Cassie Sandsmark was the daughter of an accomplished archaeologist who specialized in Ancient Greece. For that reason alone, she would never admit to having watched the notoriously historically-inaccurate Troy movie, nor admit to owning the extended edition. No matter how epic the set pieces, no matter how hot Brad Pitt and Eric Bana were.
That being said, if she had to compare the current battle between the two Wonder Women to any cinematic fight, it would have to be the climatic duel between Achilles and Hector in Troy — with Donna playing the role of the former, and Diana the latter. They had both managed to recover their swords and shields, and once again were engaged in fierce combat. Sword to sword, sword to shield, shield to shield, and Cassie, with her barely-trained eyes, could hardly keep up. It was an epic thing to see, and Cassie would've delighted in it if it weren't for the fact that Diana was currently fighting for her life and losing.
Donna was simply too strong. She was already close to Diana's level as a fighter before the time travel, but after she was her equal if not her outright superior in skill. And whatever Savage did to her to transform her into her prime had only increased her strength, speed, agility, all beyond even Diana. Combined with the photonic blasts and God knows whatever other abilities she had at her disposal, and Diana was simply outmatched on practically every level. And Cassie…Cassie had been no help. Just a nuisance to be slapped around.
It was disheartening. Maybe, if she had full access to her demigod powers, she might've been able to make a difference, but as it were, she might as well not be there at all. It made her remember Donna's own promise to train her, the promise to eventually release the seal on her powers, and hardened her resolve. If she survived this, she would ask Donna to up her training so she could reach that level faster. She never wanted to be helpless like that ever again.
Cassie looked up upon hearing a loud clang!. The shields had been discarded for swords only now, and the two sisters were beginning to speed up their movements as they began exchanging slashes and swings, matching each other blow-for-blow. Sparks danced across the surfaces of their blades as they continued to clash, fierce expressions on their faces. Cassie knew that to them, she was no longer there — it was just Donna and Diana, and no one else.
Eventually, fists and kicks were added. Donna, of course, initiated that, using a sword and a foot to lock down Diana's own sword before slamming a powerful backfist into her sister's face. Diana stumbled, but still managed to keep a firm grip on her blade. She wrenched it out of Donna's hold, forcing the younger woman to let go of it lest she get one of the few unarmored parts of her leg to be cut. The older Amazon wiped away the blood that started dribbling down the corner of her mouth and charged back into the fray, with Donna meeting her eagerly.
The sound of sliding metal and powerful blows greeted Cassie's ears. Despite Diana's best efforts, Donna had the advantage here too, not afraid to keep moving, to keep attacking. Eventually, Diana deemed the swords an unnecessary weight, a disadvantage of sorts, and with not too little difficulty, managed to disarm Donna. Of course, it was a short-lived victory, because Donna quickly retaliated with disarming her in turn, and kicked away the sword so Diana could not reach back for it. Diana ducked under a powerful swing and tried to sweep Donna's legs — her sister dodged, but it did allow Diana the chance to kick away her opponent's sword too.
It had all come down to this. Hand-to-hand combat. The woman circled each other, hands outward and twitching, before locking up and beginning to wrestle for control. Diana suddenly broke the lock in favor of trying to grab Donna by the waist, perhaps for a suplex of some sorts, but Donna blocked it, slamming her heel down on Diana's foot. The older woman grimaced, allowing Donna follow up with an elbow to the jaw. Diana was once again sent stumbling, rubbing her aching jaw, and suddenly leaned back to avoid a front kick.
The two women began circling each other again, fists at the ready like they were in a boxing match. Donna took the initiative now, throwing three quick successive jabs into Diana's guard, followed up with a side kick. The first Wonder Woman blocked the blows and retaliated with two quick uppercuts and then a hook, which were dodged in return. They continued to circle each other, each throwing successive combinations with kicks thrown in for good measure, each of whom were either dodged or block by both women. The stalemate ended with a mutual cross-counter, two jabs thrown and connecting, forcing them both back.
Unfortunately, Diana was by far the more injured of the two, and Donna was as ruthless as ever. Cassie cringed as Donna recovered quickly and kicked the still recovering Diana directly into the chin, once again forcing more spittle to spew from her mouth. She followed up with two successive hooks, then pawing at Diana's shoulder with one hand as she threw more jabs into her left eye, swelling it closed. Diana gave her a desperate push with all her strength to create distance, putting back up a weak guard, but Donna simply slapped it away and finished Diana off with a powerful overhand punch that sent her to her elbows and knees.
Diana stayed down there, coughing up blood on the ground, as Donna roughly grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head up. She kneed Diana directly into the face, forcing the other woman on her back and completely taking the fight out of her. Diana could only look up helplessly as her brainwashed sister held up a single hand, charged with an increasingly bright photon blast, ostensibly to finish her off.
"STOP, DONNA!"
Donna froze, and then suddenly burst into the sky to dodge a red blur with red lightning trailing after it. Diana watched, shocked, as the blur stilled to reveal a Flash, one she didn't recognize. Wallace, her mind unconsciously supplied, this is Wallace West. The Fifth Flash.
Wallace gazed down at her grimaced. Before the Amazon knew it, she was scooped up into his arms and sped over to another section of the chamber, near a wall. Wallace set her against the wall as gently as he could, before speeding away and bringing back a confused Cassie to do the same to her. He was gone in another blur, speeding towards the direction of Donna (of whom, in the distance, Diana could see was fighting another man in orange and some invisible person). Before she could call out to him, another figure dropped in front of her, this one dressed darkly. She glanced up, and her eyes widened even further.
A Batman.
"Jason…" she said quietly, before coughing out some blood. Jason immediately crouched down next to her and began doing a diagnostic, taking out a first aid pack as he was doing so.
"She really did a number on you, didn't she?" Jason noted, cringing behind his helmet.
"Not me…Cassie first…" Diana told him, wincing.
Next to her, Cassie shook her head furiously. "No, Diana. You're way more injured than me. You should be first priority."
"She's right, Diana," Jason agreed. "You need more immediate aid. Cassie should be healing on her own right now anyway."
"Wait, seriously?" Cassie asked, suddenly looking down at her hands. She glanced at the bruises and cuts, touching one, and blinked when she realized they were visibly beginning to fade and close. "How?"
"One of the first things Donna did after Zeus granted her control over the seal on your powers was to release your healing factor," Jason explained as he began dabbing alcohol on some of Diana's cuts. "Despite the possibility of you running into a fight that was out of your weight class being relatively high considering the current situation, she still couldn't risk you having full access to your other abilities until you had the necessary skill, control, and maturity. But, if you had access to your healing factor, you would at least be able to survive that kind of fight long enough to get help." He gave a nod to Diana. "As you can see, it was the right choice."
Cassie swallowed. "And now?"
"It's possible she might give you access to your invulnerability," Jason admitted. "Granted, you won't be invulnerable to everything, but it would still be hell of a lot more than what you had today."
The current Wonder Girl let out a shuddering breath. Something, indeed. She glanced at the battle being waged far away from them, biting her lip. "What are they doing over there?"
"They're trying to restrain Donna, so M'gann can enter her mind and break Savage's control, like she did with the rest of us and like how J'onn did with her."
"Oh," Cassie said. Then, "I think I'll go help them." She ran off.
Almost immediately, Jason stopped his treatment of Diana in favor of whirling his head around to stare at the fleeing teenager. "NO CASSIE! STOP! COME BACK!"
Before he could say more, he felt Diana tug at wrist. He glanced back at her, and saw her smiling. "Go. Help them," she told him. "Bring back my sister."
"But—"
"I'll be fine for a few more minutes, Jason. Go."
Jason hesitated for a moment, before nodding. He turned on his heel, and ran.
The first thing Cassie did was go and pick up Diana's Lasso of Truth. She then ran towards Donna, careful to keep out of sight, twisting the Lasso in her hands and the throwing it up in the air, preparing to leash the older woman's legs.
Before she could, however, Donna suddenly swiveled around, her gaze zeroing in on the teenage girl. Cassie froze as she saw those glowing white hands aimed at her. Before she could so much as think of moving, someone else grabbed her, rolling away as they dodged the blast. Cassie shook her head and glanced up at her savior — a handsome man with dark skin, blond hair and pale green eyes. The Aquaman. He gave her an admonishing look, but didn't say any further, instead pushing her away to help them both escape another volley of light blasts.
Cassie tumbled away, lasso still in hand. She spotted Donna once more aiming for her, and tried to run away. Donna was faster, though, and Cassie let out a yelp as the ground beneath her exploded. She was caught, however, by Wallace, who grabbed her just in time and began outrunning the barrage, going as far as run on the walls. When he began nearing Diana, however, he banked forward, which unfortunately began closing the distance between him and Donna. Another barrage followed, and this time Wallace was forced to throw Cassie away, much like Kaldur before him, so they both wouldn't get hit.
This time, Cassie was prepared for it, and she landed on her feet, digging her heels in so she didn't skid back. She looked up, and saw Donna glaring down at her, and pulled the lasso taut. She began flying up herself, awkwardly dodging photon blast after photon blast and just barely managing, all while searching for an opening to put her plan into action. Finally, Cassie managed to bank behind Donna, and used the opportunity to try lasso the former Wonder Girl's legs.
Donna, however, made a whirlwhind by spinning herself rapidly, and it repelled the golden rope. She made a sudden stop, and put her hands together to fire one massively charged photon blast directly at Cassie. Cassie, knowing she wasn't fast enough to dodge, held up her hands to block it — in so much that she wouldn't get too injured.
But the pain never came. The blast repelled against some kind of invisible barrier, and Cassie felt a light touch in her mind. You shouldn't be here, Cassie, a gentle voice told her, This fight is out of your league.
Who are you? Cassie didn't have much experience with telepaths, but for some reason it was just easy to talk to this woman without talking at all.
The air in front of her shimmered, and ever so briefly, Cassie could see the outline of a woman. M'gann M'orzz, or Miss Martian. And again, you shouldn't be here, Cassie.
I want to help! The teenager shouted back in her mind stubbornly. Before M'gann could respond, Donna tried to blast them again, and the Martian was forced to reinforce the barrier.
Fine. She sounded exasperated. Young superheroes willingly getting into fights well out of their weight class was, unfortunately, a common event in her lifetime. What's your plan?
Well, what's your goal?
M'gann sighed again. We need to restrain Donna long enough for me to invade her mind and break Savage's control on her. Once I'm in, however, she should stop putting up a fight.
Cassie looked down at the lasso in her hands. If that's the case, then I think I have an idea.
Jason snarled beneath his helmet as he approached Kaldur, who had his water-bearers drawn as he continued to blast Donna with a steady stream of highly-pressurized water. "Where is she?" he demanded.
Kaldur gave him a look before nodding towards the sky, where Cassie was circling beneath Donna's feet. Jason knew better than to call out to her, but that didn't stop him from glaring. What's the plan? he asked with his mind.
We're going to lasso her feet together and try to bring her down with our collective strength. Wallace explained, speeding around to draw Donna's attention. That should distract her long enough for M'gann to get the drop on her.
Fine. I take it Cassie is doing the lassoing?
Well, she does have the most practice at it out of all of us…
Jason muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
After a few minutes, Cassie seemed to have found what she was looking for. She started spinning the lasso next to her before throwing it all her might, managing to catch both of Donna's legs. Then she pulled the loop taut and started rushing as fast as she could to where Kaldur and Jason were. Donna, thankfully, had been caught unawares and that was unable to right herself in time — by the time she did, Cassie, Jason, Kaldur, and Wallace were all pulling on the lasso with all their strength. As she fought against them, trying to pull away, M'gann, still invisible, gave her a powerful kick to the head, knocking her looping, before dropping her invisibility and grabbing the Amazon's shoulders. She pressed their foreheads together, and then she was gone.
Almost immediately, Donna began to drop, but they had a speedster on hand. Wallace grabbed her, bending his knees to lessen the impact, and then sped her over back to everyone else. Jason carefully took her from his hands, and as a group they began walking towards the direction of Diana. The Batman lingered so he was behind the group, level with Cassie, who had waited a moment to roll up the lasso around her arm. "Cassie, first things first: good job."
Cassie brightened.
"Second thing: never do that again."
And just like that, she deflated like a balloon. "But—"
"But nothing. Cassie, you could've gotten killed. Just because you have a healing factor and invulnerability does not mean you are invincible. No one is." Jason sighed as he glanced at her. "Just…please. Don't go running into trouble half-cocked like that, alright?"
The current Wonder Girl nodded glumly.
By the time they made it back to Diana, Donna was already beginning to wake up. This was indicated by the appearance of M'gann, who exited her mind and gave them all a nod. Soon after, a groan spilled from Donna's lips as she began to stir. Her eyes opened.
"Jay…?" she asked, gazing up at the familiar helmet. It had been so long since she had seen it outside of a tube or a memorial hologram.
Jason smiled, though no one could see it. "Hey, you."
She moved to sit up, and Jason seamlessly helped her back onto her feet. As the world blinked into focus, she glanced around her. "M'gann, Kaldur…Wallace!" she said the last one joyfully, her face breaking into a smile as she pulled the speedster into a hug. It had been so long!
Wallace patted her on the back. "It's good to see you too, Don."
Donna let go of the embrace, still grasping at Wallace's arms. "How…?" her eyes widened as the memories started rushing back into her. "Savage," she snarled.
"He took control of us," Kaldur said quietly. "All of us."
"For what?" Donna asked, confused. Instead of answering, her fellow heroes shifted their gazes towards Cassie and Diana, who had been watching the proceedings silently.
The second Wonder Woman followed their line of sight, and froze in horror. Cassie might've been healing, but she was still very disheveled. And Diana…
"Oh Hera, Diana…" Donna whispered, putting a hand to her mouth as she approached her beaten and battered sister. "Did I…?"
Diana simply closed her eyes for a moment, and then smiled weakly. "It's fine, Donna. You've gotten so strong. I'm so proud."
Donna's lip trembled as she tried not to cry. Jason put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. She unconsciously leaned into him.
"I am sorry, but we cannot afford to linger any longer," Kaldur cut in, sounding truly regretful, if stern. "We still need to deal with Superman — Kon-El," he added for Cassie and Diana's benefits.
Donna's hand dropped, and she gave Jason a look. "Not Lantern?"
She could sense him wincing behind his helmet. "I wasn't able to sense him on the island," M'gann explained, off to the side.
The Amazon paused as she thought that over. "That's not a good thing, is it?"
"No," all four of her friends said as one.
She sighed.
After ensuring that Wally and Bart were coming in to bring Diana and Cassie to the meeting spot, the Era 2 Justice League departed upwards toward the island, where the battle of the Supermen were taking place. According to M'gann, the fight was taking place on the other side of the island, away from the armies of heroes and villains, so that way no one could interfere with them and possibly tip things towards Clark's favor. Which meant they would able to focus entirely on just taking down Kon, and once they had him back, it would allow them to reinforce their comrades in the other battle in a two-pronged attack.
Well, as much as the other side could muster with the attack. M'gann could feel the guilt rolling off the others, and couldn't help but sympathize. She had been lucky — Uncle J'onn had managed to break the control on her before she could do any lingering damage to him. Her friends hadn't been so fortunate. Jason, obviously, took it the hardest considering his past, but the states of Jay and Diana had hit Wallace and Donna, respectively, like a freight train. And Kaldur, forever eternally loyal to King Arthur and his descendants…well. When they were done freeing Kon and got to fighting their actual enemies, M'gann fully expected things to be vicious.
Of course, not to say she was going to be any better.
Not to mention there was the issue of Kyle that still needed to be dealt with. They had to be vicious, because viciousness meant things could be ended quicker, faster. More energy conserved. Because if Savage really did have his hooks in Kyle, then it was possible that even the combined might of Era 1 and Era 2 wouldn't be able to stop him. M'gann may have lived a longer life than most, but her psionic abilities meant she had a very vivid memory. She remembered, very well, how powerful Kyle Rayner was, and even Martin Jordan, with his heritage and emotional strength, had yet to measure up to his predecessor even after he had his honorary uncle's ring for close to a decade. He was strong, for certain, but Kyle…Kyle had been something out of this world.
"M'gann?"
But that was a thought for another time. They were here.
The thing about Kryptonians, even Kryptonian hybrids, is that they radiated power. It was easier to ignore when they were out of combat, especially serious combat, but when someone saw them fight — well, it was hard not to mistake them as gods. An idea that every member of the Era 2 Justice League was reminded of when they arrived to the battlefield and looked up to the sky. Only glimpses of red and blue and the occasional shockwave of force indicated the presence of the Supermen. None had the ability to really visually track them except for Wallace.
M'gann, Donna, Jason thought, and both women complied, ascending to the air at their fastest speeds. As soon as they were close, M'gann used her considerably psionic power to freeze them both with her telekinesis. Before Kon could use his own telekinesis to break out, he was bum-rushed by Donna, who tackled him further upwards into the sky. As those two began duking it out, M'gann's eyes glowed, and she telepathically connected Clark's mind into the already-present bond between the other heroes. Hello again, Clark Kent.
Clark, bloody and a little worse for wear but still completely combat-capable, blinked, as the telekinetic grip on him disappeared. You are…M'gann, correct?
Yes. If you look down, you'll see our Flash, Wallace, and our Aquaman, Kaldur'ahm.
Hi Clark! Wallace's cheerful voice cut in.
Greetings, Clark. It is good to meet you again. You may call me Kaldur.
The first Superman looked down, and smiled, giving a small wave. Hello. It's nice to meet you too.
And you, of course, know Jason and Donna.
Can't…talk! Donna thought, grunting. Kind…of…fighting…right now! A little help please!
M'gann glanced her way and frowned. Right. On my way. She flew away, towards the ongoing battle between her Superman and Wonder Woman to aid the latter, leaving Clark by his lonesome.
Before Clark could follow her, Jason's voice stopped him. Clark, I have Kryptonite on me. But there's an issue — Kon is half-human. He'll be able to resist it longer than you. And with his telekinesis still in play, it'll make it difficult to restrain him. Even M'gann isn't strong enough to hold off his telekinesis for long.
What do you suggest we do then? Clark asked, resuming his flight towards the battle.
You three will need to corral him down back to the ground, where Kaldur, Wallace and I will be waiting. The Kryptonite I have on me should weaken him, but he'll need longer exposure than you to completely subdue him to the point that M'gann can bypass his shields and enter his mind to break the mind control. That means the very moment you've got him down to the ground, you need to get out of dodge, Clark. Jason told him, completely serious and severe. We have our own methods to help restrain him, including the Lasso of Truth, but if he breaks through them then we need you in top shape to knock him back down so we can try again. That means avoiding exposure to the Kryptonite. Understood?
Understood. Clark responded, before slamming his fist directly against Kon's jaw. It was by far the best hit he had gotten into the fight thus far. Usually, Kon's telekinesis either blocked or diverted his blows before they could land. However, his successor had been distracted by his two newest opponents, and that gave Clark the opportunity to finally get back into this fight.
Kon tumbled back from the blow before righting himself, angling his jaw back into the place before speeding back to return the favor. Before he could, he was bum-rushed by Donna again, who delivered two kicks to his sides before slamming both her fists against both sides of his head. Kon stumbled back, shaking his head, and tried to retaliate with a telekinetic blast. M'gann sensed it, however, and warned Donna, who dove out of the way and allowed the Martian to match it with her own, canceling it out.
Clark took advantage, tackling Kon and using gravity to help him slam his successor down towards the ground. Kon tried to use his telekinesis to get him off, but M'gann was quick to follow up Clark's assault and cancel it out. Just as they were about to make their crash landing, Donna lassoed Clark and pulled him off Kon while dropping down herself like a missile, slamming both her feet onto her teammate's chest with a powerful two-footed stomp.
She quickly unleashed Clark in favor of Kon instead, tying up his arms with her lasso. Suddenly, Donna leapt up, and a flood of water covered the second Superman, before flash-freezing and further restraining him to the ground. Finally, Wallace appeared with Jason, and the second Batman drew out the shard of Kryptonite and waved it near his friend's face. Kon's face twisted in pain, and he continued to struggle, but the mineral had completely sapped his super strength. With M'gann doing her hardest to negate his telekinesis, he was unable to free himself, and eventually fell limp.
The moment he did, M'gann phased through the restraints and into his mind. Jason quickly pocketed the Kryptonite, while Kaldur unfroze the water. Donna untied Kon and gradually, the entire group gathered around the second Superman. Clark in particular was keeping close, just in case Kon somehow managed to eject M'gann from his mind before she could break the brainwashing.
It was several minutes of bated breath before M'gann finally exited from Kon's mind. She gave them all a single nod, and almost immediately the tension eased out of all of them. Those last vestiges of doubt vanished when a groan spilled from the Kryptonian hybrid's lips and he started sitting up. "What the hell…?" He looked up, and blinked, zeroing in on Clark.
"If it weren't the fact that you're here, I could almost pretend we were back in our universe," Kon said as he took Jason's offered hand and pulled himself up, back to his feet.
"Universe?" Clark raised an eyebrow.
"Later," Kon told him, rubbing his head. He took a longer look at his mentor, and blanched. "Clark…was that me? God, I'm sorry."
"It's fine, Kon-El," Clark quickly waved him off, "It wasn't your fault. And anyway, we have more pressing matters to deal with."
Kon blinked, and scanned the group again. "Where's Kyle?" he asked flatly.
All his teammates sighed, while Clark merely raised an eyebrow. "I take it that's not a good thing," he commented dryly.
"No/Nope/Nah-ah," chorused from the group, while Kon simply groaned again.
"Okay, fine, whatever. We'll deal with it when it comes and hopefully we won't all die when it's time," Kon said with finality, ignoring the way Clark flinched when he heard the word 'die'. "What's the plan?"
"Two-pronged pincer attack," Jason answered, glancing at M'gann. "We come from the east, everyone else that can fight comes from the west. Does anyone need to be evacuated?"
M'gann's eyes glowed, and then gestured her head negatively. "All our allies are still fighting and holding their own, miraculously enough. Though many are very much running on fumes."
Jason hummed. "The others are closer to the battlefield. They'll arrive before us, but their reinforcements won't be as strong. They might turn the tide of the battle for a bit, but they could easily be overwhelmed."
"Then we go all out on arrival, we don't hold back," Kaldur offered.
"But what about everyone else? Everyone that can't fight?" Donna interjected.
"I'll evacuate them," Wallace offered, jabbing his thumb to himself and giving a smirk.
"Sounds like a plan," Jason shifted his attention to Clark. "You go on ahead, be our vanguard. Give us a lay of the situation through M'gann, so that way we know who to evacuate and who needs immediate relief. We'll be the cavalry and take care of the rest."
Clark nodded, ascending to the sky and the flying towards the direction of the conflict. The remaining heroes watched him zip away, and then glanced at each other.
"And Kyle?" M'gann asked, her invisible brow furrowing.
Jason grunted. "It's like Kon said. We'll have to wait for him to come to us. And when he does, we throw every available body we have at him." It was the only way all of them were going to survive, after all.
Cyborg grunted as he rolled to his feet and blocked a blast of energy from Fatality with his own sonic cannon. The two beams collided, creating a massive explosion which further spread out the forces of both sides. Above him, his teammate Starfire threw a volley of starbolts as a follow-up, forcing Fatality to retreat.
Up in the sky, Alan Scott was dueling with Sinestro. The Golden Age Green Lantern was holding his own against the turncoat, but Sinestro's superior skill and willpower was beginning to wear him down. Even so, Alan was determined to keep up the fight no matter what, even as worries about Kyle tingled at the back of his mind.
Elsewhere, Tigress and her husband Icicle Jr. were being tag-teamed by Stargirl and Arrowette. Damage was going toe-to-toe with Atomic Skull while Ted Grant was dancing around with Bane. Heroes and villains, constantly clashing, and while the weaker and less-skilled villains had quickly fallen to the heroes' superior teamwork, the stronger and savvier villains had quickly pushed their own advantage and tried to overwhelm them. While the heroes had held them off so far, they were gradually being ground down.
Something needed to change, and soon.
BOOM!
The battle stilled as everyone glanced up at the sky, watching as a familiar blue form zipped in. It slammed into a rampaging Solomon Grundy, punching the zombie into the sky and over the horizon, causing him to land in a gaggle of minor villains who had been loitering at the periphery of the conflict. Everyone stared, hopes rising and hopes dashing.
Superman had arrived.
Clark scanned the area, surveying the various states of everyone present, friend and foe alike, and streaming the information over his telepathic connection to M'gann and the others. That didn't mean his senses weren't kept on alert — they very much were, which is why he was able to dodge a vicious punch swung in his direction, towards his back. He twisted around, and narrowed his eyes at his aggressor. He had seen his file enough times in the Fortress of Solitude to recognize who he was.
General Dru-Zod.
"Hello, Kal-El, son of the traitor Jor-El," the criminal greeted his fellow Kryptonian, his words and the vicious edge of his smirk betraying the seeming genialty he was showing.
"Zod," Clark greeted back, terse and tense.
"I've heard quite a bit about you from my fellow prisoners of the Phantom Zone and from our benefactor. You've become quite the hero to these primitive lifeforms." The general sneered. "Of course, considering it was your house that brought about Krypton's doom, it's only to be expected you would try to assuage your guilt by playing the part of a god to such lesser beings."
Clark straightened to his full height, preparing for battle. "Believe whatever you want, Zod. I've read your file too, I know what kind of man you are. So let's just get on with it already."
"Yes," Zod agreed, rearing back his fists. "Let's."
With that, the two Kryptonians clashed, and the battle began anew.
Clark's arrival heralded the arrival of the other heroes — those that could fight, at least. Ultimately, this amounted to Martian Manhunter, Robin, Batgirl, Aquaman, Queen Mera, Tempest, the Flash, Impulse, and Wonder Girl. And of that group, only Martian Manhunter was in prime shape; everyone else was injured and/or otherwise fatigued due to their previous battles. It was hardly an ideal cavalry, but it was a cavalry, so the other heroes took what they could get.
While the various heroes spread out, aiming for their comrades that seemed to be in the most trouble, the members of Young Justice reunited towards the center of the conflict, moving into a circle, back-to-back. Arrowette and Secret's joy at being once more with their friends was subdued in the face of the current situation, but it emanated from them nonetheless. Along with a few questions.
"Where's Batman, Wonder Woman, and Nightwing?" Arrowette asked, shooting another arrow at an approaching Harm.
Robin grunted as he used his bo-staff to combat some robotic bees being controlled by a cackling bee villain that he was vaguely sure had something to do with the current iteration of HIVE. "Hidden. They were too injured to join the fight. So was Jay Garrick."
"Too injur—seriously?"
Her teammate hissed. "Era 2 is Nintendo Hard. Let's just leave it at that."
"Here, here!" Wonder Girl concurred, kicking Mighty Endowed in the face.
"I'm pretty sure my bruises are going to have bruises tomorrow," Impulse admitted as he formed a tornado and directed it towards another group of approaching villains.
"Well, whatever! You're here and that makes things so much easier!" Secret announced, choking the life out of the Gentleman Ghost.
STOMP!
A massive foot slammed into the ground, sending heroes and villains alike flying. The members of Young Justice were no different, and Impulse was forced to grab Robin after regaining his footing while Wonder Girl caught Arrowette. Together, the five young heroes glanced up at the sky, where Giganta had finished super-sizing herself and was now wreaking havoc across the battlefield, slapping away anyone she could find as she screamed for Wonder Woman to show herself.
"I spoke too soon," Secret spoke with a resigned tone.
Robin gripped his bo-staff tighter as he glanced around the battlefield, where he noticed that the heaviest hitters, the ones that stood the best chance against the villainess, were all occupied. Top of the list was Superman, who was still engaged in his duel against Zod. That just left…
"…us," he sighed, screwing his eyes closed, before opening them with determination. "Guys, we're going have to be the ones to take her down!"
All his friends whirled around and looked at him like he was crazy. Which, admittedly, he probably was. "Are you insane!" Arrowette screamed at him. "There's no way we can take her down! Maybe if Kon were here, we could do it, but just us?" she shook her head vigorously.
"You know I'd usually be all up for taking a villain, Robin, but this time I have to agree with Arrowette, Robin," Wonder Girl told her friend, gripping the lasso at her side tightly. Since her mentor had been banned from the battle, Diana had temporarily relinquished ownership of the precious gift to her, for both luck and potential utility. Staring up at the rampaging Giganta, Cassie couldn't help but wonder if this is what Diana meant. "Can't we leave it to the older heroes?"
"What older heroes?" Robin asked pointedly, gesturing to the surrounding chaos.
His friends glanced around, then stared at him guiltily. "…fine," Arrowette, the chief protester, conceded. "What's your plan?"
M'gann's eyes ceased her glowing as her team and her gradually approached the battlefield. While Donna and Kon were flying like her and Wallace was running, Jason and Kaldur were being carried on a telekinetic platform created by Kon. There's been a snag — Giganta entered the party and is wrecking everything in sight. Young Justice has decided they're going to be the ones to take her down, since no one else is available, and because she's been ignoring them and screeching for Diana.
There were four simultaneous mental groans. Goddammit, Tim, Jason moaned. Donna, Kon, can you handle it?
Gladly, Donna said testily. She still held something of a grudge against Giganta for her first stint as Wonder Woman, filling in for Diana while her sister reinvented herself. It was humiliating, being hung around that giant's neck like a cheap necklace. Too bad Giganta had died before she could've gotten payback.
Sure. They are my team, Kon added, frowning.
Great. Now how should we make our entrance? Despite his generally serious demeanor, there was an undercurrent of excitement in Jason's thoughts that was reflected in everyone else's demeanor. There were few things about superheroism that enthused them these days, but if there was anything that still brought them great joy, it was shocking and scaring the crap out of supervillains.
Allow me. Kaldur announced, drawing his water-bearers. His eyes glowed as he accessed his hydrokinesis, drawing water from the air and the surrounding foilage, gradually creating a massive ball of water, large enough to create a sizable tidal wave. Which was the point.
The very moment they were in visible distance of the battle, Kaldur leaped from the invisible platform and transformed it into several hard water-spears, and threw them into the fray. With his precise control, they all struck several non-vital areas of numerous supervillains, knocking them down to the ground and subsequently announcing their presence to all the combatants. The battle stilled as everyone stared at them.
Jason followed Kaldur, drawing his sticks and holding them aloft as he landed next to his friend. Wallace sped up next to them, crossing his arms as his visor glinted ominously. M'gann let down her hood and floated up in the sky like an avenging angel. Next to her was Kon, whose eyes glowed red. On the other side of him was Donna, who slammed a fist into her palm.
Hello, everyone, M'gann's voice echoed through every mind present. Mind if we cut in?
Well, this battle is getting a bit long, and we still got at least two chapters to go before the story goes on hiatus again. Real life is creeping up and I need to take break from this story to work on THAB Arc V — which will be this year's NaNoWriMo project, if I can get it all plotted out before November.
I hoped you enjoy this. Next chapter…things are going to get wild.
Next chapter: Battle Royale, Part 2
