in mind for Zod.
EroSlackerMicha: Believe it or not, it's going to get worse, way worse.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned or used.
"Alan, are you there?" Oracle's voice could barely be heard over intergalactic war happening in earth's high orbit.
Alan Scott, the first human 'Green Lantern' let out an exhausted sigh as he blasted several Sinistro Corpsmen away and created a shield to block another several from attacking him "This used to be so easy... Yes Oracle, I'm still here"
"How's it going up there?" she asked in a slightly strained voice, Batman's could faintly be heard in the background as he coordinated with Huntress, Batwoman and .
Alan looked at the battle over Earth with a worried frown, so far Superman was being kept busy by Sodam, and Mogo was keeping the majority of the Yellow Lanterns that weren't on earth busy by firing off massive waves of energy... but even the aged hero could tell that they weren't winning. Sinestro and Superman's plan to have the majority of the Sinestro corps retreat to Earth and prevent Mogo from wiping them out was working and Sodam didn't dare try to stop his fight with Superman to aid his fellow Lanterns planet side, Superman was too powerful, too dangerous to leave unattended and Alan was starting to reach the end of his ropes.
"Where's Kyle when you need him" Alan said sadly to himself before he answered Oracle's question "So far they haven't gained any ground... but neither have we. How's it going down there?"
"Bad" Oracle said with dread in her tone "The Lanterns are struggling to fight Sinestro's people while protecting any bystanders that keep getting caught in the crossfire"
A dark part of Alan, the part that lived through World War II, Korea and Vietnam wanted to say that this was war and there will always be innocents caught in the crossfire, but the man held his tongue and instead voiced a different concern "Any news on the team at Superman's fortress?"
"No" Oracle said with a frustrated sigh "We got word from Cash that they activated the portal before we lost contact"
"You think they got the Titans out?" Alan asked as he saw more Yellow Lanterns rushing towards him.
"Yeah... but we're worried something else came with them"
Alan frowned at this as he turned back to where Superman and Sodam were fighting before he blinked. For a split second, he thought he saw something fast fly past the duo, something small and glowing, something...
Red.
'What the hell?' Alan thought before he saw that Superman had punched Sodam right towards the older Lantern.
Alan quickly moved out of the way as the more dense, high speed body flew past him at a blinding speed and towards the Earth. The former Justice Society member moved to help when Superman, his face bruised and bloodied, was before him with a frown.
"Alan..." he said.
"Superman..." Alan replied with a glare as he saw several Yellow Lanterns, including Sinestro himself appear at the fallen hero's side.
"Look Alan-" Superman began before he was cut off by Sinestro as he held his ring up and aimed at Alan's head.
"Surrender, and you shall be shown mercy" the fallen Lantern threatened.
Alan snorted at this "Mercy? You wouldn't know mercy Sinestro if it would help you beat the Guardians"
Sinestro growled at the Green Lantern and was about to attack before he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Hal's glare.
"Don't even think about it Sinestro" the first Human Lantern of the Green Lantern Corps growled. After Sinestro lowered his ring, with extreme reluctance, Hal then turned towards his predecessor "Mister Scott, I was under the impression you were retired"
"I was..." Alan said with narrowed eyes as he saw several more Yellow Lanterns approaching "Until I git a call from a goof friend of mine telling me that Superman, and you and John had sided with Sinestro of all people and brought an intergalactic war to Earth!"
Hal flinched at the cold tone he was being addressed in before Superman spoke up "We didn't start this war Alan. The Green Lantern Corps did"
"and your doing a great job at keeping the collateral damage to a minimum! Dragging the Corps to Earth knowing they won't be able to fight Sinestro's people without endangering innocent lives!" Alan snapped as he glared at Sinestro's smirking form before his eyes flickered back to Superman's "Clark, I understand what it's like to lose everything, believe me, but this won't bring back Lo-"
"DON'T. SAY. HER. NAME!" Superman growled din anger.
"Or what?" Alan challenged "You going to do to me what you did to Arrow?"
Superman's response was to charge towards Alan with his fist raised before a large comical green boxing glove slammed into him, sending him back and into several Yellow Lanterns.
"Man, and I thought I could get under people's skins" Guy said as he came to hover next to Alan and gave the green armored man a quick once over "Shouldn't you be in a retirement home old man?"
"I was until your friends over there destroyed it" Alan nodded towards Sinestro and his people "It was Bingo night Guy"
"Ahh..." Guy said with a nod before he glanced at Hal, Superman and Sinestro with a smirk "You done fucked up boys. You never interrupt bingo night"
It was than that Hal's ring picked up a call from Carol Ferris and answered it "I'm a little busy at the moment Carol"
"Hal, the resistance is here!" Carol said in a worried whisper "They're attacking Ferris Aircraft!"
"WHAT!?" Hal said with wide eyes before he suddenly shot off towards Coast City.
"Where the hell is he going?" Guy said with surprise.
"I don't know kid..." Alan said as he took in Superman and the Yellow Lanterns behind him "Why don't you go check, just to make sure he'll be fine. You know how he can get when a pretty lady is involved"
Guy frowned at this as his gaze flickered towards Superman "What about you?"
"I'll catch up" Alan said as he raised his green sword at Superman while his armor repaired itself and grinned "Lord knows you'll need a Lantern down there that knows how to use a power ring watching your back"
Guy chuckled at this "Whatever you say old man"
And with that, he raced after Hal while Alan swung his sword towards Superman and unleashed a inferno of emerald green fire towards the Kryptonian while out of the corner of Alan's eye, he saw Sinestro break away from the fight and fly after Hal and Guy.
...
Peter let out a cough as he forced himself to his knees, pain racing through his body "Okay ow… that one hurt"
He looked around to see the level of destruction from Zod's attack and saw that the nearby Teen Titans were down and Superboy looked even in worse condition while most of the strike team was also down barring the First Born who was already back on his feet and Anti-venom. Peter saw Kaine not too far away on his side and just as he made to see if his brother was alright, his spider-sense flared just as something blurred in front of him and caught him by the throat and held him in the air.
"GAAH!" Peter chocked pout as he tried to pry the hand off only to be brought face to face with a smirking Zod. Peter's eyes narrowed at the disgraced Kryptonian general "You know… I'm really starting to hate your kind Zod"
Zod grinned at this as his eyes began to glow red "Do not worry, human, you won't have to hare me for very much longer-"
"Now this is a fight!" the First Born interrupted Zod as he slammed his fist into the Kryptonian's face, forcing him to release Peter as he stumbled back from the force of the blow before he caught another punch to the face, this one sending him flying into the wall with enough force to crack the crystal and shake the entire room to it's foundations.
"Thanks..." Peter coughed out as he rubbed his sore throat.
"The image of my sister seeing me standing next to you against her is too good of a opportunity to pass up" the First Born said with a dark grin as he watched Zod pick himself up and glare at Diana's elder half brother "I will not allow your death to prevent that"
"Good to know" Peter said dryly as the First Born launched himself at Peter while Anti-Venom rushed over to him while the rest of the team began to climb back to their feet.
"Ow, my everything" Kaine groaned as he lifted his mask and spat out some blood before he glanced over towards the still open portal as his spider-sense began to tingle "Ah shit..."
Peter turned towards the portal too, his spider-sense ringing like a bell as two more figures emerged from the portal, causing the wall crawler to pale.
Standing before them was Ursa, Zod's second in command and from what Peter's heard, his mate or wife and what could only be another Kryptonian that towered over both her and Zod by a good two feet and was built like a mountain of muscle. Ursa glanced at the Ultimates and the team Cash brought with him with a dark grin as she placed a hand on her hip while her eyes glowed red.
"Non?"
The taller Kryptonian grunted, more like a animal than a sentient being.
Ursa pointed towards the humans "Kill them all"
Without a second thought, Non launched himself towards the strike team with a roar.
"Scatter!" Peter yelled as he leaped back from Non as he slammed his fists into the ground, creating another, more powerful shockwave than the one Zod dealt only seconds before. Cash and his men began to open fire on Non while Grifter and Ravager moved to flank him. Jay had already sped towards Ursa who responded by shooting at him with her heat vision and on the other end of the room, Zod and the First Born were trying to physically overpower the other.
All in all, the entire operation was descending into pure chaos.
Peter landed a few meters away from the edge of the area that Non destroyed and watched as the Kryptonian was pelted with gunfire. He prepared to attack the man himself when he saw Cassie rushing to Conner's side. He quickly approached the two with Starfire and Red Robin right behind him.
"What's wrong with him?" Peter asked as he crouched by the two teens and saw just how bad in shape Conner really was.
"Superman punctured his lung with a blow to the ribs" Cassie said with a tremor in her voice as she looked up at Peter "He needs help, now!"
Peter nodded as he tried to use his commlink to call Oracle and let her know they needed an immediate evac but was met with static, causing him to swear in frustration "We're too deep inside the fortress, and the fight in space is probably taking out more satellites then Oracle can use to get a connection with us"
"What the hell is going on?" Red Robin asked as he looked back to see Non engage Grifter and Ravager while Jay raced around Ursa and delivered a series of high powered, fast moving punches that was keeping her too busy to notice Anti-Venom sneaking up behind her with a large chunk of crystal in his hands to hit her with.
Kaine was nowhere to be seen.
"Long story short, Superman's gone mad with power" Peter said with a frustrated sigh as he trued to think of a way to get Conner, who looked like he could keel over at any minute now, some place safe.
"Jesus..." Red Robin said with wide eyes.
"Yeah, tell me about it. Now stand back, I'm gonna call your ride and get you all the hell out of here" Peter said as he took a deep breath and prepared to call Zatanna.
"What about you?" Conner asked weakly as he tired to sit up only to be gently pushed back down by a teary eyed Cassie.
"We'll be right behind you... after we close that portal and keep Zod from calling in more people or something worse getting out" Peter said before he cleared his throat "Annataz!"
Suddenly a bright light appeared before it was quickly replaced by the form of Zatanna who took a quick look around the scene around her before she noticed Peter... and a certain black substance starting to leak out the side of his suit and ever so slowly begin to spread over Peter's armored form.
"You mother fu-" she began with rage in her eyes before Peter held a hand up, cutting her off.
"Later, just get the Titans out of here now and let Oracle know what's going on, now!"
Zatanna blinked at this before she and the others heard a loud thundering boom before the First Born, his chest smoldering with second and third degree burns, flew right over them an through the wall and into the next room. The force of the impact seemed to shake the entire Fortress before an enraged roar from Anti-Venom caught their attention. Peter watched with wide eyes as Zod grabbed Anti-Venom by the neck and slammed him into the ground before he lifted his foot up and slammed it right down on to Eddie's chest. The former Venom host let out a pained roar before another kick from Zod sent him flying into the wall.
Zod then glanced at Peter, Zatanna and the Teen Titans with a dark grin, his eyes glowing red from his heat vision. Peter swallowed nervously as he reached for one of his pills "Zatanna, get the Titans out of here... NOW!"
Peter just barely had tome top pop in one of the super pills before Zod flew into him and sent both of themselves through the wall on the far side of the room.
"Peter!" Zatanna cried out in horror and made to follow before she heard a pained, bloodied cough from Superboy. She stopped and glanced at the Kryptonian hybrid as blood began to leak from his mouth.
"Please..." Wonder Girl said as she looked up at the mistress of magic with tears threatening to fall from her face "Please..."
For several seconds Zatanna said nothing as her heart and sense of duty wared against one another. The thought of leaving Peter alone to fight Zod with the Symbiote attempting to gain control at the first opportunity terrified her. But letting Superboy, practically a child still, die was something she knew she could never live with either. After a few seconds, she nodded as she began to utter an enchantment that would stall Superboy's passing long enough to get him back to the tower of Fate where he could be helped by Claire.
'Peter you better still be alive and yourself when I get back or I swear to God I'm gonna kick your ass from here all the way to the Source Wall!' Zatanna thought angrily as she and the Teen Titans disappeared in a blinding light just seconds before Ursa was slammed into the ground as Jay raced by her and towards where Peter and Zod went.
...
Peter growled in pain as he and Zod slammed through another wall of Kryptonian crystal and ice before Peter raised his fists and brought them down hard on to Zod's back. The force of the blow knocked the wind out of Zod and sent him to the ground sliding while Peter used his built up momentum to handspring back to his feet and use his adhesive powers to grind to a halt.
'Damn... so that's what it feels like to get hit by a Kryptonian full force' Peter thought with a wince as he rubbed his chest while more and more of his form was being covered by Venom.
Realistically, he knew he should stop it, tear it off him before it attempted to take control... but another part of Peter knew that Venom's ability to enhance his already augmented physical prowess could be the edge he needs against Zod. After all, Zod had all of Superman's powers but honed with military training and even less restraint and mercy if that was possible.
'If I want to survive this fight, hate to say it but I'm gonna need Venom's help. Hopefully I'll still be in control long enough to throw his ass into the Phantom Zone when I'm done' Peter thought as he watched Zod climb back to his feet with a glare.
Zod's eyes flickered towards the black tar like ooze slowly moving to cover Peter's body and smirked "Ahh, so that's your secret"
"What are you talking about?" Peter asked with confusion.
"Your bonded with a Klyntar" Zod nodded towards Venom as it finally incased Peter inside itself and created the white lenses and spider symbols on his chest and back "Though it will not help you"
"What makes you say that?" Peter asked as he felt his spider-sense begin to tingle and heard a faint hiss from Venom within his mind.
"Because..." Zod said before he was suddenly in Peter's face with a dark grin "I was the one to lead the purge against them"
He struck out with blinding speed, forcing Peter to step back and raise his arms to block Zod's armored fist. The force of the impact raddled Peter's bones and caused the ground to shake. Zod's brow furrowed as Peter grabbed his fist and ever so slowly began to push back. The frown quickly gave way to a growl of frustration as he began to push back, intent on overpowering Peter. However, thanks to the 'super pill' and Venom augmenting Peter's body further, it placed his physical strength quite a bit above Zod's and allowed Peter to shove the General back before he sent several quick strikes to Zod's face, the force of which caused the Kryptonian to stumble back in surprise before an uppercut sent him flying into the ceiling.
Peter didn't waste anytime following after the General with a leap. Peter maneuvered his body so his feet impacted against Zod's chest, knocking the wind out of him as Peter crouched in and grabbed the back of the alien's head with one hand and began to repeatedly punch Zod in the face with the other. Zod threw up an arm and blocked one of Peter's punches, allowing him to headbutt the wall crawler and send him flying threw the air before he was suddenly next the enhanced human and brought his elbow don on his chest, hard.
KOOOOM!
"GAHHH!" Peter coughed out as he was slammed into the floor, his entire chest screaming in pain 'Damn, he hits hard...'
'Your lucky I cushioned the blow' Venom hissed in the back of Peter's mind 'Else he would have broken a rib or three...'
'If your expecting a thank you, forget it' Peter thought as Zod glared down at him.
The Krpytonian war criminal growled as he made to grab Peter when suddenly a red blur raced by and slammed into him, the force sending the General flying before he righted himself in midair and came to a stop. The Kryptonian shook his head as he scanned the area for what hit him before he was struck in the back and sent flying forward. This time, Zod turned and fired off a blast of heat vision and saw an older human pull a silver tin hit off his head and use it to redirect Zod's heat vision away. Zod ducked under the redirected heat vision and watched as Jay ran circle around him.
"What in Rao's name are you?" Zod growled out.
His question was answered with over a three hundred punches to his face, the back and sides of his head and the back's of his knees all in the span of a millisecond, dropping the Kryptonian to his knees.
"I'm the Flash" Jay's voice echoed around Zod before another volley of high speed punches began to pepper his form.
Peter watched with wide eyes as Jay kept speeding around Zod to the point he became invisible while the armor the General was wearing sparked and cracked at the thousands of high velocity punches being sent towards him. Zod growled in anger as he tired to track Jay but found the human to be moving too fast for even someone like him. He tried to strike out only to receive hundreds of punches to his sides in the span of a millisecond before a particularly powerful punch sent Zod flying into the wall. The Kryptonian general smashed into the crystal like surface with a yell and slumped to the floor before he looked up to see Jay racing towards him with his fist covered in some sort of lightning.
Zod's eyes glowed red before he unleashed a powerful torrent of heat vision at the approaching speedster. Jay saw thee two beams of lethal energy coming and ducked under them as he continued to race towards Zod before he slammed what Barry would call an Speed Velocity Force Punch rght into Zod's face. The force of the blow shook the entirety of the Fortress of Solitude and even the surrounding area to it's very foundations as the whole room was blinded in a bright explosion of Speed Force Lightning.
'Uh-oh' Peter thought as he saw one of the bolts fly towards him, too fast to be dodged and braced himself for the hit when he was suddenly facing a different direction while the Speed Force bolt struck into the very spot Peter was standing just milliseconds before.
"What the hell?" Peter said aloud, shocked before he saw Jay standing next to him.
The old Speedster was panting heavily, his body drenched in sweat as blood began to drip from his nose and the fist he used to hit Zod with was covered in painful looking heat blisters.
Jay gave Peter a tired grin "It's... been a while... since I moved... that fast"
"Jay!" Peter shouted in concern as he took a step towards the elder hero before he was shot in the back by twin beams of heat vision fired from Ursa who had just arrived to see her mate struck down by the very first Flash. Peter screamed in pain as he and Venom were burned by the intense weaponized solar radiation before collapsing to the ground.
Jay made to grab Peter and run before a bloodied and slightly burned Zod was suddenly behind him and struck out and broke his leg with a single kick.
KRAKK!
"AAAHHHHHH" Jay screamed in pain as his leg was bent at an unnatural angle and the skin split open from several protruding bones.
Zod seized Jay by the neck while Ursa approached Peter as he tried to climb back to his feet before his arms gave out and he collapsed with a huff.
'Dammit...' Peter thought as he tried to push through the pain that he and Venom were both feeling.
"I must admit human..." Zod said as he held Jay in his hand and smirked at the speedster as he wiped some blood from his nose "You've proven to be even more of a challenge than the Son of El... I commend you"
"Glad your impressed" Jay chocked out as he tried to vibrate his body out of Zod's grip but he was too exhausted.
That last punch really did take everything he had.
Peter gritted his teeth in rage as he stared at the smirking form of Zod as he held Jay in his hands before his eyes glowed red. Peter's eyes widened at this as his anger was replaced with horror as Zod slowly turned towards the restrained former Justice Society member and smirked.
"JAY!" Peter shouted as he tried to stand only for Ursa to stomp on his back, nearly crushing his spine.
"Down wrench" she said as she looked back up to see Zod chuckle at Jay's glare.
"People like you, you'll never win" Jay growled at the disgraced General.
"Perhaps, perhaps not... but you won't be there to see" Zod said before twin beams of heat vision shot from his eyes and right into the head of Jay Garrick, tearing through his flesh, then skull before erupting out the other end of his head all in the manner of a single second.
Peter stared in horror as Jay's head was slowly reduced to ash as Zod increased the power of his heat vision until only a smoldering stump remained of his friend's head. Zod released the now dead man and glanced towards Peter and gestured for his mate to bring the shocked human to him to finish off before aiding Non in killing off the rest. Ursa complied as she reached down and grabbed Peter by the shoulder, scowling as she felt the symbiote try to fight her only to be blasted back by a small burst from Ursa's own heat vision.
"Hsss…" it hissed in pain as it struggled to keep itself attached to Peter who was still staring at the headless form of Eddie.
Peter couldn't hear what Zod said as he stood before the spider powered man, all Peter heard was his own heartbeat, blasting in his ears like artillery fire as he stared at Jay's headless smoking corpse. He felt his body beginning to shake, not in fear, but in sheer unbridled rage. His fists closed and tightened until it was only the symbiote that kept his nails from tearing though his skin while Zod crouched before Peter and grabbed him by the chin and forced him to look the Kryptonian in the eyes which were beginning to glow red from his heat vision.
Peter stared the man in the eye as he felt his rage growing and growing, his entire body shaking with fury. Ursa seemed to feel it in her grip on him and chuckled and alerted her beloved in their native language to the incident. Zod seemed to find this amusing as he spoke again, his words just barely auditable through Peter's anger.
"Do not fret little human, you'll be joining him soon enough, as will all of your kind and that fool son of Jor-El"
Peter glared at Zod and let out a dark growl as the Kryptonain stood up and prepared to blast Peter's head off as well until his face contorted into confusion as he picked up something approaching the three with his hearing.
"What-" Zod began only to be cut off as a red light suddenly rushed past his face and attached itself to Peter's hand, creating a small explosion of red energy that sent Ursa flying back as she clutched her hand while Zod covered his eyes as the light's intensity began to hurt before he felt something slam into his chest, knocking him back several meters.
It was just then that a bright light appeared before it was replaced with Zatanna, having returned from evacuating Superboy and the rest of the Teen Titans to Tower of Fate. She scanned the area, taking in the devastation before her eyes stopped at Jay's body. Horror and filled her before she noticed Peter's current state. The wall crawler laid there hands and knees as a red light pulsed from his hand and began to slowly crawl up Peter's arm until it quickly enveloped his body in a blinding red light. Zatanna shielded his eyes for a second before the light died down and she slowly opened her eyes to see something that caused her blood to freeze like ice.
Peter stood there with a large burning Red Lantern symbol having replaced the usual white spider on his chest and back. The normally pale white lenses had turned to a dark glowing red that seemed to be leaking crimson energy while small red veins appeared around them and spread over Peter's body until it looked like Peter was covered in sickening red scars that pulsed with hate filled energy.
"P-Peter, are… are you there?" Zatanna muttered as she saw Peter turn towards her with a dark grin, red energy leaking from his mouth like crimson poison as he hissed.
"No… no, Peter… only Venom!"
And with that, a large pulse of red energy erupted from his form, blanketing the entire area in red light that could be seen even from orbit…
…
And done.
Next chapter, Venomous Red Lantern!