Avenging Justice 2:

Caught Between an Ultron and a Doomsday

Part XXXVIII

Earth, New York, Missouri, St. Louis

Flash flew through a window, rag dolling as he hit the inside of the shop hard. Despite this, he barely spent a second on the ground, before he was up, trying something else. So far whatever this thing was, it had proved itself hard to stop. Instead of the going the route of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, he had tried to find ways to slow the creature down. The steel cables had been less than effective. Creating a large lake of mud, only made monster dirty. Quick drying cement might have worked, had the creature been up to its neck. Alas, that was how he found himself flying through a window. It wasn't a recommendable experience.

"J'onn, I could use some back up here, what's the status of the other leaguers?" Flash painfully said into his comm. Briefly he wondered if he'd broken a rib, but put it down to just taking a beating from Mr. Ugly over there.

"Green Lantern and Star Sapphire should be there soon," Martian Manhunter replied. "Wonder Woman is in the Quinjet with the Avengers, and Superman is right behind them. There was an accident that drew his attention, he should almost be done with it now."

Flash smiled, "Beginning to understand why he got that boy scout nickname. What about Batman, any special insights from Mr. Dark and Gloomy?"

"Apologies, but his hands are busy at the moment," Martian Manhunter explained. "Someone released all of Arkham onto Gotham."

Flash felt himself stop, "Shit."

It took a lot to catch him like that, to steal all the wind out of his sails. He couldn't in all good conscience try to pull Batman away from his city, not right now at least. This guy was tough, but once Superman was on the scene, it'd be all over. The beast wasn't like Lex Luthor or Magneto, there was no planning going on.

"Fear not, buddy," Green Lantern Hal Jordan called out over the comm. "The Green Lanterns have arrived."

Accentuating the point, a gigantic croquet mallet slammed into Doomsday. The beast was thrown back, and again the mallet pounded the being into the ground, over and over again. On the fifth smash, the grey being caught the construct and yanked hard. Hal cut the power to the construct, even as John Stewart sent in a wrecking ball construct, that smacked the creature across three lanes of traffic. It got back up and screamed at them both, before a mace of pinkish hue slammed it into the ground.

"That looks like it hurt," Star Sapphire said as she held the construct. "Quickly, Hal, get ready to capture it. I don't think its down for the count yet."

As if to accentuate the point, the large mace was ripped apart and a very angry Doomsday launched at her. Quickly she dodged, even as a brick chimney found itself flung at her. The ease at which this creature did this frightened her. It was as if the object weighed nothing to it, which with the bus coming at her, wasn't something to sneeze at.

She produced a buzz saw, cutting through the bus, and splitting in into two nearly equal parts. The creature regarded her for a moment, before its attention was on a green bat coming for it. Doomsday deflected the hit, and leapt at the attacker. Hal found himself being hammered by a giant, white bone encrusted, fist. Luckily, he managed to pull up a shield, but it did little to absorb all the impact. A small percentage got through, not enough to be lethal, just enough to hurt.

A jackhammer began to beat on the creature, and it howled in rage. It leapt off Hal and right at John Stewart, grabbing a light pole as it did so. He produced a shield, as the light pole smacked into his left arm. Thanks to physics, he found himself bouncing through a brick wall or two. The numbers got fuzzy as the creature grabbed him and sent him through a few more.

Hal saw John go down, and blasted toward the creature. Slamming into it at full force, he blasted Doomsday away with a burst from a minigun. Just for good measure, he followed it up with a cruise missile construct. St. Louis wouldn't be happy with the damage, but if it stopped that thing, so be it. Then for a few seconds it was quiet, just enough time for him to check on John.

"You okay, buddy," Hal said, as his ring scanned the other Green Lantern. "You took a mighty big hit."

"Hal, watch out!" John Stewart screamed as a massive grey fist seized Hal by the head.

Smacking the Green Lantern into the ground, Doomsday pushed him through another wall, bringing it down on top of them. Meanwhile, John flew out, pieces of debris smacking him around the whole way. A friendly red clad fist was waiting on him, towards the end, and he quickly found himself several blocks away.

"I think I owe you one," Green Lantern John Stewart coughed.

Flash, looking very tired, answered, "If we stop this thing, consider us even."

Hal was pushing himself and the ring. No matter how much he hit this thing, it just took it. Even Sinestro didn't take this much to right, and he was a right pain in the ass. No, this creature just kept coming, no breathers, no needing to rest, just pure rage and destruction. He fashioned a comically oversized anvil and dropped it on the creature. It caught the blasted thing and then returned it to sender.

Even as he undid the construct, the creature was on him. His next visage as the now viewable support beams meeting his face. The steel girders had held this building up for decades now, and within a few seconds, laid bare. Even with the protection from the ring, he felt the impact. Behind him the growl of the creature came and he threw up a hand reflexively.

The beast took the defensive gesture, and cracked the arm between its two hands. Despite the armor of the ring, Hal felt his bones break, and screamed in pain. The creature threw him to the ground and raised a massive green boot, ready to smear this pathetic being into paste. What Doomsday didn't count on, was three lance constructs hitting it. It howled even as a battering ram followed up the lances.

"Hal!" cried Carol Ferris.

He got to his feet, shock keeping the pain at bay, "We need to regroup."

Earth, California, San Diego

"We bring you this breaking news out of St. Louis," the newscaster said quietly, but Robin could hear the tremor in the man's voice. "The monster that began its attack in Kansas, has moved onward. So far the Justice League has been unable to stop it. We're receiving word that both Green Lanterns and a new hero are engaging the beast now. Millions in property damage has been reported. Stay with us we bring you further updates."

Another reporter continued on, "The mayor of Gotham City has put a curfew in place and has advised its citizens to stay inside. This comes after the inmates at Arkham Asylum escaped. Police say it was a targeted strike, but have no reason as to why. Clearly it could be a terrorist attack, but authorities aren't giving further details at this time. The Gotham Police commissioner says they are working around the clock to bring order back to the streets of Gotham."

Robin watched uncomfortably as scenes of chaos from Gotham quickly spilled out, before the newscast went on to more local news. He reached for the communicator, but hesitated. Bruce would call if he needed help. Even as he thought this, he almost went against his better judgement and called anyway. The only reason he didn't, he might interrupt whatever Bruce was doing.

However, he nearly dropped the communicator as it rang out sharply. Things must really be bad if Bruce was reaching out. So, he wasted no time and answered it. Instead of the voice he was expecting, it was an all together different one.

"Robin, I understand you have yourself a team, how quickly can you get them to Gotham?" Selina asked. Her tone was tired, less of the assured thief he knew her as.

"He doesn't know your calling, does he?" Robin asked.

At this he could hear the barest hint of humor in her voice, "No, he's been running nonstop since the breakout. Things are getting bad, and he's not himself. He's starting to make mistakes."

"We'll be there in a few hours," Robin said.

Selina Kyle closed it out, "See you soon, Boy Wonder."

Robin didn't have to look far, all the other Titans had gathered as he had spoken. Raven and Starfire both waited, while Beast Boy looked as if he had a thousand questions running around. Most of them probably entailed seeing the Batcave. It was nice, to be around them like this. Each person bringing out the best in the other, but they still had quite a way to go before they were a synchronous unit.

"Titans Assemble," Robin smiled as he said it. "We're going to Gotham."

Moments later the Teen Titans were blasting off. Their jet hitting the high atmosphere before breaking the sound barrier. The audio system was blasting music, probably Beast Boy's, and Starfire was looking like she was having the time of her life. Raven looked annoyed, obviously trying to meditate on the trip, while Cyborg looked over the systems. Robin meanwhile interfaced with the Batcomputer, looking over at the areas affected in Gotham. Things were bad, just as Catwoman had said. They could make a difference, they had to.

A message appeared on the screen, "Welcome home, Master Grayson. I'll have your room ready when you touch down. I'm sorry Master Bruce won't be able to meet you. As for your guests, accommodations have been made at one of our safe houses."

Robin messaged him back, "Thanks, Alfred."