Parasite wandered the streets. The pink super villain was full at the moment, and a little tired of chasing down people just to feed. He wanted someone powerful now. Wanted to cause a little destruction. But unfortunately, no one around for him to leech off of.
That is, until he spotted Jax-Ur, laying on the ground tied up.
"Well whadya know?" he said, heading up with a grin on his face. "Free meal."
Eagerly he grabbed a hold, leeching off of Jax-Ur's powers and memories. With them came a sickening realization. Jax-Ur had been beaten. And... oh no.
Parasite jumped back, almost seconds before the powers took hold and he felt the Kryptonite start to affect him. He noticed movement. Them! The trouble-makers! One of them, a black-haired man in a business suit, rushed towards him, opening a box...
And Parasite knew it had more Kryptonite in it. He launched a heat-ray blast at Clark's wrist, making him drop the Kryptonite as he clutched at it. Thankfully, Parasite hadn't had time to fully absorb Jax-Ur's powers. If he had, there wouldn't be more than a smoking stub where his wrist was. But he did drop the box. The Kryptonite spilled out, and Parasite quickly moved farther away from it. To a safer range. Clark dropped to his knees in pain. Shayera and Diana had already tried to overbear Parasite, trying to crush him with their strength and weight, but he threw them off like they were nothing.
"Hey! You still hungry?!" shouted Wally, scooping up the Kryptonite. "Chew on this!" he shouted, hurling at Parasite. The empowered super villain screamed the green rock bounced off his chest and hit the ground, and then his reaction had been the same as the true Kryptonians. Sickness, weakness, and eventually unconsciousness.
Clark and the others wasted no time in tying him up to the street lamp with Mala and Jax-Ur, leaving a healthy dose of Kryptonite present to keep them under control. Three down. Not a bad start for five un-empowered heroes.
"Well that takes care of them," remarked Wally, brushing his hands.
"Who's next on the list?" asked Shayera.
An explosion down the street interrupted Clark before he could reply. Further down the street, they spotted a red-headed lady hurling fireballs and a blue-haired lady tossing lightning bolts. Blowing up things at seeming random.
"Those two," he replied, answering her question. "Volcana and Livewire."
"... don't you see?" asked Bruce. "It all makes perfect sense. Everything has finally added up."
"This is insane," replied John skeptically. "You really expect me to believe all of this?"
"Think about it. This all happened to us at precisely the same time. While... we... were... asleep," said Bruce, going over his explanation again. "We wake up in a world where nothing makes sense, and only we seem to realize it. Why? We're the only ones who are real here. This also explains why our enemies seem to be showing up, doing little more than destroying things and hurting people, with no clear purpose. This is why the Lantern company was attacked. This is why Wayne Manor was destroyed. It all makes sense. This is..."
"Don't say it!" shouted John angrily.
"... a dream," Bruce finished coolly.
"It can't be a dream. Kat is dead," replied John, shivering as if a chill had passed through the room. "They're all dead," he added mournfully. "Kyle, Kilowog, Arkhis, Tomar-Re. All dead. All killed."
"Not dead," replied Bruce. "Someone wanted you to see that. Wanted you to see all your comrades suffer and die so that you would suffer. Or did you ever ask yourself why you're still alive with little more than a few bruises?"
"I got lucky," said John skeptically.
"You're in denial. This is all the proof you need," said Bruce, tapping 'The Art of War' in his hand. He flung it at John, who barely caught it. It spilled open to an undetermined page. But it didn't matter. All the pages looked the same. Words spilled into each other, flowed like a painting of Picasso or a child's messy attempts at writing. No one could read it.
John stared down at it blankly.
"Reading is a function of the right side of the brain," remarked Bruce. "Dreaming is the left. Ergo... it's impossible to read in a dream. That is why I've been having a nagging sense of déjà vu since I woke up. Whoever is controlling this dream has been trying to shield my memories of it, but I've encountered this sort of problem before. The Mad Hatter once tried to do this very same thing to me."
"Kat's dead," mumbled John. "I held her in my arms. I could taste the ash in my mouth, I could smell the smoke from the explosions. Sinestro was there! Its not some stupid dream!" shouted John, throwing the book hard at Bruce's head. He caught it with the reflexes trained into him from age nine. John didn't even seem to notice. "Katma Tui's dead, Shayera's gone, the Lanterns are dead..." he muttered, glancing down at his hand. At the hated golden band, the wedding ring. How he wished it was his power ring... but it wasn't. "I've lost everything I've ever cared about."
"Fine," grumbled Bruce, stalking out of the room. "I'm going to go tell the others. You stay up here and mope for all I care," he added, slamming the door behind him.
John grimaced, suddenly feeling a need for fresh air. He stepped out onto the balcony of Clark's apartment, staring down at Metropolis. At all the pain, at all the suffering. And how pointless it was to try and stop those responsible for it.
The dark man known once as the Green Lantern held up his fist towards the sky, and tried to recite the words he knew by heart.
"In brightest day, in blackest night," he said softly, without feeling. "No evil shall escape my sight. Let all who worship evil's might..." he sighed, "beware my power... green lantern's... green lantern's... light......"
Nothing happened. It was real. No power ring, no power, no Green Lantern.
John Stewart had given up the fight.
Unaware of their plight, the rest of the Leaguers were progressing rather well against legions of empowered villains using their newfound strategies. Hit hard, hit fast, and hit 'em where it hurt. They'd added Volcana and Livewire to the villains they'd taken out, using little more than a fire hose and a fire hydrant. Neither had put up much of a fight, but Wally had lost his over-shirt. Burnt clean off by a fireball before they could subdue the fiery Volcana.
"Okay, whose next?" asked Shayera, always eager to fight.
Clark was about to reply when a car came hurtling through the air towards them. He leapt forward, knocking down Shayera and Wally, as J'onn did Diana, pushing them all back as the car flew over their heads and exploded on the ground behind them. Thankfully, none of them were hurt, just shocked.
And even more shocked when they saw who'd thrown the car.
"I'm next," said the wide, powerful giant of a man. Kalibak. He hefted his club, grinning wickedly at the puny weaklings before him.
"Any ideas?" whispered Wally out of the side of his mouth, directing the question at Clark.
"Not at the moment," replied the former Man of Steel. Truthfully, he hadn't been ready to go up against Kalibak. Apart from his stupidity, he didn't have many weaknesses.
"I got one then. How about we run 'til our legs quit?" he asked light-heartedly, taking a step back at Kalibak advanced on them.
"I like it," replied Clark. As one, the League turned to run...
... only to come face to face with yet more enemies, who'd been standing behind them for the past several moments. Waiting. A red-skinned man in dark green and black, covered in a golden glow. A man with slit-like eyes in a snake-costume. A great big black gorilla with an evil smirk on his face. A half-woman, half-cheetah who hissed angrily. They spread out quickly, and between them and Kalibak, the League was surrounded. Nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and no way to fight them all. They were surrounded by what seemed like a legion of their worst enemies.
And, as a crack of lightning ominously split the air, the very worst one of them all descended down to meet them.
Dark Seid.
The tyrant of Apokolips regarded the League before him as he did all life. Worthless, insignificant, and no danger. Clark growled darkly, but J'onn laid a restraining hand on his shoulder before he tried to do something that, given the odds, wouldn't have been stupid. It would've been downright suicidal.
"So. These are the heroes who have been trying to stop me," he remarked in that cold, methodical voice of his. "You truly believe you can win?" he asked mockingly.
"We'll never submit to you, Dark Seid!" shouted Clark angrily. He'd discarded most of the Kryptonite earlier to contain Mala, Jax-Ur and Parasite, but he still had the lead box, and he threw it at Dark Seid. The Lord of Apokolips barely tilted his head. Two bright blasts of pure energy shot from his eyes and obliterated the box before it came even close.
"No? You believe you would rather perish?" he asked, his ugly face twisting into a smirk as his eyes glowed again, signaling another blast from his Omega Beams coming. Clark stood his ground.
"We would rather die than live as your slaves!" shouted Diana, standing beside Clark. Behind him, the other Leaguer's voiced similar challenges to Dark Seid.
"Then you shall die," intoned Dark Seid, and without warning let loose a full blast of his Omega Beams at all of them...
Bruce had abandoned the car ages ago. In the war-torn streets of Metropolis, it was a most impractical thing. He couldn't waste time shifting aside chunks of stone to clear the road. So he got out and ran. He had to find the others. He had to warn them.
They couldn't win. Clark's plan was going to be worthless here, in this dream world. As the Hatter had once told him, you can't kill a dream. On the other hand, people had been known to die in their sleep before. Someone out there was making the rules, and they could make it so the League could never win. Not unless they knew how to play by the rules of the dream world.
Despite all that, he thought as he jogged along, this dream didn't feel like Hatter's work. When he'd imprisoned Bruce in his own dream world he'd made it everything he'd ever wanted. A wonderland, he'd called it. But whoever was behind this was considerably more sinister. More evil. Death and destruction was abound in this dreamscape. It wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare.
Now all we need is a burnt guy in a fedora and Christmas sweater to step out of the shadows, he thought.
He added more speed, searching desperately for his friends. If he didn't reach them in time, he wasn't sure what he would do.
But it wouldn't be pleasant.
As quickly as it had begun, the Omega blast ended, and the Leaguer's found themselves on the ground, alive. In terrible pain, unable to stand, but alive. Dark Seid meant to finish them off slowly. Clark, grimacing painfully, tried to push himself to his feet... and failed miserably. He wasn't Superman, he had to keep reminding himself. He wasn't strong enough.
"Take them," ordered Dark Seid, speaking to his son. Kalibak eagerly strode forward, picking up the weakened and unconscious heroes. "Imprison them somewhere where they can witness my conquest. I intend for them to suffer before they die."
"Yes father," replied Kalibak, throwing Clark over one burly shoulder and Diana over the other. Sinestro provided assistance by picking up the others. J'onn and Shayera and Wally. All unconscious, all beaten and bruised and defeated. Between the two of them, they dragged them to the Metropolis Square, the center of the city, and chained them against the wall with Apokoliptic technology. Kalibak remained behind to guard them, as Sinestro floated off to continue his destruction.
"Enjoying your view?" asked Kalibak sadistically after they'd regained consciousness.
"Go to Hell sasquatch!" said Wally.
Kalibak growled darkly, lifting up his great club and prepared to smack Wally on the head, which likely would've crushed his skull, when...
"Put it down."
Kalibak growled, turning around. There, at the other end of the square, alone, stood Bruce Wayne.
"I said put it down."
Kalibak roared, charging at Bruce, swinging his club and preparing to crush the little man before him. Bruce sidestepped and ducked, going right under the swing and sending Kalibak off-balance. The great giant crashed face-first into the asphalt, and Bruce wasted no time in adding his own personal touch. A taser, hidden behind his back, was suddenly in his hand, and he slammed it right into the small of Kalibak's back, pumping him full of electricity. The great giant roared and then fell silent, unconscious. Bruce pocketed it and ran to the other Leaguers, inspecting the Apokoliptic technology before him to try and free them.
"Bruce... thank god you're here," said Clark. "Listen we took down Jax-Ur and Mala and a few others..."
"Its not real," replied Bruce, still inspecting the controls. Stupid alien technology. Never put a label on anything. "I finally figured out why we've lost our powers," he said.
"You did?!" they all shouted at once, nearly making him wince. "How?! Why?!"
"This world isn't real!" he shouted, finally finding the proper controls and activating them. The beaten Leaguers fell to the ground, clutching at their sore wounds and aches, regarding Bruce strangely. "This is a dream world," he said. "Nothing here is real. That's why no one here remembers us. That's why we haven't got our powers. That's why everyone we know or care about is being destroyed."
He paused a moment, to allow that to sink in.
"Wait, where's GL?" asked Wally, glancing around.
"Not coming," said Bruce. "He wouldn't believe me. I think whoever made this dream world got to him with whatever they did. He's up in Clark's apartment," he added, pointing in that general direction. If one looked hard enough, you could see it, but none of them bothered. "Sulking," he added.
Suddenly J'onn's eyes opened wide, as a flash of realization came to him. Like Bruce, his memories had been carefully covered up so he would not remember. But now he did.
"Dr. Destiny," he intoned. And that voice alone sent a shiver down their spines.
"He must be responsible for this," said Wally, picking up on J'onn's general idea. "He said he wanted revenge on us before, he must be trying again. Trying to make us helpless this time."
"It's a good..." Bruce started to say, then abruptly stopped. A sudden sound had split the air. A horrible, terrible sound. A sound that haunted his nightmares and many of his nights patrolling Gotham.
The sound of laughter.
As the League glanced around, the Square seemed to distort, the buildings beyond it become indistinct and shadowy. The sky had darkened even further, black clouds overhead tinged with red. From all directions came their worst enemies. Sinestro, Grodd, Dark Seid, Cheetah and others. And then the source of the laughter joined them. A white-faced man with green hair and a sadistic smile on his face. The Joker.
"If this is a dream... how do we fight it?" asked Shayera fearfully, as the League went back to back, surrounded by their enemies.
"You need to believe," said Bruce. "It's just a dream. We all have a little control over it."
"Oh that ain't gonna save you Brucie!" said the Joker with his characteristic laugh, tossing something at the League. Instinctively they scattered as a rubber bouncing ball headed their way. It looked non-threatening, but they'd had enough encounters with the clown of Crime to know that his things rarely looked as menacing as they were.
The bouncing ball drove home its point when it exploded then, scattering the League throughout the square and separating them. Their enemies closed in...
High above, up in Clark's apartment, John watched the battle taking place. He couldn't make out the distinct shapes of his friends below, only see them as little dots and flashes of light. It didn't matter, he decided. He couldn't do anything to save them now.
Author's Notes:
And so the truth of it has all been revealed. In the best traditions of 'Perchance to Dream' and 'Only a Dream,' the Leaguers are trapped in a dream world where the only rules are what a certain psychotic villain decides they are. I can see why a lot of people might've thought it was an alternate universe of sorts, and I suppose in a sense it is, but its not the whole truth. Bruce's mention of a 'burnt guy in a fedora and Christmas sweater' is of course a reference to the infamous 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movie series which, unless I'm mistaken, inspired the modern Dr. Destiny and 'Only a Dream' where he appeared. Next time, the final fights begin as the Leaguer's struggle to wake up and do battle against the dream world. Think they can do it? Well, we'll see.
X00001: Well glad to know I haven't lost your support and reviews.
Dragonstar: I know who it is, I saw your e-mail last time, DS. Clark would understand. 'Legacy,' remember? He's done the same thing she did (albeit under mind control). Wonder Woman without angst? Did you see the end of 'Paradise Lost' by any chance? There's your angst. New episodes, in America at least, start on the 31st of July, 8:30. Believe me, my calendar is marked. Supergirl finally shows up! Reruns I can't tell you, it doesn't look like any for a while. And you're thinking of 'Comfort and Joy,' the Christmas one.
Desert Hawk: I saw the listing. It said 'Rumored' return of Hawkgirl. Now believe me I want her to come back as much as anyone, but let's not get our hopes too high. I did that with season five of Evo... and it still pisses me off to no end. Thank you for informing me but I keep updated on the schedule by a very, very reliable source.
Todd fan: I can imagine it would. You have a thing for joksters, don't you? I can't wait for JLU either. Supergirl, mmmm... drool Hehe. Glad you're enjoying the story. Oh, and I have a nice little reunion planned for poor Shayera and poor John later on, so don't miss it.
Girl-Interrupted33: Weird can be good or bad. So thank you. I try not to give Bats too much importance. As from my previous stories, I try to give everyone a chance to shine. Moreso the League in these, since the villains aren't as easy as they are in Evo. Well first they'll be 'huh?!' then I imagine they'll get splattered all over the place. Hope you enjoy what comes next.
Comet-hime: Oh don't feel bad, it just means I'm updating extra fast and you're busy with more important things. I'm glad you review at all, believe me. Now what sort of fun would it be if I just handed the answers to Bruce, eh? Or let Clark get away without a scratch. No, good stories need mystery, suspense, and suffering! Followed by happy endings and tea.
Ray1: Pissed off does not even scratch the surface, you'd better believe it. Well plenty yes, and with less terrible weaknesses than the two Kryptonians, but I'm sure the League knows what they're doing. At least, they'd better.
Momentum: Low key, after his home is destroyed? And this man became Batman only after his parents were murdered. Oh no, he doesn't hide and sulk. He gets even. However, as you'll soon see, none of it matter when Bruce revealed what had happened.
Kaliann: One update, maybe two before then. At least the story'll be here for you when you get back, you can always review later.
Knight's Shadow: Not Brainiac, not Luthor. Not any of the usual suspects, believe me. And its not a Batman or Superman villain... it's a Justice League villain, if that helps you figure out the evil mastermind. But it's a bit late, since J'onn just told you who it is. Only 100? Well, this story maybe. But I've broken the 300 review limit before.
Dreamcatcher89: Well she might, there is an episode with, and I quote "Rumored to be the Return of Hawkgirl" written under it. So she might come back. Maybe hopefully. I like her too, and can't imagine the League without her, even though I'm more of a fan of Superman and Green Lantern. And yes of course it was the Joker. I did want to make it semi-obvious. There you are, a nice update so you won't throttle me. But I do so love ending them on cliffhangers. Draws in the audience.
Angelic Temptress: I'm flattered, I always love getting on people's favorites lists, though I can't imagine why. I'm not even that good. Well, there's your answer. J'onn and Batman figured it out for ya.