Welcome back to The Injustice Wars. Last time, Deadshot was interrogated, and with some quick thinking from Blaze, his life was saved when Grodd tried to detonate the nano-bomb the Suicide Squad injected into him. Feeling a sense of obligation and wanting revenge against Grodd, Deadshot stayed on when given the chance to leave and find his daughter, joining the Legion, just as Brainiac begins collecting the cities he selected. So, what happens next? Read on to discover...
(Our story resumes in Metropolis, where the Skull Ship is currently hovering, and a battle is raging. Overhead, the Batplane flies, as the combined forces of the Legion and Insurgency are fighting off Brainiac's drones while trying to get civilians to safety. As the battle rages, we transition to inside the Skull Ship, where Brainiac is overseeing everything with Grodd nearby)
Brainiac: (Seeing Captain Cold and Deadshot with the Legion) It appears two of your choices in associates were unwise.
Gorilla Grodd: (Seeing this) Those fools. I will make them pay for betraying me! (Seeing Brainiac) I mean, us.
Brainiac: Dispatch your forces. By the time the rotation of this planet plunges this city into darkness, I will have it collected.
(As Brainiac makes his demands to Grodd, we focus in on Blaze and a few of the other members of the two factions, fighting off immense amounts of drones)
Harley Quinn: (Snapping a drone's head off with her mallet) They just keep coming!
Supergirl: Then we've got to keep fighting them off, Harley! Brainiac's not getting this city on my watch!
(But this is just when the situation gets worse, as the remnants of the Society enter the fray: Grodd, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Bane, Cheetah, and Reverse Flash, prepared for battle. But while the other five rush into the fight, Scarecrow pushes a button on a detonator, spraying Fear Gas all over Metropolis.)
Scarecrow: Time to bring the fear...
(As the Fear Gas causes Scarecrow to assume his more monstrous form, we see how the rest of the Society is battling it out. Reverse Flash is fighting Flash and Jay Garrick across the city. Cheetah his trying to hunt down Magpie. Poison Ivy has bound up Green Lantern, John Stewart, and Harley Quinn. Bane is absolutely tearing through everything Green Arrow and Black Canary can do to stop him. And all the while, Grodd and Blaze are battling it out amongst the rest of both heroic factions in this fight. And at the moment, Grodd has the upper hand)
Gorilla Grodd: This is the moment of your defeat, dragon.
(But just as he's about to crush Blaze's skull like a grape, a hand taps him on the shoulder, and as Grodd turns around, we see an unlikely face has come to save Blaze, that being Superman, who then punches Grodd halfway across the city as the rest of the Regime: Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, Black Adam, and Robin)
Superman: You're welcome.
(Now enraged, Blaze gets up and punches Superman in the face, actually knocking him back a bit)
Blaze: You just didn't want Grodd to be the one that crushed my skull.
Superman: Look, we're both trying to save this city. We should be working together.
Blaze: Like hell, Clark.
Superman: (As his eyes glow with heat vision) You'll regret making an enemy of me.
(Now Superman is trying to kill Blaze, and immediately the Regime literally starts attacking every single person in the scene. Black Adam tries to shock the Batplane out of the air, Cyborg tries to outshoot Zatanna's magic, and most notably, Wonder Woman fighting Poison Ivy.)
Wonder Woman: I always thought Clark was too lenient against you.
Poison Ivy: I guess there's still a part of his brain that's under my thrall.
Wonder Woman: Perhaps killing you will fix that.
(As those two fight, Cheetah gets the scent of Wonder Woman, and leaps right at her, tackling the Amazon to the ground)
Cheetah: You have no idea how long I've been seeking you out, Diana.
Wonder Woman: How rude of you, Barbara. I wasn't even talking to you!
(And just like that, Wonder Woman grabs Cheetah by the throat and throws her down the street. While the Amazon's back is turned, Harley Quinn runs at her with her mallet just as Poison Ivy gets back up. Wonder Woman, however, senses Harley Quinn coming and immediately turns, stabbing Harley Quinn in the side with her sword. Seeing this, something is triggered in Poison Ivy's mind, likely the memories of all the times the two worked together, all the good times they had. And for just a moment, the Ivy that Harley knew returns)
Poison Ivy: HARLEY!
(As Wonder Woman pulls her sword out of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy's vines snare her, dropping the two Green Lanterns and allowing them to get back into the fight. But Wonder Woman doesn't even hesitate, cutting the vine holding her and then throwing it straight at Poison Ivy, impaling her through the head, killing her the second Wonder Woman removes her sword from Poison Ivy's head, a scene that Harley Quinn witnesses)
Harley Quinn: (Weakly) Red...
(Just as Harley Quinn falls over, Supergirl catches her and tries to stop the bleeding while Blaze runs in and tackles Wonder Woman to the ground, but just as she lands, Wonder Woman kicks Blaze off of her)
Blaze: You'll pay for what you've done to Dr. Isley, Diana.
Wonder Woman: The amount of respect you have for a common criminal like her is sickening. Perhaps I can beat some sense into you.
Blaze: Bring it on.
(But just as those two are about to battle it out, a dark shadow emerges on the battlefield, as Darkblood has entered the scene.)
Darkblood: Well, don't let me stop you. Seeing you two beauties battle would be exceptionally... (Growls perversely) satisfying.
Wonder Woman: Who are you?!
Darkblood: You don't recognize me? I'm insulted. Not like it matters. Soon, you'll either serve me, or be dead.
(With that, Darkblood snaps his fingers, and his faction, the Empire emerges and starts into the battle as Darkblood leaps down to battle Blaze personally as Superman shows back up and fights him off)
Superman: I don't know who you think you are, but if you think you can stop me, you're crazy.
Darkblood: I don't see why I should say otherwise. I stopped you last time.
(At this point, Superman realizes who he's talking to as Darkblood blows the Man of Steel away with a blast of Fire. As all this chaos is going on down on the ground, the Batplane is hit by one of Brainiac's drones and some of Black Adam's lightning, forcing Batman to eject and join the fray against Darkblood and Superman himself. And for a while that's how the battle stands, Blaze and Batman against Darkblood, as both of them are fighting against Superman. Batman is thrown aside very quickly, but keeps getting back into the battle from a distance. But through it all, the forces of the Empire, Regime, and even the Society are starting to emerge victorious against the Insurgency and Legion. After a few minutes, Blaze is the only one still standing facing down both Darkblood and Superman)
Superman: Finally, I will take my revenge.
Darkblood: Back off, boy scout. She belongs to me!
(Just as everything appears hopeless, a shadow can be seen in the distance, as the Anubian silhouette of Belial Aether can be seen on the horizon, followed shortly by the Republic: Nekoto Wismer, Hellboy, Aero, Vandal Savage, Plastic Man, Hawkgirl, Scandal Savage, and Giganta.)
Belial Aether: (To Blaze) Looks like you could use a hand.
Blaze, Darkblood, and Superman: Who are you?!
Belial Aether: You can call me Belial. And you can call this battle over.
(With that, the Republic launches into battle, with Belial Aether and Vandal Savage specifically staying back to help Blaze.)
Blaze: Thanks, whoever you are.
Vandal Savage: You can thank us later, this battle isn't over yet.
(With the appearance of the Republic, the tide of the battle has begun to turn. And now the forces of good have a distinct lead in everything. By this point, Batman has gotten back up and rejoined the fight staring down Darkblood and Superman alongside Blaze and Belial Aether. And just as these three are about to clash with the two would be dictators, Grodd decides to rejoin the fight, and the heads of the six factions battle it out. As these six battle, we see the results of other fights, primarily Scarecrow getting knocked into a museum by Vandal Savage, which collapses on top of Scarecrow after Vandal Savage dodges a blast from Black Adam. But the last blow comes when Grodd signals Bane to try and attack Blaze, but Belial Aether gets in the way, summoning a khopesh of shadows and stabbing Bane through the chest, somehow managing to kill him. This action sends a message to the Empire, Regime, and Society, each realizing anyone strong enough to take out Bane is someone to be reckoned with, and just as suddenly as it began, the battle is over, leaving everyone to figure out what just happened as the factions remaining gather.)
Belial Aether: I think we've put the fear of the gods in them.
Blaze: Thanks for the backup, whoever you are.
Batman: (Still in shock) You took out Bane like it was nothing...
Belial Aether: You must be Batman.
Batman: I'm admittedly no fan of your methods.
Belial Aether: That's one thing Superman got right. Some lives need to be taken. And from what I've learned about this "Bane", he's one of them. I'm just doing what you should have ages ago. Besides, didn't he almost break your back at least twice?
Vandal Savage: Belial, we should really go.
Belial Aether: Got it, V. (To Blaze) If you should ever need us, don't hesitate to call on The Republic.
(And with that, the Republic walks off into the sunset)
Supergirl: (Arriving on scene after bandaging Harley Quinn's wounds) Who were those guys?
Blaze: I have no idea. But I think we need to find out...
(As the Legion and Insurgency watch the Republic walk off into the distance, our story ends for today)
And that looks like a good spot to wrap up for today. I know that was a LOT to take in, but I didn't want to split this up into two chapters like I usually would. And don't worry, we will talk about Bane and Poison Ivy's deaths in detail later. And as to Scarecrow? I've got plans for him. And now, at last, all six of the factions have finally met! Now that they all know about each other, everything is going to change. How so? Tune in next time to start finding out! Same time... same channel!