Land of Heroes: DC Style comes from Harbinger of Kaos. I just write the reactions, and I still down own any of the characters.

Chapter 11: Injustice for all part 1

Everyone sat in silence as the thought of Orm being still alive. A part fo them wondered if the mad Atlantean was still alive. If so, why hadn't he made a move against them yet. Was he simply biding his time, and if so, what would his next move be?

Well, most of them were thinking this. Flash was trying to figure out where all those batarangs were coming from. Batman wasn't even on the ship.

They were brought out of their thoughts when the screen started to show a new image.

"Batman, Lantern what's your status?" The Spartan spoke as he and Superman hovered in the air above the Lexcorp's main headquarters.

"Waiting on Luthor to spill the beans Chief, Is J'onn in?" Stewart replied.

"Negative Sergeant, his on route and will land in 5."

"Oh, I think I know this," Superman said, "This is where we took down Luthor."

Flash said, "Ah nostalgia."

J'onn said, "A good day for us, wasn't it?"

Why pray tell are they there you ask?

The answer was that they had recently uncovered a smuggling scheme to sell high grade military weaponry to less than friendly elements outside of the country; having stopped the transaction they began to investigate it.

Batman and Cortana confirmed that they came from Lexcorp and therefore prepared a sting operation hoping to put an end to the man's illegal transactions and finally put him where he belongs.

John would have preferred to put a bullet in the man's head…with his hands. To him he was the worst of the worst as he profiteered from the suffering his weapons caused under the front of a charitable organization.

"It's moments like this I'm glad we've gotten our new friend here," Lantern said, "but he's scary sometimes."

Diana said, "I agree. While getting rid of Luthor would have solved a lot of problems. It would also cause some serious backlash from the power vacuum."

"Easy big guy, we'll get him and make sure he doesn't hurt anyone anymore." Cortana said through the MJOLNIR.

"She's right don't let him drop you down to his level." Superman said to the man.

"You are a far better man than I Superman, my training and experiences tell me I should go in there and end him, you on the other hand surprise me with your unwavering sense of justice and morality."

"Sigh, trust me Luthor is a close second to pushing me over the line, he's had this grudge against me ever since we met all those years ago." The man said tiredly.

"Why does he do it? It makes no sense, I mean according to his profile the man's has issues that's for sure but I still can't get his hatred of you." Cortana said as she had tried to find some method to the criminals they faced.

"It isn't hatred it's jealousy, he believes that because I have all these powers I should lord over all mankind like some God, instead I choose to help the common man, to him who has power and abuses it that is some kind of affront."

Superman said, "Yeah that sums up old Luthor pretty well."

"The man clearly was disturbed before he met you Superman, and if I may be so bold the world would be better off without him, but that's my opinion."

Clark didn't say anything but knew that John was only thinking of the world at large, he respected his dedication to doing what was right even when his duty demanded he take action.

"Heads up boys its showtime." Cortana spoke as J'onn in the form of Superman entered the building, minutes after it started glowing a pulsating emerald green.

"Kryptonite…" Superman muttered.

"It's fairly obvious he was expecting you." John replied as he used his X-ray mode and zoomed in, Superman followed suit using his natural ability to help him.

Inside Lex Luthor's office…

There stood the corrupt business man holding a glowing rock in his hand over a weakened "Superman".

"So this is how it ends…" He spoke in a satisfied tone "…you know I've been carrying this around for years waiting for just the right moment." He said as he held up the rock fragment.

"But now that it's here I almost feel…let down…almost."

"Arg! Urg!" the Martian mimicked in perfect fashion, as they had used the fragment they took to see the effects of kryptonite on Superman to better fulfill the roll, briefly that is.

"You know J'onn if the whole super hero thing hadn't worked out, you would have made a killing as an actor," Arrow said crossing his arms.

J'onn said, "Well, if I ever retire, I know what career to look into. Either that or a detective. The ability to read minds would do wonders in law enforcement."

Lantern said, "Or in screening rooms for the military. No better way to make sure someone is mentally sound by getting in their head."

J'onn said, "True, but there would probably be issues involving privacy, if I was found out."

"Any last requests?" Luthor asked mockingly as he held it over his long-time nemesis.

"Luthor…I have to know…those weapons you sold to the terrorists…How…?"

"How did I get them through customs?" He finished for him before continuing "A gift here, a bribe there…when money talks people listen." He gloated as he enjoyed the suffering of his adversary.

Unaware that Batman and Lantern were directly outside the office listening.

"We got him guys." Lantern spoke into the earpiece.

-Prepare to move in on J'onn's mark."

Both agreed and waited for the signal.

Luthor pranced around the room, playing with the kryptonite as he continued his victory speech.

"Like Stavros at the shipping company or Schneider the Interpol agent who looked the other way." He said in front of the window, therefore did not see the man get up until he was addressed by a SEEMINGLY rejuvenated "Superman".

"Looks like you're going to have company in prison."

"GASP!" he ran to the man and placed the Kryptonite in front of him.

"It can't be! The Kryptonite!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"Won't protect you any longer." J'onn said in his own voice as he morphed into his chosen form.

*No! NO!* Luthor thought as control over the situation was spiraling away from him.

"Hold on," Flash said, as he zoomed out of the room, returning with a camera moments later, he snapped a photo.

"Knowing Wally," Flash said, "he would have wanted to take a picture of the look on Luthor's face when it all came down."

"NO!" He finally voiced his denial just as the other two heroes entered.

"You're usually more careful Lex, you slipped up." The Dark Knight chided.

"And you're going down hard." The lantern finished as he willed his power ring to take the Kryptonite away towards Batman who caught it and placed it into a secured lead lined compartment.

"Mission accomplished." He communicated to the others before he and the Lantern approached.

"So much for your images of benevolence business man…" J'onn began to talk as he and the others cornered Lex "…this is the end of an era."

"The end of your era maybe." Lex spat as he took out a remote and pressed a button that began to blink and beep.

What it did was summon a plane of Luthor's own design. It turned to face the window and fired a laser beam at the trio who naturally dodged while Luthor climbed inside.

Once in he took aim and fired two missiles into the office.

"BOOM!" "BOOM!"

Flash said, "You know, I got to wonder, with how much of Luthor's stuff gets destroyed…his insurance must be through the roof."

Superman said, "That's the thing about big business. It always brings in more money.

Back with Superman and the Spartan…

"That is not good!" Cortana said with worry as they saw the plane appear and fire into the room.

It got worse as they saw Luthor get in fired the two missiles.

"Batman! Lantern! J'onn! Does anybody copy!" Superman said into his earpiece.

"I see movement; Lantern got a force field up in time." John said to the man to calm him, it would do no good to anyone if they lost it now.

"Thank you military training," Lantern said with a smirk, and fist bumped with Flash.

"Let's get Luthor and finish this." Clark said firmly as he knew it was time to end this once and for all.

John agreed, and both went after the arms dealer.

Back in the now Burning office…

The now ruined office sported several small fires and plenty of debris.

From under one such mound a brilliant emerald glow erupted followed by a forceful explosion, from it the three heroes were kneeled as Stewart pulled back the field.

"Why do they always run?" he asked rhetorically.

Flash answered, "Because they're dumb enough to think that they can get away."

"Superman…Spartan do you read?" Batman asked from the mike.

-This is Spartan-117, we are in pursuit of Luthor, will keep appraised, Over. –

"Understood…Over."

"I hope Superman catches him before John does." Stewart spoke as he doused the fires.

"Why is that?" J'onn asked as he allowed the man to work since he did not like being near any form of flames.

"Because I don't think Luthor would enjoy his treatment after this stunt."

The other two had to agree to that, John had a way with dealing with criminals that left a very lasting and painful impression.

"Yeah," Arrow said, "he broke Deadshot's fingers just for talking dirty about Wonder Woman. Imagine what he would do to Luthor after trying to blow them up with missiles."

Wonder Woman smiled fondly as she remembered the Spartan defending her honor, and the thought of how brutal the man could be when angered.

Back with John and Superman…

Both men had given chase after the confirming the safety of their friends.

Lex looked back and soon spotted them, his growl of annoyance showed he was quite aggravated by their presence.

He quickly armed the rear missile mechanism and fired two missiles at them.

John dove down while Superman dodged left however the second missile struck dead center and knocked him for a loop.

"All right the gloves are off." John said in an even tone as he mentally signaled the armors thrusters to max in order to catch the man.

Luthor growled again at the annoying man, though a part of him, a small part mind you, envied the man's armor. Even before he joined the League he marveled at the weaponry and technology at his disposal.

"Oh what I could do with it" he often said to himself, but just like Superman the man obviously wasted the potential power that armor and technology could bring.

Everyone almost shuddered in fear at the thought of the Spartan's technology falling into the hands of Luthor, or any supervillain with a budget big enough. The destruction would be insane. They imagined Metallo able to shapeshift with plasma weapons and his strength enhanced by Mjolnir armor, or Luthor's war suit enhanced with the alien and futuristic weaponry. The thought was something that they didn't want to go against.

Giving away medical technology for only ten percent was insulting to his business sense, and not allowing the military to use his engines for a more effective war machine. Well that simply would not do in his mind.

As he reached the trigger to fire another pair of missiles his chest suddenly constricted on itself and caused him to clutch it.

*W-what is h-happening?* The man thought with alarm, not noticing that his plane was now moving from side to side without his instruction.

"Oh," Superman said at the sight of the familiar scene, "I almost forgot about this."

"What is that maniac doing now!"

John had no answer for his partner so he poured on the speed and soon caught up, landing on the wing and sticking there thanks to the magnetic soles, he looked inside the canopy and what he found shocked him.

*He´s suffering some kind of seizure!*

Wasting no time John brought both his fists up and the down hard that the canopy broke easily, not letting the sudden event destabilize the plane he grabbed the controls and kept it level.

He looked back and saw Superman quickly approaching.

"Superman, I´m going to shut off the engines, grab this thing and take her down gently."

"All right."

"Batman, we need to get Luthor to a hospital stat, he´s suffering from some kind of seizure."

-Are you sure? –

"Yes, he has lost consciousness right now, we need to move fast."

-All right keep him as stable as you can. –

"Roger."

Both Superman and Spartan-117 wondered what could possibly cause this and what´s more what would happen next.

"An unexpected side effect of my weakness," Superman said, "It makes you wonder just what else about Kyrptonite that we all don't know."

Cue Justice League intro.

As the sun rises over the horizon 8 figures can be seen walking forward in confident powerful stride, the JUSTICE LEAGUE is seen in bold lettering.

A figure shrouded in darkness hurling a bat shaped object at an unknown foe, a woman in patriotic colors deflecting bullets, a man surrounded by emerald green energy holding a lantern of the same color soon showing a glowing ring.

A man in a cape smashing his way through a wall and taking to the sky, a dragon like figure coiling and changing into a man with a cape and red eyes, a red and yellow streak racing into the unknown.

A woman with wings soaring through the sky, an armored figure with a golden visor holding a hammer in his arms numerous enemies to his back, he charges them weapon held high.

All eight together stand together watching over a cliff.

End Intro.

"Seriously, is there any version of that that isn't cool?" Flash asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Stryker´s Island Penitentiary, Medical Wing…

Superman was currently waiting along with Dr. Patel.

The rest of the team had gone back to the Watchtower, or in John's case the Dawn, awaiting news on the man they had chased not more than several hours ago. Clark and John had been informed of the condition of his long time nemesis and frankly he was shocked…

Flashback…

"What do you mean he´s dying!" Superman said in shock upon hearing the words, John remained impassive but curious.

"It is as I said; his blood work shows some form of poisoning we are unable to identify at this time, it´s slowly but surely consuming his body."

"Like a Cancer?" John asked.

"In a way yes…" The doctor plies as he turns to look at the armored man, though it is a bit unnerving to see his face being reflected back at him "…though sadly our preliminary test show that this batch is untreatable."

"What caused it?" Clark asks.

"From what our test show it is from a form of radiation, though one we are unfamiliar with."

Superman thought about that and could only come to one conclusion.

"The Kryptonite."

"Pardon but are you referring to that odd meteor fragment you are weak against?"

"You are aware of that?"

"It was in a medical report when Miss Lane was treated for it during that incident where you fought a machine powered by it."

*Right, when Luthor gave Brainiac a body powered by it and struck Lois by accident.* the Man of steel remembered the incident well; he thought Luthor would finally see Justice but he found a loophole…again.

"Almost like a running gag in a TV show," Flash mumbled, "One that is never funny. At least from our perspective."

"Ask for a sample John, we´ll analyze it back at the Dawn." Cortana spoke through the link.

"May I take a sample Doctor? I have technology at my disposal that may yield better results and a possible solution." He said to the man.

"Oh? Would you be willing to share the results with us?"

"…"

"Yes of course." He replied after he and Cortana discussed it over.

"Then by all means, besides that latest batch of synthetic skin and pain suppressants of yours was a great help to us during the latest emergency after that riot, those officers who were burned are alive and well thanks to them."

"No thanks are necessary Doctor, if you will both excuse me I shall go get that sample, I shall inform you both of the results as soon as I can gentlemen." John said to them before leaving towards the room that held the man.

End Flashback…

Now here he stood before a man who was about to face his own mortality.

A part of him wondered how he would take it; would he do what all people do when faced with the prospect of death? Perhaps but then again Luthor never considered himself on equal footing with anyone.

His attention was brought back when Lex began to awaken.

"Ugh…ah…" His eyes fluttered before they snapped open wide upon seeing the Kryptonian standing there at the head of his bed "YOU!"

"Lex this is Doctor Patel…" He says calmly as he presents the prisons head doctor "…He´s got something to tell you."

"No! I´ve got something to tell you…" He snaps back as he sits up "…whatever I said to the Martian won´t stand up in court. I´ll get the best Lawyers, the best witnesses, the best…"

"Oh, blah blah blah," Lantern said, "will someone please just punch this guy in the face already?"

"Lex!" Superman suddenly cuts in "…not of that matters now, listen."

Lex does reluctantly as the doctor approaches him, already thinking how to best way to tell him the bad news.

"Mr. Luthor you´ve had a seizure has this ever happened before?"

"…"

Taking his silence as a no the doctor continued.

"My tests indicate you have a rare form of blood poisoning…"

"Impossible!" He said in clear denial as he snatched the notes from him.

*Denial it is then.* Superman thought before speaking "Remember that chunk of kryptonite you carried around for years?"

"What about it? Kryptonite only affects you." Lex says in all certainty, the doctor soon refutes that.

"Actually we are finding that it can affect humans too."

*What!* A wide eyed Lex thought with a terrible comprehension.

"This is your fault! All of it!" The man accused while Superman simply look at him impassively expecting as much.

"What´s the treatment? Radiation? Chemo?"

"Unfortunately there is no cure."

"Then find one!" Lex lashes out at the doctor "…price is no object."

Wonder Woman said, "I'm going to admit, this is kind of sad."

J'onn said, "To see a man fall in such a way, it is kind of sad. It is also somewhat poetic that the same ace in the holde that he has had, is what put him in this situation."

*Sigh, the man is clearly not understanding his situation, perhaps the Spartan´s technology may help, but best wait for news from him less I give false hope.* Patel thought.

"I´m sorry but there´s nothing I can do…it´s terminal."

"Happy Superman?" Lex asks dejectedly to his foe.

"Lex…is there anything I can do…"

"You´ve done more than enough"

*Have I?* The man of steel thinks as he leaves.

"It was his own actions that lead to his situation," J'onn said, "Do not blame yourself."

Superman said, "I don't. I made peace with it a long time ago."

Back on the Watchtower…

After several hours Superman had left for the Watchtower, there he found Flash, Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman. Batman, Green Lantern and J´onn remained in Metropolis tying up a few loose ends in the investigation; all had been briefed on Luthor´s condition.

They were all currently in the main control room of the space station.

"How is he?" Wonder Woman asked.

"He´s angry and blames me for what happened." Clark replies clearly wondering if he was to blame.

"Well there´s a shock." Flash speaks up with mock surprise.

Before anyone could comment the com station blinks, Flash decides to answer and seeing that it is coming from the Dawn he decides to lighten the mood a bit.

"You´ve reached the Flash dating hotline, our operators are currently busy to attend your call please leave your name and measurements and will make sure to get to you as fast as we can…"

Flash facepalmed as he said, "God damn it, Wally."

"FLASH!" Hawkgirl yells however before she can do that someone answers.

-Well my name is Cortana, my measurements are whatever I want them to be and if you don´t get off the line Flash I'm going to kick you in the balls! – The UNSC A.I said in a serious tone.

Diana said, "I'm really starting to like having her around. At least she keeps Flash in check."

Flash said, "Almost makes me wish she was here now. Imagine how she could terrify Wally now."

"Eep!"

Superman decides to take over while shaking his head in distress at the speedster antics, though he does appreciate his intentions.

"What´s the news Cortana?"

-We have finished our analysis here and want you to come over pronto big guy.—

"I´ll prep the Javelin…"

-Actually we just finished installing the teleport pads onto the Tower so you can use those; they are located below the main control chamber, the door is marked, just step on and it will do the rest. — She said to the 4 heroes.

"Is it safe?" Flash decided to ask.

-Oh sure, John tested it once we finished it, it is 100% safe.—

"We´ll meet you there." Superman spoke as he led the others to the teleport chambers.

Once there they entered and saw a raised circular platform, on it were several circular white pads.

"Just like Star Trek." Flash quipped.

"Star what?" Diana asked.

"Believe me you don´t want to know." Hawkgirl spoke before Flash did.

"Okay," Flash said, "I know what you are all thinking…and no I didn't show Hawkgirl Star Trek."

Lantern said, "Yeah, I told Kilowog about it when I worked with him once. He got really offended about it."

She decided to heed her teammates words and all four soon stood on the pads, once that was done they glowed and in a brilliant yellow light they were gone.

Forward Unto Dawn, teleport chamber…

Miranda was there waiting for them and her wait was rewarded by seeing four transport beings appearing followed by the heroes appearing.

"Whoa! What a rush." Flash spoke as his eyes adjusted to the new surroundings.

"He he, yeah I had that same reaction when I did it too, of course me and John didn´t use teleport pads since Redeeming was the one doing the beaming."

"Then why do we need them?" Shayera asked.

"Well earth to ship transport is easy, the variables are more stable, space to ship transport well…that´s a whole different story." She replied seriously.

"Oh."

"How are you Commander?" Superman asks in order to change the topic.

"Fine thanks for asking Superman, the agency is doing well, by the way Diana?" She turned look at her friend.

"Yes Miranda?" Wonder Woman asks.

"The Johnsons are happy with the recovery of their son Jacob, and send their thanks to you and John." The woman said to her friend.

"None are necessary it was my duty to aid John in their child's recovery nothing more." Diana replies with a warm smile.

"It's nice to see that the agency you and the Spartan work for is going well," Superman said.

Diana said, "I'm glad that my counterpart seems to be enjoying her time working with him."

"Well just the same good job, now then let´s head onto the medical bay, you´ll want to hear this from a reliable source…even if it isn´t the news you like." She said giving Superman a look before turning away.

In a few short minutes they all entered, Redeeming was already there along with John in armor sans helmet and Cortana in her body.

"Hey guys wish I had better news for you but..." She said calmly

"What did you find?" Superman asked with worry.

"We can´t treat him." John said to him.

"Okay, when super advanced future technology can't heal someone, you know it is serious," Flash said, crossing his arms.

Everyone sat in shock. With the advanced technology some of them were wondering if Luthor could be cured of his kryptonite cancer, but to hear that even that technology couldn't heal him was a shock.

"But…your technology is ahead of our current one why can´t you do something for him."

"It is not through a lack of technology that we cannot treat Lex Luthor Superman…it is simply a lack of understanding the nature of his disease." Redeeming spoke up.

"If you would please elaborate Redeeming." Miranda said to the Monitor.

"Of course, when you first encountered the Reclaimer he brought back a fragment of meteor rock of the one you call Metallo. As a side project I have studied the rock and have found it to exhibit unusual effects on living tissue."

"What kind of effects?" Flash asked.

"It would appear that under normal circumstances it acts like and radioactive element, case in point a slow acting poison on human tissue and in your case Superman a fast acting one." He stopped as he moved aside to show on screen it´s effects.

"On screen you see a sample of organic tissue being subjected to a low level of the element´s radiation."

The cell in question appeared fine.

"I shall now magnify the image around the mitochondria region." It said to the group

The area in question was starting to show a small level of degradation.

"As you can see cellular damage begins on a smaller lever, this is what happens over a long time exposure."

The image now moves rapidly and as it did they could see the cells begin to break down and die.

"Your mister Luthor is now in the advanced stages of cellular cascade failure, if he had been brought in the early stages then we may have been able to reverse the damage, now however he is too far gone for treatment."

"In other words," Superman said, "We learned of the problem way too late."

"What about the nanites in John's system? Can't you just place some of those in him?" Hawkgirl asks as she remembered that John was carrying them in his body.

"That is where our lack of understanding of this element stems from Hawkgirl, the Bio Huragok react poorly in its presence, please observe."

The images now showed a sample marked John-117 in it they could see regular blood cells as well as the small machines that dwell in him; they looked like the Huragok except this were black in color with green eyes.

The Kryptonite was soon introduced and the small machines were quite literally withering away in seconds, others latched onto healthy cells trying to repair them only for them to be destroyed by their auto destruct sequence.

"Okay that's not good." Flash said though there was no humor in his voice.

"Indeed Flash, the Bio Huragok can survive most forms of radiation to provide treatment, however something in this form of radiation is deadly to them." The monitor replied.

"That explains a few things," Flash said, "It also means that we can't use the on Superman if he breathes in kryptonite smoke or gas."

"We've tried to determine at what frequency the radiation functions but it varies with each test, also it seems that the element alters itself when subjected to certain conditions here take a look." Cortana spoke as he brought images of several samples.

On screen were pieces of kryptonite of several colors, one red, another blue, yellow, violet and so on.

Superman immediately shot up as he saw the various forms of kryptonite. He paused the video and began to go through the device looking through the file marked Superman and found it, Kryptonite, various colors.

Flash said, "And I thought just green kryptonite was bad. What do all these do?"

Superman brought up a personal screen for it and read.

He said, "Let's see, red kryptonite can cause me to act strangely and weakens me, anti-kryptonite can harm only humans, but acts a power source for some other forms of Kryptonians, x-kryptonite can give people superhuman abilities, blue kryptonite can be used on…Bizarro beings?"

Everyone looked confused at that remark. Bizarro was a clone of superman not an interdimensional being.

Superman continued, "White kryptonite can kill plant life."

Flash said, "Better keep that one from poison ivy and swamp thing."

Superman continued again, "red-green causes mutations and another version can take away my powers permanently as can gold."

Everyone knew immediately that this should not fall into Luthor's or any villain's hands, ever.

"Red-blue-green-gold can split me in two and give them enhanced intelligence, silver can alter perceptions, cause hunger, and release inhibitions, jewel can enhance psychic powers, red-gold, causes memory loss, magno-kryptonite is magnetic, red-green-gold removes my powers…and wipes all of my memory of being superman?"

Again, should never fall into any villains hands.

"Slow kryptonite harms humans like green, kryptonite-X supercharges me…"

Everyone could see some benefits of that.

"Black splits me into a good and evil personality, orange gives animals super powers…weird, periwinkle causes loss of inhibitions, and pink…"

Superman stopped as horrible mages of cringy fan art and online stories filled his mind.

"What?" Diana asked, looking surprised at the man's sudden change and the shocked look.

The man of steel answered, "You don't want to know. Just trust me on this."

Superman then shut down the screen and tried to shake some very scary imagery from his head.

"What exactly would they do to me?" Superman asked as he was shocked at seeing other forms of his primary weakness.

"Unknown, but for safety reasons we decided to destroy the samples as we have no idea how you would react to them Superman or worse someone manages to obtain them. We shall also delete all relevant data but we thought you should know should you run into something like them. " She said to the man.

"I think it might be a good idea to follow that example," J'onn said, "Though keeping a few for ourselves in case of emergency could also be beneficial."

Superman said, "I'll discuss it with Batman when he comes back."

"Thank you for that." He said with gratitude for their kindness before he frowned at the news that there was no hope for Lex, John saw this and decided to prevent any more guilt trips.

"Superman you have nothing to feel guilty for, Lex Luthor brought this on himself." The Spartan spoke neutrally.

"I realize that…"

"No you do not, it may have been a fragment of your home world that caused his disease but it was not you who forced into his hand or used it as a shield against you."

"He's right Superman…" Miranda decided to add her two cents "…men like Luthor always self destruct in the worst possible way when they feel their hold on power loosen, they seek any means by which to retain it and often meet their end that way."

"And in that quest they destroy countless lives, it is commendable that you feel remorseful for his fate but do not let these feelings linger and misplace the blame you feel on yourself, it rests with him and him alone." John finished.

"Sigh, I know I just wish there was some other way, despite everything I wish it hadn't turn out like this."

"Easy big guy…" Flash said as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder "…maybe this way he'll finally see where he went wrong and try to make up for it, right?" He said with a smile.

"Yeah, maybe you're right Flash, one can only hope." Clark says in turn thankful for the man's candor.

*Guess he can be mature when he wants to be…*

"Good! Now who's up for some lunch?"

*Or not.*

"Oh no! Not after the last time, the matter replicators are still being reconfigured when you had them produce 10 Pizzas, 20 Burgers and God only knows what else." Cortana said in exasperation.

"I blame my metabolism from my powers," Flash said, "Wally did manage to."

"Come on Cortana how was I supposed to know they had a limit!"

"I told you 5 times!"

"Oh lighten up Brains…"

"Brains! Oh I am so going to hurt you!" She said as she got up and morphed her hands into a mace and a hammer.

"Got to catch me first!" The speedster said before dashing off with the UNSC A.I hot on his tail.

"You know…" Miranda spoke up getting all their attention "…I think they like each other."

That caused Hawkgirl to laugh out loud, John and Diana to chuckle and Clark to crack a smile.

Flash said, "You know, given that Wally needs a woman to help keep him in line, I kind of hope they get together. Speaking of which, do you think that Artemis might be able to keep him in line?"

Arrow said, "She better. If not…I have a special speedster arrow just for him."

"We better go get them before they damage the ship." John said as he grabbed his helmet and was soon followed by the others.

Miranda and Superman at the rear.

"You going to be ok Superman?"

"Yes, thank you for the talk and help Commander."

"Hey that's what friends do, now come on we have to save Flash from an irate Cortana…again."

Stryker's Island …

Inside the prison block that held Lex Luthor, we find the man tossing and turning in his bed, the cause being the opera music playing in the cell next to him.

Finally putting sleep aside to address this issue he got up and smack his fist at the wall.

"Hey keep it down! Can't a body die in peace around here!" He yelled but clearly he was not getting through.

*Time for us to have a chat.* He thought as he walked back towards the cable box and opened it up with a confiscated kitchen knife.

In the adjacent cell where the music originated from we find the "person" who is silently enjoying it.

One Gerard Shugel AKA the Ultra-Humanite, once a brilliant scientist who transferred his keen mind into that of a massive white gorilla in order to escape his frail and sickly body.

"Am I the only one who thinks that humanite was kind of disturbing?" Flash asked, "I mean he is kind of freaky…what do you think would have happened if he had ever met up with Grodd?"

Diana answered, "I don't think it would end well, especially if Grodd found out that he used to be a human. He'd probably use it as proof of his superiority. We'd never hear the end of it."

"Exquisite." He complimented however his enjoyment was cut short by a sudden interruption that soon revealed itself as ne Lex Luthor.

"Well that's explains how those two met," Superman said, "Only Luthor."

-Humanite! How can you stand that caterwauling? - The dying man demanded, though it was doubtful he cared for the answer.

"Music is one of the meager pleasures I'm allowed in here…along with a few other necessities." He replied as he gave a looked towards his computer, wines and book collection.

"…How much good behavior does he need to do to get that?" Flash asked, seeing the various objects.

Superman said, "I've seen this before and I checked. During his stays in prison, Humanite is a model prisoner. He doesn't normally start fight and is normally courteous. This is probably how he managed to escape so easily. They thought he wasn't going to try."

"You should try the culture channel; it might improve your disposition." He said with a smirk at the man.

-There's nothing wrong with my disposition that a little freedom won't cure.-

"That's not what I hear…" He said knowingly as he made it clear he knew about the man's impending death.

"I hate the rumor mill," Lantern said simply.

Flash said, "Word spreads fast, especially when a powerful guy gets brought down hard."

Lex was silent for a few moments before finally speaking.

-I need your help and I can make it worth your while. - He offered.

"What do I need with money?" The Humanite retorted.

-Everybody needs money the question is how much? - With that he ended the transmission, leaving a smirking evil genius.

*How much indeed Lex.* He thought as plans were already being made.

"You know…I just realized something…when Bat's got captured…how did he deal with humanite?" Flash asked, "He did convince him to betray Luthor."

Superman said, "He never divulged how he did it. I think I might have an idea though."

Arrow said, "Ditto."

Later that night…

Two guards entered the maximum security wing, one pushing a cart while the other approached the retinal scanner to Humanite's cell.

The scanner confirmed his identity and opened the cell, there they found the "man" calmly reading a book in bed.

"Dinner Humanite."

"I'm afraid I'm a little under the weather…" He said as he turned to look at them betraying nothing "…would you please bring it in here?" he asked.

Lantern said, "That is the oldest trick in the book. Are they really going to fall for it?"

Superman said, "Villains do escape for a reason. When Livewire got out of jail once, it was because the janitor didn't put away his cassette player and she drained the battery. He was later fired, and they beefed up the security around her cell."

Diana said, "Smart, at least they learn from their mistakes."

"What do you think?" the first guard asked his partner.

"Well he is a model prisoner but why take chances." He said as he took out his baton with his partner following suit before stepping inside.

"At least their on guard," Diana said.

However once both stepped over what they assumed was a carpet they were in for a shock…literally as high voltage erupted from it and into them.

"ZAAAAAT!"

"ARRGH!"

Five second later they lay on the floor unconscious.

A smirking Humanite revealed a button hidden within the book he was reading to keep the ruse up.

Flash blinked once, twice, a third time and finally said, "How long did he have that there?"

Arrow said, "Next thing to add to our list of future precautions, random cell checks for potential traps and devices."

Stepping lightly he grabbed the guard whose rank meant he would be able to use the retinal scanner and easily picked him up, though before leaving he decided to see what he was missing out for dinner.

"Salisbury steak, really?" He spoke in boredom.

*Would it kill them to have a little variety?*

Flash said, "Yeah, been there before. They mainly just served everything on rotation for a week and only changing up the days it was served."

Everyone looked at Flash with surprised expressions.

"Long story," he said simply.

Making his way towards Luthor's cell he opened the guard's eye and let the machine scan him.

Once that was done he unceremoniously dropped him and looked for his employer.

"Luthor?"

Lex soon came out carrying a wrapped package taking note of the guard.

"Impressive but let's not linger." He spoke as the two ran through the holding facility.

Alarms soon erupted throughout the night as lights and guards soon looked for the two escapees.

"There they are!" A guard yelled as he spotted them, Lex on the Humanite's back scaling one of the water towers.

"Open fire!" another ordered and soon a trio of guns went off in hopes of tagging one of them, unfortunately the Humanite's ape like body proved too agile and jumped.

"Hang on!" He warned his passenger as he landed without incident on to the entrance and again as he ran towards the bridge that connected it towards the mainland.

In Metropolis…

The Batmobile raced through the streets as the Dark Knight systems detected the break out, the police band soon alerting him to the identities of the rogue prisoners.

-Attention all units two prisoner inmates have escaped, The Ultra-Humanite and Lex Luthor, they are considered armed and extremely dangerous. —

*Time to go to work.* He thought as he pushed the throttle and gunned the engine.

Both individuals were now in the city, carefully making their way towards a safe haven.

The siren of a patrol car alerted them that they were far from safe.

*We'll never make it while these cretins are looking for us…* the former industrialist thought.

"What we need is a small diversion." He said to his companion as he tore of the paper off to reveal an explosive device, with no hesitation he activated it and hurled it at a nearby apartment complex.

"When in doubt," Arrow said, "use explosions. That always gets someone's attention."

The patrol car was a block away when it went off.

"BOOM!"

The rear windows blew inward from the force of the explosion though thankfully the patrolmen were unharmed.

"Ah! Ugh!"

"SCREECH!"

The sound of the tires screeching on the asphalt was heard as the driver thought to keep the car stable.

Once stopped they stood out of the car and were aghast at the terrible spectacle before them.

"Call the Rescue Unit!" The patrolman from the passenger side said to his partner.

Luthor and the Humanite surveyed the damage, the former feeling satisfied with his work regardless of the lives he had placed in danger.

"That should keep them busy. Come on!"

Both soon ran away from the scene, they had plans to make and people to see.

Back at the scene…

Batman had soon arrived just in time to see the patrolmen help the escaping residents from the burning wreckage.

He climbed out of his car just in time to look up and saw something that stopped in cold.

*NO!*

"Daddy help!" screamed a little girl stuck on the top floor "AAAHHH!" debris fell forcing her further in.

"TRINA!" The girl's father screamed as he tried to get back in.

"No sir it's too dangerous!" The officer spoke with remorse.

Batman quickly tapped the earpiece.

"I need back up here fast!" he ordered before getting close to the building and firing his grapple gun.

Once down he retracted the line and ascended quickly towards the room.

He tucked and rolled past the wreckage and surveyed the room for her, he found her huddled in a corner.

He quickly went to her and picked her up.

"I-I'm scared."

"Don't be it's going to be all right." He reassured her as he went to escape from where he entered; however that way was block off by more debris.

Flash said, "Isn't it weird that Bat's of all people is good with kids. With how broody he is I don't think that it would work."

Suddenly, a batarang shot out and Flash grabbed it out of the air with a laugh and said, "Not this time."

"AAHHH!"

He turned back to the front door and bended down before kicking it at the center and breaking it outwards.

Running quickly down the stairs he was stopped as an explosion consumed the stairwell in front of him, looking back to go to higher ground he was cut off again by another explosion.

Leaving him and the girl with no way to escape.

*No! NO! There must be something I can do!* He thought furiously as he tried to look for anything to get them out of the situation they found themselves in.

The piece on which they stood chose that moment to collapse, causing both to plummet to their certain doom…only for Hawkgirl to arrive just in the nick of time to save them.

Avoiding the broken remnants and fire she gently landed onto the street.

"Trina!"

"Daddy!"

The father and child held each other as the terrible ordeal passed.

"I'm used to being thanked when I saved someone." She said with a certain expectation.

"I'm not used to being saved." He replied gruffly.

"Batman," Arrow said, "The only guy we know who is self-reliant and a jerk about it."

*What a surprise.* She thought with annoyance.

They were soon joined by Flash, Superman and the Spartan.

"Where are Luthor and the Humanite?" Batman immediately asked.

"We couldn't pick up their trail." Superman spoke.

"Satellites were not in the vicinity so we cannot track them." John added much to his frustration.

*Cortana, compile all information on this Ultra-Humanite.* he mentally sent to his friend.

"You got it Chief." She replied.

"Anyone else think that we might find them before their little group gets together?" Lantern asked.

Superman said, "If evil geniuses are known for one thing, it is that they are really good at covering their tracks. Even for Cortana it might be tricky."

"No biggie! It's just two guys how much trouble can they give us?"

Flash facepalmed again and yelled, "Damn it, Wally! Don't ever say that! You never say that! Now we know that their little group is going to get together before we find them!"

"You just had to say it didn't you?" Cortana chided while the others shared a look.

Flash said, "See? She agrees."

The abandoned Metropolis Picture Store, two days later…

All was quiet in the area, not soul could be seen however that soon changed as a lithe figure a approached the forgotten building.

It was a woman, or at least her figure matched that of a woman, her entire body was covered with fur, white on her underbelly and spotted and yellow on the rest, while her head was that of a cats with the exception of her lips.

She was what one would think the end result would be of blending a woman with a feral cat in this case a Cheetah, and that precisely was her moniker.

She approached cautiously, preparing to open the door when it did so by itself. She went in and surveyed the area, sometimes walking on two legs sometimes on all four; she sniffed around taking in the scents she could pick up.

"She's careful," Diana said, "Checking for the smell of anything unusual or for familiar ones."

*Hmm, dust and decay, this better not be someone's idea of a joke.* She thought as she delved deeper inside "…someone's here."

And indeed there was for behind a cartoonish mousse stepped out a man oddly dressed.

It was scaly, orange with green gloves and boots; it had a tail that seemed to move with minds of its own and had a snake headdress to finish the ensemble. The man who wore it seemed to fit right in with the theme as he had yellow eyes with slitted irises.

"Two down," Flash said, "only three more to go. Do you think their might be a change in the roster?"

Lantern said, "It's possible. I mean we saw Lanterns at my trial who weren't there before. Maybe their might be new members to face off against the expanded team."

He stood casually on the statue observing the Catwoman, she found that not to her liking.

She snarls fiercely as she leapt at him claws out, he jumped back once then again until he raised his arms in a passive gesture.

"Easy lady! Easy…"

"Who are you?" She questioned.

"The name's Copperhead…" he said as he pointed at himself "…I'm here about a job."

"So am I, somebody called me, was it you?"

"Nooo, but maybe will be working together…closely together." He spoke as he his snakelike tongue came out.

She was not amused.

"And like that, he enters the minefield known as personal space," Diana said, crossing her arms. This was something she was, unfortunately, rather familiar with.

"Rargh!" Se growled as she slashed his arm with a quick swipe.

"Argh! Witch!" He yelled out as he snapped his tailed at her and pushed her back…

Directly into the lumbering form of Solomon Grundy.

"HE HE HE, NICE KITTY." He spoke and patted her shoulder though it was clear from her look she did not enjoy this, her next action proved it so.

"Hands off!" she yelled before slashing his arm.

"ARGH!" he yelled as he clutched the wound "GRR, NO HURTS GRUNDY." He cried out in anger as he went after her.

She naturally turned and ran while also tackling Copperhead and pushing him over a table, the same table that Grundy destroys with his fists clasped together.

Copperhead moves out of the way as Grundy grabs a large piece that survived, he then throws it at the snake man who ducks under it.

Now both the catwoman and the snakeman circle the large zombie, Grundy´s eyes focused solely on Cheetah, therefore he does not see Copperhead leapt at hi from behind and start to choke him, Cheetah tries to slash the zombie while the two struggle.

"How did these guys come together again?" Flash asked, seeing the team was ready to self-destruct at a moment's notice.

"Greed," everyone said at the same time.

Neither notice a man dressed in a black suit, black top hat and dark round sunglasses, he is casually leaning on a cane. Or was until he points it at them and from it a pitch black substance erupts, as if the shadows themselves took on a life of their own.

"HEY WHO TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS?" Grundy let out, the other two wondering the same thing.

"I did…" the man spoke "…and I'll do worse if you don´t stop behaving like unruly children."

"Who do think you are?" Copperhead snaps at him as he casually leans on his cane.

"The Shade…" He says with a bow before pointing his cane at the snake "…and my nightstick is more than enough to handle you amateurs." He boasts though not for long as violet light envelopes his weapon and pulls it away.

"Hey!"

"Spare us…" A woman in a black bodysuit, long violet gloves and leggings and wearing a face mask with a jewel from which the energy comes from appears, she speaks with a British accent "…without this you are less than nothing little man"

"Well, that's all of Luthor's little crew," Flash said, "To be honest, I was hoping someone new would show up."

Lantern said, "Keep your pants on hot shot. You might."

Copperhead leers at her while Cheetah gives of a hiss of warning to the newcomer who is not impressed.

"Heh, common criminals is this what I've been reduced to?" She asks in disappointment.

"Criminals yes…" Luthor speaks as he descends along with the Ultra-Humanite.

He now wears a purple form fitting jacket, green pants and gloves along with black boots, a gun is holstered over his heart.

Humanite wears two spiked belts connected to a tarb around his waist.

"…but common? Most certainly not." He finishes.

"Lex Luthor?" the Shade clarifies as he takes back his nightstick "…well the plot thins." He spoke as he and the other meet up with the two.

"Cheetah, Saphire, Grundy glad you could make it..." Lex said to three of the five "…and of course you all know the Ultra-Humanite."

"Charmed I'm sure." The ape man said in a less than cheerful tone.

"Cut the courtesies Luthor…" Copperhead cuts in "…what do you want?" He asks wanting to get at the heart of the matter.

"Each of you is the best in the world at what you do and I have need of your unique services." He replied.

"My talents don´t come cheap." Cheetah addressed.

Sensing that this is what the others would also say Luthor proceeds with his offer.

"Each of you shall be paid most handsomely…if you can do one simple job."

"What kind of job?" Shade asks.

"Destroy Superman and the Justice League." The former industrialist said in all seriousness.

Those words got mixed reactions from the assembled villains, Shade remained neutral, Cheetah and Copperhead were surprised, Star Sapphire and Grundy seemed excited at the prospect of facing the heroes.

"Are you out of your mind!" Copperhead yelled.

"Huh…that seems a little out of character for the cocky snake," Lantern said.

"Is there a problem Copperhead?" Luthor asked neutrally.

"Yeah I'd say there is, I got no problem taking on the capes, but it's the Spartan that's got me worried."

"Oh? How so?" He asked him once more, this time actually curious to his answer.

Everyone looked surprised at this, but it quickly faded. They had seen how brutal the super solider was, so it was not surprise that such a powerful and brutal hero would be able to strike fear into them, especially if they went up against him.

"Because he's a fucking maniac that's how, I ran into Deadshot a while back he told me that the guy broke his fingers one at a time to get information out of him…he talked and then he got another one broken when he bad mouthed Wonder Woman."

"Should have guess that would have a fact here," Diana said, remembering how the Spartan got information out of the highly skilled assassin.

"He did that?" Cheetah asks in shock.

*I thought he was just hype with that whole bad ass attitude.*

"Yeah he did, and then there's the fact that the guy has no remorse in killing us if we piss him off, shit ask Grundy the guy set him on fire!"

"GRRR, GRUNDY WILL CRUSH HIM FOR THAT!" The zombie said with dark intentions in mind.

"Huh…you know with everything that happened I forgot about that," Superman said, remembering how the Spartan had splash the swamp zombie with napalm.

"Perhaps this won't be a waste of my services then." A voice spoke from the shadows, making them all turn to the source.

Immediately, ever member of the league paled at the familiar cold, calculating voice. They all turned to the screen with surprised expressions on their faces.

From the shadows a masked man appeared, one half orange with a visible eyepiece the other black with none, wearing chainmail body armor with orange gloves and boots an ammo bandoliers across his chest and a sword and staff on his back.

"I really shouldn't have said anything about a changed roster," Flash said, realizing that this would be an interesting fight.

Diana said, "With his enhancements, gear, and armor Deathstroke should prove a worthy adversary for Spartan."

Arrow said, "Place your bets people."

"Ah, Deathstroke the Terminator so glad you could join us." Luthor spoke as he surveyed the assassin/mercenary.

"Your offer was most enticing, plus the chance to face this Spartan intrigued me."

"Yes well should you eliminate him try not to damage the armor too much I would like to study it." Ultra-Humanite spoke as he too had seen and heard of the man's vast wealth of technological marvels and wanted to give it a look.

"I make no promises Humanite, I am paid to deliver results."

"Well spoken, now then are you all satisfied with the goal?"

"I just know I'm going to regret this but I'm in." Copperhead replied.

"As am I." Shade added.

"Count me in, this should be fun." Sapphire spoke up with some excitement.

"GRUNDY CRUSH THEM."

"So long as I am paid I'm in." Cheetah replied *Maybe then I'll have the funds to reverse the process.*

"Excellent we shall begin to plan immediately then." He spoke as he and the others began to plan out their strategy.

*Soon I shall have my revenge Superman, I'll leave this world with your blood on my hands.* He thought darkly as he imagined the look of pain on his nemesis face before he snuffed the life out of him.

Three days later, the Watchtower…

Currently the team was on board the Watchtower overseeing its maintenance or keeping a lookout for Luthor.

Batman, Flash, Cortana and Hawkgirl were in the main control chamber, Flash retelling an accounting of one of his recent rescues to Cortana and Hawkgirl…much to their distress.

"Wally," Flash said, "just stop before one of them tries to punch you."

"And I had those flames out before those firemen stepped out of their trucks."

"Wow…" Cortana said with a hint of sarcasm.

"That's fast." Hawkgirl deadpanned.

"Fastest man alive." He boasted.

"Which might explain why you can't get a date." Shayera quipped.

The joke resulted in everyone letting out a chuckle, except for Flash who simply crossed his arms and said, "Oh sure, like I haven't heard that before."

"Yeah…Hey what's that supposed to mean!"

"Oh burn! Gimme five." Cortana said to her holding her hand up, which Hawkgirl slapped.

"HA HA very funny." The crimson speedster pouted.

"Oh great, now there are two of her," Flash said, remembering how Hawkgirl used to mess with him back when she was still part of the league.

"Quiet!" Batman suddenly spoke as he turned up the volume to a news broadcast.

-Dangerous hostage situation developing at the federal building. So far the Ultra-Humanite has refused to talk to negotiators. A freak of science, the Humanite is reportedly a genius who is also extremely dangerous…-

"No biggie right?" Batman chided as he look at the Flash, Hawkgirl shared the same look and while Cortana simply rolled her eyes and called john to mount up.

Federal building…

Outside a throng of news, rescue services, police and SWAT teams stood outside waiting tensely while the situation continued.

"Humanite let a hostage go and I'll give you one of my men in return!" The sergeant at the scene spoke through the bullhorn.

"What do you take me for a troglodyte?" Humanite responded as he held a hostage as a shield in one arm and a strange weapon in the other "No deal!" He spoke as he aimed at the SWAT team who responded in kind.

"You know," J'onn said, "in hindsight, we really should have suspected a trick or ambush when we went down for this."

Superman said, "We did, but we didn't think about Luthor asking for help, seeing how prideful the man can be.

However this proved unnecessary as an emerald glow incased the weapon.

"What!" The intellectual villain cried out as he saw John Stewart arrive.

"Drop the weapon Magilla." The Lantern of sector 2814 ordered before moving aside as the man of steel rammed the Man-ape into the building forcing him to drop his hostage.

Batman soon came from the building and went to check on the hostage.

"Look for other hostages."

"Right." Stewart replies to the Dark Knight who goes to the downed woman.

Inside Superman delivers a right hook to the Humanite as Stewart loks around.

"You´re safe now." Batman says to the woman who slowly rises…

"But you're not…" She says as her face is revealed to be Cheetah who lashes out with a snarl and her claws.

"Ugh."

Back inside Stewart checks the second when he turns after hearing Bruce´s cry, this was a mistake do…

"CRASH!" "UAH!" Grundy cries out as he explodes from the room and knocks Stewart down.

Lantern winced as a bit of phantom pain ran through him as he remembered how hard Grundy was able to punch.

Down below Superman has restrained the Humanite with and arm bar but looks behind him and see the Lantern being smashed down by the zombie, who jumps down on top of him.

This proves to be Clark´s mistake as he is blasted from behind…

"ZZZAAAATT!"

"Urg!"

Revealing a smiling Star Sapphire floating next to Humanite.

"Surprised?" She mocks.

Batman in the meantime has his hands full with Cheetah who fights as fiercely as the animal she partly is, eventually she pushes him back into Copperhead who tries to bite him.

Batman anticipates this and grabs his neck and throws the snakeman into her, she however jumps over him just as Copperhead rights himself in mid air, now both stalk him as predators to prey.

Superman wakes up at the sound of large lumbering footsteps and sees the cause as Grundy barreling down at him with both fists forward.

"GRRR!"

"Ugh!"

Grundy continues his assault by delivering a left hook to the stomach and a right straight to the face, his supernatural nature causing some pain to the kryptonian.

Luthor watches on from the second floor balcony enjoying the show.

"I´m going to enjoy this." He speaks out loud with much satisfaction in his voice.

Grundy slams Superman into a wall with a punch before he grabs his head and slams him onto the floor where he beats him mercilessly.

However it was at that point that both Hawkgirl and the Spartan crashed through the windows, with her in the lead with her mace crackling with energy and John behind her prepping an explosive grenade.

She bashed Grundy from behind…

"UGH!"

straight into a column, John then threw the live weapon at him just as he fell on top of it, and the column fell on him.

"BOOM!" "ARGH!" The undead creature screamed from under the rubble.

"Oh, now Grundy is really going to be gunning for the guy," Lantern said.

"That will definitely leave a mark." Cortana sent to her friend.

*Pity he won't stay down.* John replied.

He pulled of his MA5C, and prepared to engage his opponents making a note to get their files for later study, he was carrying to M6 Magnums on his thigh plates and a M90 CAWS on his back as well as a retracted Gravity hammer as well.

While this happens Batman and his opponents break the stalemate with Cheetah lunging at him, He doges left and uses her momentum to throw her further away, Copperhead uses this to his advantage and leaps at him however he is punched back hard by Flash.

"Down boy." The defender of central jokes while the Dark Knight of Gotham turns back just as Cheetah lunges at him…just to get Wonder Woman's golden lasso tied around her waist.

"Urg!...Let me go…" She snaps at the Amazon.

"Relax lady this will be all over before you know it." Wally says in utter confidence as he runs to help one of the others, however when he passes a shadow of what any would believe to be a column it seemingly melts away to reveal the Shade.

"That's what you think…" He says as he aims his nightstick at the speedster and fires his shadow force at him.

"Hey!" Flash cries out as his enveloped in shadows and therefore does not see he is being aimed at a door.

"SLAM!" "Ugh!"

"Oh man, I remember that," he said, "I can't believe I fell for that old trick."

Lantern said, "Sometimes the old tricks are what work the best."

Leaving him temporarily out of the fight.

Hawkgirl was facing off against the Lanterns counterpart Sapphire; batting away he blasts before closing in smashing her energized mace against her protective energy field.

Shade seeing this aims at her and fires…

"Agh!" She lets out as she falls while being smothered by the living shadow.

Shade tipped his hat in satisfaction…it does not last long as he turns to the side to see John's fist headed for his face.

"WHAM!" "UGH!" hitting him hard enough that he loses his hat and cane.

The shadows break away from her just as Batman arrives to help her.

"Are you all right?"

"Gasp, yeah just…look out!" she yells as she pushes him to the side as an energy blast strikes the place where they stood.

Sapphire took the brief reprieve to get into position.

John sees this and fires at her, though his bullets don't harm her.

"Nice try Luv!" She mocks as she aims at him, only for a batarang to deflect her shot at the ceiling causing a chunk to fall near Diana.

Wonder Woman sees it and releases Cheetah and smashes it with her fist before flying down and try to catch her. However Sapphire stops and she is force to deflect her shots with her bracers unaware that she is being targeted from behind.

"Well this should be interesting." Deathstroke speaks as he aims his power staff at her; it hums as it gathers energy for the shot.

"I was expecting him to show up a bit earlier," Flash said, "Of course, you know this is going to piss of the tin man."

Arrow said, "As I said earlier people, place your bets! The terminator versus the spartan. Who will win?"

John however sees him and runs to her and pushes her out of the way just as he fires and hits him making him drop his weapon.

"Chief!" Diana yells as she tries to go to him but once more is interrupted by the flying villainess.

"Oof!" Deathstroke's attack manages to hurl him a good 5 ft before he lands on his back, getting back up he shakes his head to clear it.

*Damn, what was that?*

"I don't know Chief but it took a fifth of the shield down…look out!" She yells making him dodge left as a sword slashes the space where he stood.

"So we finally meet Spartan." The assassin speaks calmly as if taking about the weather.

Every member was tense at the sight of the mounting battle of the two super soldiers.

John grabs his pistols and begins to fire at the man who dodges or deflects the bullets with his sword while closing in.

"Is that all you can do?" He asks in disappointment as he delivers a vertical slash followed by a rising one as John evades the first strike.

John responds by grabbing his arm he squeezes hard enough to make him release his sword and places it in an arm bar behind the man's back and his other arm around the assassin's neck.

"Who are you?"

"Deathstroke the Terminator, a pleasure…" He replies as he jumps of the ground and over the Spartan to land behind him before he drop kicks him mid back.

However faster than he can anticipate John whirls around and grabs his legs before hurling him away from him.

"Be careful with this one John, I have a bad feeling about him." Cortana warns.

John nods as he pulls off his hammer and extends it to full length.

Deathstroke rights himself mid air while grabbing his power staff and aims at the exact same moment as John.

*Hmm, he's good if he can catch me in the air so fast.*

On some unspoken signal both fired their weapons at the other.

In meantime the rest of the heroes fought Batman observed that Luthor was open so he decide to capitalize on this and put an end to the madness.

Luthor in the meantime watched as Humanite and Superman wrestled one another.

"Finish him off!" He prdered as the Humanite slammed him against a wall and threw the man of steel away as if he was a rag doll.

Batman ran at him, and Luthor only had a second to pull out his gun when Batman was upon him.

He picked him up but Luthor surprised him with a headbutt and a left hook that downed the caped crusader. The criminal picked up his gun and aimed.

"Oh, that had to hurt," Flash said, seeing the caped crusader go down.

Diana asked, "His pride or his body?"

This drew a few snickers from the group.

However as this happened, Diana deflected one of Sapphires lasers towards them, making Luthor turn to look as it hit the concrete.

"BLAM!" "Ugh!"

"There goes our paycheck." The Ultra-Humanite spoke as he leapt to catch their employer.

He succeeded and set him down gently.

"I hate to see anything happen to you Lex."

"I'm sure." He replied sarcastically.

Batman prepared to follow but failed to notice Copperhead from crawling on the wall behind him until…

"AGH!" Bruce yelled as the fangs on the snake themed man sunk into his shoulder and injected his venom, he turn took a blast from the lantern in the chest that slammed him into a wall.

"You ok?" Stewart asked his colleague.

"Don't worry about me…stop them."

Everyone shook their heads at how stubborn the defender of Gotham could be when it came to battle.

Stewart paused for a second before decided to go with the man's request therefore not noticing him collapse.

Back with John and Deathstroke, both men were still going at it in melee combat as their weapons struck in a clash of sparks and metal.

John had retracted his hammer to hand held length and activated his left energy dagger.

Deathstroke reclaimed his sword and held his staff shortened to the length of a baton.

Both had given each other their best in their dual to the death.

John's armor sported some gashes where the sword struck as much to his surprise the man's sword bypassed his shields. Slade was no better off as the blows from the hammer combined with his enhanced strength and torn muscle or broken bone, it also didn't help that the energy daggers struck his unprotected areas and wounded him.

If not for his healing factor he would have fallen long ago.

*This man is matching me blow for blow…* the assassin thought *…finally a challenge!*

John was of a similar opinion.

"I don't believe it John; this maniac is as good as you and you're in the armor!"

*Yeah…this should be interesting.* He replied as he felt his competitive edge rise as he charged the man.

"Oh boy," Diana said."

J'onn picked up on her unease and said, "It would seem the Spartan's drive to win is going to backfire on him, in some way."

Flash said, "Yeah, I remember when some other speedsters started showing up and I got competitive with them, and it lead to me making a lot of stupid mistakes."

Arrow said, "Black Arrow did that two, wanting to prove he was the best."

Things started to go downhill for the villains as the League's better teamwork helped them take on their foes; Humanite pointed this out for the leader of the group.

"Luthor! They're too well organize…guh!" He grunted as he took a left punch from Superman.

Shade managed to fight his way towards the criminal mastermind by pushing back Stewarts emerald energy.

"Let me get us out of here, it's either that or prison again." He said truthfully as neither choice held any appeal to him.

*Blast it all!* Luthor thought before choosing to call for a retreat much to his chagrin.

"All right just do it!" He ordered.

Shade let loose a large cloud of shadow force that covered the whole room where the individual battles took place.

Deathstroke knew that they were about to leave and broke away from his fight with the Spartan super soldier.

"I'll see you soon enough Spartan, will finish this then." He said just as the shadows covered him.

"You can bet we will Deathstroke."

Outside the building the shadows spilled out startling the crowd as it darkened their vision, inside the building Lantern used his rings ability to remove the blackness.

Once done the League´s opponents were gone.

"John! Are you all right?" Diana asked as she saw that his armor was damaged.

"I am fine thank you, though my pride may be another story." He said to his teammate.

Lantern said, "Given that he was close to having a stalemate with an assassin of Deathstroke's caliber, I don't think that his pride is going to take that much of a hit."

Flash said, "Wait, now that I think about it, I think that he's the closest thing that we have to a super soldier. Enhanced relflex and strength, healing abilities, army training…all he needs is a Mjolnir armor set and we'd have an evil Spartan."

J'onn said, "That is a terrifying idea."

*Cortana get me everything you can on them, especially Deathstroke.*

"On it Chief." She replied to his request.

"They´re gone." Hewkgirl stated. *Cowards.*

Flash however saw that one did not get away.

"Look, we still got one of them." He said as he stood over Copperhead.

However, Superman ´s next words marred this small victory.

"But they got one of us." He spoke as he turned over Batman revealing him to be sweating heavily due to the poison.

"He needs anti-venom fast." John spoke as he signaled the Commander to prep the Watchtower´s med bay and ready the necessary dosage.

Watchtower,medical room…

Superman and J´onn were both with Bruce after they administered the cure.

"The venom´s antidote, it´s working." The Martian said in his usual tone of voice just as Batman regained consciousness.

"Man, I just realized," Flash said, "You sounded pretty monotone back then."

J'onn said, "I had some difficulties with the complexity of human emotions."

"Welcome back, we thought we lost you there for a minute." Superman said to his counterpart.

"Luthor and the others…what happened?" Batman asks as his body regains feeling.

"They got away, all but Copperhead." J´onn replied before Clark took up the conversation.

"I´m headed down to Stryker´s to interrogate him." He spoke though from the way Batman´s heart beats he could tell that the man was about to insist he come along.

"All right…let´s go…" Batman spoke slowly showing he was not 100%

"Stubborn man," Diana said, remembering all the times the man's stubbornness and self-confidence had put him in a bind.

"No you´re staying here that venom almost killed you."

"So?" He asks like it´s no big thing.

*Ugh, this man is impossible.* Clark thought before choosing his next words carefully "So you're staying here." He said firmly.

Batman just glared at him but Superman just ignored him thinking that was the end of it, how little did he know.

Once he was gone Batman removed the IV and got out of the room under the watchful eyes of the Martian who proceeded to follow.

They both soon came to another section where Batman started to search through the database.

"You really should be resting." J´onn said to the man who ignored him as he continued to work.

Superman asked, "Why didn't you stop him?"

J'onn answered, "Has there ever been an argument between any of us and him that we have won?"

Everyone was silent as they heard this.

"I didn't think so."

Cortana soon walked in and decided to remain silent as she watched the two.

"I know this must be hard for you feeling vulnerable. You're the only one of us without special powers…"

*Oh boy that´s gonna set him off.* She thought as she heard him speak.

The martian facepalmed as he realized his counterpart's mistake, the same one he made.

"…but you don´t need to prove yourself, you´re a valued member of this team and we´re only trying to…"

"I´m taking the shuttle…" He interrupted as he found what he was looking for and stood up in front of J´onn and from his body language he was not about to be stopped.

"Unless you two want to try and stop me." He said through narrow eyes to both of them.

"Hey don´t get snippy with me mister." Cortana spoke as she took offense to his comment, will the Martian simply stepped aside.

He simply walked away.

"Sigh I don´t know which of you is the bigger idiot, him for going half-cocked or you for letting him." She said as she rubbed her eyes, not noticing J´onn´s curious look at the comment.

"I do not understand."

"I'll explain later, I have to tell John Batman is about to do something stupid." She replied as she sent him a message.

John, currently devoid of the armor, and Dina were currently in one of the repair wards where the Huragok were stationed, one was performing maintenance will another showed a readout of the systems.

"So you say this Deathstroke was capable of matching you in battle?" She asked with some surprise as she had seen the records as well as his abilities in real life and found it odd that someone could do so.

"Incredible as it seems yes, though strength wise I am stronger than him in the armor, he fought as if he was accustomed to such battle, which shows he can handle himself against superior opponents."

Flash said, "The dude is like the bat. He's used to fighting beings bigger and stronger than he is."

Arrow said, "A good amount of us are, and that's what makes us so deadly."

"Hmm, it sound as if you will have your hands full with him next we meet." Wonder Woman added.

"Perhaps I will, though I must be prepared for a hard battle as it seems I have gained his attention."

They fell into silence as both the alien artificial beings finished their task thus allowing john to done the armor once more.

Wonder Woman handed him his helmet though not before deciding to lighten the mood.

"It sounds to me like you are actually eager for the fight." She said with a smirk.

He thought it over and had to admit that the prospect was…enticing.

"Perhaps I am Diana, perhaps I am." He replied as he placed his helmet on.

Just then Cortana´s communiqué arrived.

"This isn´t good."

"What is it?" She asked.

"Batman woke up and has gone to the surface; it appears that he placed a homing beacon on Luthor before he was attacked."

"Why would he not tell us?" She asked surprised that their ally would do such a thing and not inform the others.

"It would appear he and Superman had a disagreement that J´onn slightly compounded on, he has left in a shuttle."

"What do we do?"

"…"

"I´ll try to head him off, though I doubt I'll be able to catch him, should we encounter Luthor´s group I shall signal for the team." He spoke as he began to

"Would it not be better if all of us go?"

"Let me try to reason with him first, hopefully I can get through to him that not everything can be done alone."

"Don't bet on it man," Flash said, "The bat is more stubborn than a mule."

Flash's hand shot out just in time to catch another batarang.

"Seriously," the speedster said, "Where are all these coming from?"

"…All right John but be careful, if you need us call."

"I will Diana."

With that said he turned and left for one of the hangers and the Pelican they kept there, signaling Cortana to remain behind and try to get a precise position of the beacon and be ready to call them up.

Back in the Villains hideout…

To stay that Luthor was angry would be an understatement here he had united the best men and women he believed to be more than a match for the League and the failed him.

He made his displeasure quite known.

"The best at what you do…" He spoke with evident sarcasm "…what was I thinking?"

"We did the best we could." Cheetah retorted.

"Did you? Did you fight like your lives depended on it? Did you fight to the last man?"

"You get what you paid for Luthor." Shade said unfazed by the man´s rant.

Arrow said, "It makes you wonder just how much he paid them…wait…shouldn't Luthor's assets be frozen by now, including his bank accounts?"

Superman said, "They should, but I think this is where Mercy started controlling the company since Luthor is a criminal. Most likely, he has a backdoor to those accounts that can get by the people watching it."

"The only one who seemed worth the money was Deathstroke, at least he did battle the Spartan for he was worth" said man sits calmly sharpening his sword "…but from your tone I can only assume you wish for a reward you abject fai…guh!" He was cut off by and angry zombie.

"GRUNDY NO LIKE TO BE YELLED AT!"

"Go ahead…do it!" He struggled to get out "…you´ll be saving me from bedpans and feeding tubes." He spoke before looking as best he can at the others.

"And you´ll also guarantee you won´t see a penny from me." He finally said.

"…"

"YOU´RE CRAZY." Grundy said as he released him.

"BAM!" the doors flew opened with force.

"And what´s wrong with that? It´s done wonders for me" a voice Luthor knew all too well spoke from it, they all turn and saw the clown prince of crime enter. Yes the Joker had arrived.

"Oh crap," Arrow said, "is that who I think it is?"

Flash said, "The mad clown himself. With the terminator and the others, I completely forgot the crazy crime clown was going to show his face."

Dressed in a purple suit with his ever present smile on his face, one that promised murder and mayhem.

*Oh no not HIM.* Luthor thought tiredly.

"Get out of here." He said with dismissal only to find the homicidal lunatic invade his personal space.

"Oh Lexi I´m hurt…" he says in a fake sad voice "…how can you have this little party without inviting me?" He finished as he produces a party hat and blow horn

"It´s not a party, Grundy get rid of him."

Grundy follows the order…or tries too as the blow horn actually shoots out a purple gas in his face that actually knocks him out.

"Joker," Superman said, "The sign that genius and insanity are more closely linked than people think."

"But seriously…" he continues as he ignores the looks he gets for what he just did "…you need me."

"Like I need skin rash." Lex growls out.

Joker ignores the comment for something else that has caught his eye.

"Maybe so…" he speaks as he sits atop the undead man "…but I know something you don´t know…I know how the bat thinks." He says with shark like smile as he shows of a bat shaped homing beacon, much to his surprise.

"Well, this explains how they managed to get the drop on Bats," Flash said.

Superman said, "How did Joker even hear about the whole thing."

J'onn said, "Most likely through the underworld and made his way there. The one thing we know about Joker is to never underestimate him, and to always expect the unexpected."

"So the Dark Knight comes does he?" Slade spoke.

"And with him the whole bunch of them." Shade finishes.

"Maybe…but if I know him he won´t...after all, your pet snake did TKO´d him did he not?" Joker asks.

"Yes, form what I saw he did." Sapphire replies unnerved when the mad man looks at her.

"Then that means he´ll be out to redeem himself which means…" Joker lets it hang in the air.

"That he won´t expect us to be ready for him." Humanite finishes.

"Give the monkey a prize."

"And what if he doesn´t come alone?" Cheetah asks.

"Don´t worry I have a surprise I brought after my fight with the Spartan, but first Humanite if you would be so kind enough to assist me in an endeavor to assure that no one else interrupts us." Slade spoke ominously as he got up and headed into the shadows followed by Humanite, leaving the others to prepare.

"I hate it when he talks like that," Flash said, "nothing good ever comes when he talks like that. It means someone is going to get hurt."

Later…

It was a full moon when Batman arrived at the Metropolis Picture Store; he slid down his grapple and surveyed the area.

*So this is where their hiding.* He thought as he heard voices and stealthily made his way to the source through the tracker in his hand.

Above him the Spartan watches under cloak, he carefully opens the window and drops inside.

*Looks like he found them, I better contact the others.* He spoke as he tried to raise them on the COM…only he got static in return.

*What? I can´t reach them!* he thought with distress.

He turned to look at Batman and saw someone creep up on him.

"Batman look out!" He cried as he reached for his weapon however before he pulls up his rifle a black sphere lands at his feet.

It jumps up to head level and releases a blue energy wave.

"ARRGH!" He screams as his brain feels like it´s just been doused in Napalm, and he falls to the floor unconscious though not before he orders the armors safety protocols to come into effect.

"C-code 655…ugh."

-Engaging armor safety protocols, sending emergency beacon to nearest UNSC allies. –

"Why do I have a feeling that is not going to end well?" Flash said, "because if this goes the same way as before, then I don't think they'll be getting the signal."

Arrow added, "Don't' forget, they may get it, but they might not be able to track it with Luthor being in charge of everything."

From the shadows steps out Deathstroke, his sword in his right hand and a strange device in the other.

Batman is no better off as he is caught off guard and smacked by the Joker´s suitcase and lands onto the table the villains used.

"That´s a wrap people! He He He Ha Ha Ha HA HA HA HA!" He laughs in psychotic glee as he dumps the rocks in his bag.

Slade ignores him and places the swords tip on the Spartan, the still active shields flare until the give out and he places the device on his chest.

"Well, two of our most skilled fighters just got captures," Flash said, "I do not see this ending well."

Superman said, "And with Joker and Slade being a part of things now, it is a lot more dangerous."

Watchtower at the exact same moment…

Cortana was frantic as she had received the distress beacon from the MJOLNIR, Miranda was in no better shape as she knew that John was no pushover.

Currently they were in the Command center with the rest of the League sans Superman and Flash.

"Where is he?" the UNSC A.I cried out in distress.

"Easy Cortana we´ll find him." The Commander spoke with a calm tone as it did not serve to lose their heads.

That soon proved useless with what came next.

"What! Nonononono, it can´t be!"

"What is it Cortana!"

"The beacon is gone! It´s not supposed to be but it is!"

"What! But that´s impossible!"

"And someone owes me a drink becaue I had a feeling the tracker would be useless," Flash said.

"Was it always like that involving the bat?" Arrow asked, "Him going off on his own to do stuff?"

Diana shrugged her shoulders and said, "Sometimes."

"Could you be mistaken?" Hawkgirl asked with worry.

"No! The only way for that to happen is for the armor to be extremely damaged or…for him to be dead." Cortana spoke with dread getting even more frantic.

Diana decided to snap her out of it by turning her to face her then raises her right hand.

"SLAP!"

Everyone winced at the sound.

"A little tough love there, Diana?" Superman asked.

The amazon shrugged her shoulders.

"Cortana! Snap out of it! We need you to be calm and collected if we are to find them both do you understand?" The raven haired woman

Cortana brought her hand to her cheek even though she could not feel pain it did serve its purpose.

"Right…sorry I-I'll begin scanning his last known location."

"We will find them okay?" Wonder Woman said softly to reassure her friend.

"Yes…we will."

*Hang on John, I'll find you, you are not going MIA on my watch!* she vowed as the others began to move about their headquarters

She was not the only one to worry for the Spartan.

*John…if you are alive we´ll find you and if not I shall avenge you.* Wonder Woman thought to herself.

The race was on now for the lives of two of their members.

"Well that is one heck of a cliffhanger," Arrow said.

Flash said, "So, question, do you think that we would have made out as well as we did if Deathstroke had shown up?" Flash asked.

Superman said, "Given his abilities, mastery of tactics, and his knowledge of our skills and weaknesses, it would have made the fight all the harder."

Flash said, "And it didn't help that Batman went all redemption on us, and got captured. Though, I'm pretty sure he learned from it this time."

Flash's hand shot out and grabbed yet another batarang out of the air.

"Oh, that is it," he said as he vanished from sight in a red blur.

Meanwhile on Earth…

Batman entered a building through the window as quietly as possible. He stealthily approached a man sitting at a desk and smoking a pipe.

Batman then spoke, making the man jump.

"Professor Magnus. We need to talk."

Cut! Okay, that was fun. I hope to see you all soon. Next update may be blow because of finals, but I think I might be graduating college soon. No guarantee though, as I've gotten excited about it before only to be dropped.