Author's Note: To make sure that no one is confused I should mention that I originally wrote this story before seeing JL episode "Hearts and Minds", therefore I guess that makes it sort of an AU story. Actually everything is the same as the Justice League universe except for one important detail.
Special thanks to fanfic author Onyx for advice on improving the dialogue and tightening up the story.
Chapter 1 - Action.
Chapter 2 - Supernatural/Mystery
Chapter 3 - - Romance/Angst
Chapter 4 - Angst/Romance
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Soar on Forever
by Centuri Eagle
Rated PG - cartoon violence and a little drinking.
Chapter I - Diamonds and Sapphires
Gotham. Night.
Batman was not happy for several reasons.
Reason number one: The purple and black garbed supervillaness Star Sapphire had just robbed millions worth of gems from Gotham city's main vault.
Reason two: In escaping with her ill gotten gains, she had become a magenta streak of light, cutting a zig-zag pattern through the Gotham city thoroughfares, all the while shooting off blasts of pink plasma and causing massive destruction in her wake.
And reason three: John was not gaining ground on her much. He was stopping to prop up buildings with his power ring as Sapphire knocked them down to make good her escape.
Sapphire came to a wide intersection as John and Batman came from opposite directions to trap her. Batman brought his arm up to shoot a grapple at her. Upon seeing Batman aim at her, Star Sapphire put a finger to her brow and a red blast became a 40-foot glowing pink spider. Eight long powerful legs began to squeeze the life out of Batman.
"I do so much love shopping in your fair city, Batman," Sapphire shouted with a musical lilt in her British accent. "Thank you for the diamonds!"
Inside a bag that was hanging from Sapphires shoulder was precious treasures freshly lifted from the Gotham City Gem exchange. It was a fortune in polished and cut diamonds.
John tried blasting at the mammoth glowing pink spider but was unable to get a clear shot off at it without hitting Batman or bystanders. He decided to try prying Batman free by hand
"Shoot her!" was all Batman could grunt out. The compression of the radiating spider's pincer lock was threatening to break his ribs.
John pointed his fist to fire a green blast at Sapphire, but she backed away with agility keeping bystanders or occupied buildings behind or near her.
John moved above and to the right of her. If he could not force her up into a clear shot, he could keep her eyes concentrating on him until.
Diana, emerged from a side street and grabbed Sapphire from behind. She snaked her arms in front of Star Sapphire's shoulders and interlaced her fingers behind the masked woman's head.
"Let Batman go!" she ordered.
Diana swung her new captive around, slamming her face first into the side of a building without releasing the headlock. This effectively broke Sapphires concentration and the spider disappeared.
Solomon Grundy emerged from an alley.
He was only just smart enough to realize that another impact like that would not help Sapphire, his current employer, to think highly of him. He leapt up from the shadows of the alleyway where he had been instructed to wait, and with his two giant marble white hands grabbed Wonder Woman and squeezed her considerable force. And, of course, when Grundy squeezed someone, that person dropped whatever they were doing.
Seeing Diana realease Sapphire, Grundy grabbed Diana by her leg and swung her down on a parked car. This left a Wonder Woman shaped impression in the roof.
"Ha! Solomon Grundy body slam Wonder Woman!" Grundy said triumphantly, admiring his own handiwork. With her foot still in his vice like grip, he wrenched Wonder Woman free of the demolished vehicle, and swung her up over his head the other way. He then slammed her down and almost through, a mini-van on other side.
"Ha-ha! Ha-Ha! Solomon Grundy did it again!" The large albino hulk was ecstatic. "Solomon Grundy like smashing cars with Wonder Woman.Wonder Woman better than stick."
Star Sapphire, recovering and floating backwards, gave encouragement to her partner.
"That's it, Solomon dear! Thrash the Amazon wench like a rag doll!"
Sapphire winced as Grundy began swinging Wonder Woman in a tight circle over his head. He was building momentum for the coup de grace.
That's going to hurt, Sapphire thought happily.
"You had better slam her and make yourself scarce." It was Sapphire's last bit of advice before zooming eastward, staying at almost ground level.
"John, I'm going high. You go low." Batman's commands were coming through the commlink in John's ear loud and clear.
"Don't do it, Grundy!" Batman's shouted advisory was given more to distract him than in the hope of his actual compliance. He needed time for himself and John to meet with Grundy in the middle.
The resultant impact forced Grundy's release of Diana's leg.
"Leave him to me," Diana said.
Batman paused to enjoy at the spectacle of Diana beating up on Grundy. He then took off in the direction that Star Sapphire had gone; out towards the harbor area. He had to get those diamonds back.
He found John and Star Sapphire doing a deadly dance over the Gotham City pier. John was blocking her egress across the ocean. He let her take concentrated shots at him as he floated, protected within a green bubble shield. Her missed shots ranged out harmlessly over the dark ocean.
Batman ran out to the furthest extent of the docks. He watched and listened.
Sapphire was laughing, but when she saw Batman out of the corner of her eye she knew Grundy must have been defeated.
Too bad, so sad, she said to herself. She had warned him, he had already been paid, so everything was fair. Besides she had herself to worry about now.
"Ah, John Stewart," Sapphire said.
She stopped her assault, spread her arms wide and floated slowly towards him. A pink aura surrounded her.
"You know," she began, "I remember a time when you were my greatest worry."
She drifted closer.
They were only a body length apart when Green Lantern put his ringed fist up. Sapphire stopped, but then composed herself with a smile.
"You were best of the Green Lantern Corps," she stated.
Emerald green eyes stared back at her.
She brought one lavender gloved palm up, and ever so gently wrapped her hand around John's clenched fist. She then slowly pirouetted around him.
Sapphire maneuvered herself so that she was now on the ocean side of him, the whole time keeping him from seeing Batman on the edge of the docks or seeing Wonder Woman who was coming up behind.
She kept her eyes transfixed on John's luminescent green irises, and then raised an index finger to emphasize a point.
"But, still, you know the fact that no Green Lantern has ever been able to really defeat me."
She then lowered her voice and brought her face close to John's.
"Besides," she advised in an almost motherly tone. "When it came to the crunch, even Katma Tui fell to my hands when she matched rays with me. Can you defeat me?"
With that Star Sapphire arched backwards and accelerated out over the ocean. Diana started to pursue.
"Wait." Batman said calmly. "She's made a big mistake. John will get her."
John began to glow intensely until his form was becoming a mass of bright white/green light.
Just as Star Sapphire was disappearing to a pink dot on the horizon a blinding white blast shot out from John's fist.
"Cover your eyes!" They all saw the blinding flash begin.
"I can't believe it!" shouted Batman.
"Oh, my Goddess!" exclaimed Diana.
"Uh oh," said John as he jetted over the ocean.
He was already projecting a large force field around the nuclear explosion that he had just created. He lifted it and came up under it forcing it high into the atmosphere and into space.
Seconds later when he was several hundred miles above the Earth's surface and the expansion was reaching critical mass he gave a final desperate push.
The rapid expansion gave way to a nuclear shock wave that hurled John back down to Earth. He fell back to Gotham. He broke through several brick walls of an old building. Diana and Batman helped him out from the rubble and sat him down on the city pavement.
"What about Sapphire? Did she get away?" Batman asked.
"Yeah, I think so." admitted John disgusted with himself.