Lobo winces as he rises to his feet, absently brushing debris and mortar from his shoulders, noting the scuffs in the fine leather of his outerwear.

*This wasn't part of the plan, dammit.*

Looking to the mouth of the alley, he sees the dark, horned shape enter the side-street. The fire behind the thing obscures much of it's features, and the mercenary tenses, wary and unsure. As the figure straightens, he allows himself to relax a bit.

*Just another Earthling. Don't know why I was worried.*

As the human closes in on the towering man, Lobo draws himself up and strides forward boldly, quickly crossing the ground between the two combatants.

*Time to give 'em a SHOW.*

"FINALLY! Glad I'm still getting paid for this, but now it's gonna be FUN!"

His right arm swings around in a powerful haymaker, but the other man has already begun to evade. Lobo's fist smashes harmlessly into the brick wall, sending shards of red clay flying. The smaller man is already attacking his elbow viciously, even as he begins to withdraw his arm for another blow. Lobo grunts in surprise at the efficiency of his opponent.

*Can't let him pull that move on my other arm. Gonna have to be careful with this one.*

As the hulking beast of a man pulls his arm free, Batman moves past him, deeper into the alley. He allows himself a moment of satisfaction as the man follows, further from the main street, and possible civilian injuries. He eyes the pulverized brick where the man's punch had landed and feels a twinge of fear.

*Can't let him hit me even once, not with that power. Got to be careful with this one.*

The man's earlier taunt comes back to him, a single question beginning to form in his mind.

"Paid by who?"

As Batman dodges the brutes powerful blows, the large man responds between wild swings.

"Some people were VERY interested to learn there was a Kryptonian living out on this backwater rock."

"Kryptonian?"

With frightening quickness, Lobo's right leg lashes out, catching the Dark Knight in the knee. His follow-up punch catches only air, but he notices the other man is now favoring his left side.

"You don't know $#!&, do you? I even sent the body back, called shot and all."

"You killed Superman? Why?"

"Superman? What a stupid $&#^%*! name!"

With a triumphant cry, Lobo catches a handful of the man's black cape. As he wrenches his arm back to pull his opponent into range, the human is already responding. Quickly unclasping the latches at his collarbone, the heavy material falls away, and Batman dances back from the seething villain. He grunts in pain, his knee is worsening from the continued stress. Lobo flings the cloth aside, advancing on the retreating hero.

"So I got sent to find out what's so special about this $#!%hole. And I gotta say, it's not very impressive. Nothing on this rock can even scratch me, or my ship! It's just a bunch of primitives."

His right arm swings around again, and he laughs as the other fighter stumbles clumsily aside, directly into his waiting left hand. His grasp tightens and the earthling cries out in pain. Lobo feels the bones in the man's collar beginning to groan and crack under the pressure, and he leans in, speaking in a low growl.

"The Emperor sends his regards."

The series of blows to his midsection cause Bruce to double over in pain. His feet lift from the dirty concrete as Lobo's grip tightens further, holding him aloft. He hears a SNAP, and his right arm goes limp, the bones and muscles destroyed by the titan's iron grasp. He tries to draw breath but coughs violently, blood bubbling up and running down his stubbled chin.

Lobo smiles, "What was that? Can't quite hear you."

-THWACK-

Lobo's head jerks to his right, responding to the sharp pain in his shoulder. He has just enough time to register the thin shaft sticking out of him, and to contemplate the green light on it, before it switches suddenly to red.

-KABLOOM-

Bruce falls heavily to the ground, crying out as his shoulder sends a spike of pain through his body. While bricks and debris rains down on him from the destroyed wall, he feels himself roughly pulled to his feet. He spits out a curse.

Oliver Queen pushes his hood back, revealing his face. His eyes peer around behind a thin black strip of cloth.

"Nice to see you, too."

The blonde man looks to the hole in the brick wall, where the large man is already beginning to stir beneath the pile of stone and dust. He turns back to Batman.

"Can you walk?"

The other hero is already on his feet, moving quickly toward the street, "Run."

Oliver begins to jog after the limping figure, "Hey, I don't think you're in any condition to be-"

"RUN!"

Lobo erupts from the pile of bricks with a thunderous roar as the two men disappear around the corner. Rising from the ground, he shakes off the white powder from his hair and shoulders. He stalks after the fleeing heroes, muttering curses and threats.

Batman rounds the corner as quickly as his ailing body will allow, nearly colliding with Diana as she approaches the side street. Her face showing obvious concern, she takes in Bruce's injuries. He silences her question with a terse shake of his head. Bruce is surprised to see Barry Allen standing a short distance behind Diana, nervously eyeing the alleyway he had just exited.

Oliver skids to a stop beside him, eyes darting quickly between the two, "Guys, I think we should go."

Diana motions behind her, "You go, I'll hold him."

As the two make their way up the street, Oliver looks to Bruce.

"You, uh, you got a plan?"

In a nearby warehouse, Victor Stone lies atop a heap of destroyed machinery. The pain is unimaginable. Without the symbiotic cybernetics to numb the nerve endings, every bit of him feels aflame with agony. His face is covered in sweat as he concentrates on his task. His only two remaining biological fingers inch further up his torso, slowly closing the distance to the barbed bolt lodged in his metal chest.

Finally, his fingertips brush against the offending object, and he manages to grasp the haft between his two digits. His wrist, however, is more servos than tendons, and he is unable to find the leverage to extract the device from his body. He lets out a scream of frustration.

The explosions outside are getting closer.

At the shore, onlookers watch, stunned, as the Air Force pilots wade toward the beach through waist-deep water. The last of the pilots releases the great fish that carries him and begins to swim toward the shallows. The triangular fins of the car-sized sharks slip beneath the ocean surface as the beasts return to the depths. The airmen wave at the retreating hunters, laughing at the absurdity of their survival.

Diana tosses her broken blade aside and unbuckles the mangled shield from her forearm, letting it fall to the destroyed street. She spits, clearing the metallic taste of blood from her mouth, watching the man in the now-torn leather jacket.

He appears to be having difficulty breathing, and she notes he is cradling his midsection as he picks his way through the battlefield. The man looks around the hazy intersection, peering into the husks of cars, searching for his prey. He doesn't seem to have seen her yet.

Her hand closes on the end of the coils of rope, and she steadies herself. Her arm flashes out, sending the lasso flying toward Lobo's throat. She says a silent prayer.

*By the grace of the gods, let my aim be true this day.*

Faster than her eye can follow, the muscular man's right arm jerks upward, snatching the lasso's end out of midair. He lowers his hand from in front of his face, revealing a wicked grin as he sneers at Diana. With a flick of his wrist, he loops the rope around his forearm. She calls out, her voice loud and clear.

"I compel you to-"

Diana is pulled forward violently. The giant of a man wrenches his arm back, yanking her through the air towards him. His boot connects with her face with a sickening crunch. She feels her bones crack as even the protective power of her headband is overwhelmed. The warrior goddess falls in a heap, the air escaping her lungs in a weak whisper.

"Stop."

Barry watches in horror as the man stalks toward the fallen heroine, dropping the golden lasso to the ground. The ghoulish man stands above her, raising his enormous boot while screaming wordlessly in rage.

Time seems to slow as he looks over his shoulder, where Batman limps away, supported by the man in green armor. He turns his eyes back to Lobo, already bringing his foot down to crush the bleeding Amazon princess, and is surprised to find his feet pulling him forward. Yellow streaks appear at the edges of his perception, leaving negative spots in his vision. He is reminded of the afterimages of a lightning strike watching the ribbons of light dance about.

Distracted by the yellow flashes, he finally registers that Lobo has not moved since the young man first began traveling forward. Before he can dwell too long on this discovery, he feels a familiar downward pull at his ankles. He fights away the fear as it begins to claw at him, struggling to recall the calming exercises he and Diana had worked through. He steels himself, and the riptide sensation grabs him by the legs and pulls him Elsewhere.