Chapter 42: Divided We Stand

"Wakey Wakey, Batman."

Batman groaned, struggling to open his eyes. He was suddenly slapped in the face, pulling him fully into consciousness. As he looked around, he found himself locked in a thick metal frame, stripped of his belt and surrounded by villains. The only one that seemed to have his attention at the moment of course, was Joker.

"Joker," Batman swore. "I should have known you'd get in on this."

"Really?" Joker replied. "Am I getting that predictable? I must be falling into a rut. Oh well."

Joker then pulled out a knife and prepared to slit Batman's throat. Before he could though, Mercy stopped him.

"No."

"You must be joking."

"She's not," Luthor agreed. "He stays alive until I say otherwise."

"You're making a mistake, Luthor," Joker warned, freeing his arm from Mercy's grip. "The only good bat is a dead bat."

"My decision stands, Joker. You don't like it, you're welcome to leave."

"I hate to admit it, but the clown makes a point," Manta spoke. "Perhaps we should kill Batman now. It would be one less Leaguer on the board, and less risk of the others finding us."

"He's hardly a threat," Luthor reassured, getting a snort from Joker in the background. "Those restraints are pure titanium, he'll never get loose. And I designed that stasis field to prevent the Martian Manhunter from locating him."

Batman looked up, seeing a large light shining down on top of him, clearly the aforementioned stasis field.

"Now Batman," Luthor addressed, walking up to him. "I'm certain that you possess some sort of pass key or access code that I can use against the League. Perhaps you can make it easy on yourself and tell me where it is."

Batman remained silent for a moment.

"... guess."

Lex sneered in response.

"Fine then. We'll do this the hard way."

Corbin took hold of the discarded utility belt and attempted to pry one of the pouches open.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Joker warned.

"Well, you-"

Corbin was suddenly shocked with several volts of electricity. His metal body completely freaked out over the electricity as Joker exploded into hysterical cackling.

"I warned you, robo-man! You think you're the first louse to try and sneak a peek into the belt?"

"Then we'll do it another way," Luthor decided. "Sinestro, bring it upstairs. Manta, Humanite, watch over our guest."

Sinestro used his ring to pick up the belt, carrying it off as he and the others vacated the room. This left Manta and Humanite alone with Batman.

"This doesn't really seem like your beat, Manta," Batman noted. "Why throw in with this group?"

"I have the means to kill Aquaman from here," Manta reasoned. "That's all the reason I need."

"You know how deep Luthor's pockets go. I figure with all you've been through, you should at least be well compensated. More than most in fact."

"Believe me, I am being compensated."

"As much as say… he's getting." He gestured over to Humanite. "You've been through so much. You should at least get what he's getting. If not more."

"More than me?" Humanite scoffed. "Ridiculous."

"Is it?" Batman asked.

Manta looked over at Humanite, something ticking in the back of his mind.

Upstairs, Luthor took the belt and placed it on a work table, giving it a scan.

"Fascinating," Luthor marveled. "Not even my company has tech like this."

"Figuring out how to crack it will be quite the challenge," Mirror Master commented.

"One I am certain you are up for."

Mirror Master cracked his knuckles before moving to a keyboard, sending small surges of power to the belt. Unfortunately, the surges backfired, causing a small explosion.

"Hey, watch it!" Cheetah insisted. "Some of us actually want to live to see old age."

"I was under the impression you wanted vengeance."

"Not at the cost of my own life."

Just then, a large crashing sound rang out.

"What was that?" Luthor asked.

Down below, Manta and Humanite were in the midst of a heated fight. They were rolling across the ground, Manta's tech making him an even match to Humanite's strength. Luthor and the others exited the elevator as Humanite had Manta in a choke hold, unaware of Manta getting ready to stab him in kind.

"Stop this at once!" Luthor demanded.

The two stopped fighting instantly, with Humanite dropping Manta onto the ground.

"I didn't hire the two of you so you could fight like children," Luthor scolded.

"Apologies," Manta replied.

"Sorry about that, Luthor," Humanite responded.

Luthor turned towards Batman, scowling at him.

"You did this, didn't you?" Luthor accused.

Batman just remained silent.

"I tried to warn you," Joker remarked. "So should I shoot him in the face, or a good old fashioned stabbing?"

"Quiet, you!" Luthor demanded. "Cheetah, you take over. If he causes anymore trouble, gag him."

Cheetah nodded as the others went back upstairs. She turned towards Batman and snapped her claws at him while snarling.

At Strykers, Copperhead sat in an interrogation room with Superman, Flash, and Turpin sitting across from him.

"Never thought I'd get a Gotham crazy in my precinct," Turpin remarked. "How Gordon hasn't gone off the deep end with you psychos around I'll never understand."

"Hey, like I told these costumed clowns, I don't know anything," Copperhead insisted. "I'm just an innocent-"

"Victim of circumstance," Flash finished at the same time. "Yeah, yeah, we've heard it before. Why don't you save us the trouble and tell us where Corbin and the others are."

"Sorry, this snake isn't a snitch."

Superman stood up, approaching Copperhead and lifting him up by his jaw.

"Talk, before this gets ugly."

Copperhead just snorted.

"Sorry boy scout, but you're about as intimidating as a baby with a plastic knife. I've seen ugly, and you and speedy there aren't it."

Superman just scowled before dropping Copperhead to the ground.

"Looks like we're done here," Turpin decided. "Hey guards!"

Two guards entered the room, grabbing Copperhead and escorting him out. He gave the heroes a parting hiss as the door closed behind him.

"Well that was completely unhelpful," Flash remarked.

"How does Batman do it?" Superman asked.

"I'm surprised you didn't completely lose yourself," Batman insisted. "Not many who go through what you did are so well put together, mentally at least."

"Believe me, it wasn't easy," Cheetah admitted. "The predator in me is always struggling to rise up. I find myself drawn to catnip, and I feel a desire to eat raw meat. It's disgusting..."

"I can only imagine."

"Hopefully, killing Wonder Woman will give me some peace of mind. Make me feel like something more than the monster she made me."

"That's not what I see. I see someone willing to give everything for the work she believed in."

"Kind of you to say, considering your situation."

"I've never been one to shy away from danger."

Cheetah smirked in response.

Up in the lab, Luthor and Mirror Master continued to work as Joker paced back and forth.

"She's been down there too long," Joker noted.

"Well there's no way I'm letting you go down there alone," Luthor shot down. "Humanite, go relieve Cheetah."

"I'm a little busy helping Corbin remake his skin," Humanite declared from an opposing table. "Send Manta."

"Just go!"

Humanite sighed in response.

"Apologies, my friend."

"I'll be fine," Corbin reassured. "Go on."

Humanite nodded before heading off, with Corbin sitting by himself as Joker rolled up on a swivel chair.

"I don't know why you even bother," Joker remarked. "Fake skin can't hide the truth. You're not human anymore. You're just a Metal Man. A-"

"Metallo…" Corbin finished, remembering what Luthor called his metal skeleton before.

"Ooh, I like that! Metallo! So fierce, so intimidating! So much better than Corbin."

While the two villains talked, Luthor and Mirror Master took another shot at opening Batman's utility belt. Adjusting the power fluctuations, they sent another surge of energy through the belt, this time, resulting in all the pouches opening up.

"Finally," Luthor proclaimed as he approached it.

Luthor took the belt and proceeded to dump out its contents, which consisted of various styles of batarangs, a remote for the batmobile, and several other bat-themed gadgets. Seeing this, Joker rolled over and began eying the stuff.

"What are you looking for, Lex?" He wondered, picking up a batarang. "His bat-drivers license? Bat-birth certificate? Hehe, a bat credit card perhaps?"

Joker then lobbed the batarang at a box near Corbin. It embedded itself in the box and began beeping.

"Whoopsie," Joker let out. "Explosive batarang!"

The batarang then exploded, knocking Corbin back as Joker spun around in his chair, chuckling the entire time.

"Careful, you idiot!" Luthor snapped.

Corbin picked himself up, seeing that his artificial skin had been burned away once again, causing him to punch the wall in frustration.

"What are you searching for, Lex?" Mirror Master asked as he walked up to him.

Lex continued fishing through the belt until he found a small silver remote, causing him to smirk maliciously.

"This is what I'm looking for."

"And what, may I ask, is that?" Corbin inquired.

"The key to our victory."

Later on, the villains were being carried in a yellow energy bubble courtesy of Sinestro towards the Watchtower. With Sinestro were Manta and Corbin, or as he was now calling himself, Metallo.

"This better work," Metallo spoke.

"Only one way to find out," Manta remarked.

Manta then took out the remote and activated it, causing the Watchtower's bay doors to open up.

Inside the Watchtower, J'onn was on monitor duty when he got the alert of the bay doors opening.

"What on…" he let out.

He checked the video feed, seeing the three villains landing and spreading out. J'onn's eyes narrowing, he immediately hit the alarm button, sending out an emergency signal before phasing through the ground towards the hangar. He quickly found himself in front of the three villains as they approached.

"Surrender now, and you will not be harmed," J'onn demanded.

"I'm afraid that's out of the question, Martian," Sinestro replied, blasing at him.

J'onn quickly turned intangible so the blast could go through him, allowing him to fly towards him. Sinestro quickly retaliated by creating a fire construct, catching the martian off guard. Metallo took the opportunity to fire a Kryptonite blast from his chest at J'onn, knocking him out of the sky and causing him to hit the ground hard.

"Good work Metallo," Manta commended. "Now, let's get to work."

Back at Strykers, the rest of the League was regrouping after receiving the alert.

"Any word from J'onn?" Diana asked.

"Nothing," Cyborg answered. "He's not answering his comms.

"We're all thinking the same thing, right?" Aquaman proposed. "Something's wrong is going on up there."

"Arthur's right," GL agreed. "J'onn would've, and should've, checked in by now."

"Then let's get going," Superman declared.

Back with Batman, he was still confined as Humanite sat in a chair, reading a newspaper. Just then, Joker entered the room carrying a TV on a rolling stand.

"Showtime, everybody!" He declared. "Live, and in color; the end of the Justice League!"

"Don't make me laugh," Batman remarked.

"Oh it's no joke, batsy," Joker replied, turning on the TV and showing a satellite view of the Watchtower "You see, we've tucked a little surprise away in your little clubhouse. And once your chums get there, kablooey!"

Batman just scowled before Joker pulled out a tub of popcorn.

"Popcorn?" He offered, with Batman saying nothing. "Oh well, more for me."

He shoved some into his mouth as Humanite rolled his eyes.

"Joker, you nauseate me," he commented before ducking out.

"Looks like he's going to miss the show. And the sequel."

"What sequel?" Batman asked.

"Well, after the bomb gets your friends… I get you."

Batman's eyes narrowed as the Joker laughed maniacally.

A boom tube opened up in the hanger of the Watchtower, allowing the heroes to enter instantaneously, and see J'onn unconscious on the floor.

"J'onn!" Flash let out, zooming over to him. "Vic, I need vitals!"

Cyborg did a quick scan.

"He's not seriously hurt. Just out cold."

"Who could've done this?" Wonder Woman asked.

"I'll take him to the medical bay," Superman decided as he scooped him up. "The rest of you, find Batman."

Superman then flew off, leaving the others to get to work, unaware of the explosive device ready to go off.

Back on earth, the villains were watching the same satellite feed from their hideout, Luthor smirking in anticipation.

"Any moment now… any moment…"

"It almost feels too good to be true," Manta admitted.

"A bit impersonal, but I'll take what I can get," Cheetah remarked.

"Agreed," Sinestro concurred. "An explosive death is better than no death at all."

"Think there will be anything left for a trophy?" Metallo asked.

"Here's hoping," Luthor replied.

Back on the Watchtower, Superman had managed to get J'onn to the medbay with Cyborg and Wonder Woman checking on him.

"Anything we can do for him?" Superman asked.

"I wasn't exactly built for medical procedures," Cyborg admitted.

"All we can do is wait and hope he wakes up," Wonder Woman added.

Just then, the door opened, allowing Flash, GL, and Aquaman to enter.

"We checked everywhere," Flash reported. "But there's no sign of Batman."

"Or the other Javelin," Aquaman added.

"We think he decided to go after the Injustice League alone," Flash deduced.

"Injustice League?" GL questioned. "You've been hanging out with Cisco too much."

Flash just shrugged, then the main communication line began to beep.

"That must be him," Wonder Woman guessed, moving to answer it. "Yes? What?! Where?!"

Suddenly, the line went dead.

"Hello? Hello?!"

"What'd he say?" Superman asked.

"It wasn't Batman. It was someone saying there's a bomb up here."

"How could someone even get our number?" GL questioned. "It has encryption that would make the Pentagon jealous."

"Not sure," Superman replied. "But if they managed to access our communications line, it has to be serious."

"Flash, scour the entire tower," Wonder Woman ordered. "Cyborg, run a scan for incindiaries. We need to find the bomb now!"

"On it!"

Flash then sped off, searching every corner of the tower for the bomb. Cyborg looked at his scanners, getting a ping.

"Flash, the hanger! It's where we found J'onn!"

Flash sped towards the hanger and started looking around, seeing something behind some boxes. After moving them aside, he saw a briefcase no doubt carrying the bomb.

"I need the hanger doors open, and I need em open now!"

"I'm on it!" Superman relayed, flying in and pressing a button that opened the hanger doors.

Flash ran running straight towards them and lopped the briefcase with all his might.

Finally, the bomb exploded, much to Luthor's delight.

"Yes!"

The smoke then cleared, revealing that the Watchtower was untouched.

"What?! How is this possible? They should be cosmic dust!"

"They must have found the bomb somehow," Mirror Master deduced.

"So that's it, then?" Cheetah responded. "It's over?"

Luthor paused for a moment, considering their options.

"Maybe not. We may be able to get the drop on them. We just have to lure them here somehow…"

"Perhaps we use the Bat," Sinestro suggested. "I've found that these humans tend to get rather attached to those they call 'friends'."

Back on the Watchtower, Aquaman continued trying to get in contact with Batman, but to no avail.

"Damn," He let out. "Batman's still not picking up."

"Something must have happened to him," Wonder Woman insisted. "How else would someone be able to plant a bomb up here unless they used his security key?"

"That must be it…" J'onn muttered, slowly waking up.

"J'onn!" Wonder Woman let out. "Are you alright?"

"I believe so."

"What happened?" GL asked.

"It was Sinestro, Black Manta, and Corbin. They managed to get on board the Watchtower and overwhelm me. I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

"You did all that you could," Cyborg reassured.

"So the Injustice League has Batman," Flash deduced. "We just need to figure out how to find him."

"Any ideas?" GL asked.

...

Down below, Joker looked at the TV screen in disappointment.

"Oh darn. They ruined the punchline."

Joker then pushed the TV over, causing it to crash and break.

"But I can still have my fun," He remarked, pulling a knife out of his pocket. "So tell me, Batman… why so serious?"

Before Joker could make another move, an aura of yellow energy surrounded the knife, pulling it out of his hands and towards Sinestro.

"Forget it, Joker," he told him, crushing the knife with his ring. "Luthor still has need of him."

"Oh come now, Sinestro. What's a few knicks between friends?"

"Leave. Now!"

Joker just grumbled as he walked off.

"Party pooper."

Sinestro then approached Batman, a glowing orb of light resting on his ring. Never breaking eye contact with the Dark Knight, Sinestro shattered the field surrounding him.

"Why?" Batman asked.

"We've nothing to fear."

"You will," Batman replied before reaching out to J'onn mentally. "J'onn. Can you hear me?"

Back on the Watchtower, J'onn's eyes suddenly went wide as he sat straight up in bed.

"I know where Batman is!"

Everyone turned to him.

"Where?" Superman questioned.

"A warehouse in lower Metropolis owned by Lexcorp."

"Luthor. Should've figured."

"Well what are we waiting for?" GL remarked, holding up his glowing ring hand. "Let's go."

Back in the warehouse, Sinestro returned to the group, smirking.

"They'll be here soon. Batman didn't even hesitate."

"As I knew he wouldn't," Luthor remarked. "Everyone get ready. I need to go collect something from Lexcorp."

Lex then proceeded to exit, leaving the villains to prepare.

"It seems we have some preparing to do," Manta noted.

"Assuming our enemies don't catch wind of it," Mirror Master remarked.

"What does that mean?" Cheetah questioned.

"Just something I've been pondering. The only way the League could even know about the bomb is if someone told them. One of us."

An uneasy silence fell over the lot of them as that nugget of information sunk in.

Just outside, the League took their position on a nearby rooftop, with J'onn mentally scanning inside.

"Batman's inside," he confirmed. "And so is the rest of the Injustice League."

"So we're sticking with that name," GL noted. "Ok then. Well if we go in guns blazing, they might use Batman as a human shield."

"Any suggestions?" Superman inquired.

"I will slip inside and free Batman," J'onn declared. "The rest of you will draw the others away."

"Just be careful," Wonder Woman cautioned. "They may know we're coming."

"I will take precautions," J'onn reassured, turning intangible and slipping inside.

"While he's doing that," Aquaman spoke up. "I think it's time to make some noise."

Aquaman then leapt off the building towards the warehouse, crashing through one of the windows. The rest of the League followed after, either busting down the door or smashing through a wall as the Injustice League came to meet them.

"And so it begins," Sinestro declared, firing the first shot.

The blast hit Flash, knocking him into Cyborg and causing the two to drop to the ground. GL flew upwards and blasted at Sinestro himself, prompting him to form a shield to block it. Manta stepped forward and fired several blasts at Aquaman, who used his trident to block them with relative ease. This allowed Wonder Woman to fly forward and plow into Manta, knocking him across the room. Metallo instantly locked eyes on Superman and fired a Kryptonite blast from his chest, knocking him out of the air. He ran right at him, ready to finish him off. Seeing him coming at him, Superman tore out a piece of the ground and chucked it at Metallo, knocking him back.

Pulling himself back up, Flash quickly took note of Cheetah pouncing at him. He quickly sped out of the way before she could strike, prompting her to turn towards him and snarl.

"Down kitty," Flash remarked.

Cheetah hissed at him before climbing up the wall for elevation. Flash quickly ran up the wall towards her as she got ready to pounce. She leapt at him, only for Flash to ram right into her, knocking her to the ground. As she landed, she saw Mirror Master and several of his duplicates opening fire on Cyborg.

"Mirror Master! Help me!"

Most of them didn't even look in her direction. Those that did just flat out ignored her or scoffed.

"You dare ignore-"

Just then, Flash grabbed her by the tail and slammed her into a wall.

"Too slow, puddy tat," He quipped.

Cyborg meanwhile was pinned down by Mirror Masters doubles, each of them firing relentlessly. Cyborg poked his head out, hoping to scan for which one was the real one. Finally being able to tell which one was real, he set up a Boom Tube underneath himself, dropping into it. The Boom Tube opened up right behind Mirror Master, depositing Cyborg right behind him so he could punch him across the face. Mirror Master went flying back with his copies dissipating as a result. He rubbed his chin, gritting his teeth. Scowling, Mirror Master dove for a broken window, hoping to get away. Aquaman saw this and quickly threw his trident at him, shattering the window. Cyborg and Aquaman ran over and saw Mirror Master trapped in the shattered pieces.

"Get me out of here!" He called out.

"Sounds like he's having a bad day," Aquaman noted.

"Might even say he 'went to pieces'," Cyborg quipped, earning a smack upside the head from Aquaman.

"Come on, let's wrap this up."

Down below, Humanite heard the sounds of fighting above and rolled his eyes, reading a well-thumbed volume of "Great Expectations". As he continued reading, J'onn phased through the ceiling towards him.

"I've come for Batman," J'onn told him. "Release him, and no harm will come to you."

"As you wish," Humanite replied, placing a bookmark in his book and rising to his feet. "Follow me, please."

J'onn raised an eyebrow in response, floating after him.

"You are not putting up resistance," J'onn noted.

"Well sooner or later, one must grasp the reality of the situation. Our team hardly has the same teamwork yours does, and while my compatriots are fueled by vengeance and greed, I feel no such drive. I have nothing to gain."

"I see. Then why join this cabal in the first place?"

"I will admit, the pay sounded promising at first, but after everything I've seen, and what Luthor did to Corbin, I'd rather be in Strykers."

"Then I assume you were the one to tell the League about the bomb."

"Indeed. Cracking your encryption was a fun little distraction, I will admit."

As they entered the next room though, something grabbed Humanite's hand, causing him to get shocked with electricity. Humanite yelled in pain before collapsing to the ground, revealing Joker standing before him.

"And they said I had a problem playing with others," he remarked before turning towards J'onn.

Back upstairs, Wonder Woman continued deflecting Manta's blasts, much to his irritation.

"Will you hold still you-!"

Suddenly, a large golf club came out of nowhere and knocked Manta into the air.

"Hey," GL snapped. "Watch your mouth! We're in the presence of a lady."

Manta activated his jet rockets to stabilize himself mid air, ready to blast him out of the sky. That's when Wonder Woman's lasso wrapped around his leg and he was violently yanked down to the ground. He tried to pick himself up, but a punch from Wonder Woman cracked his helmet and knocked him out.

GL smirked as he saw Manta go down, only to be immediately struck with a yellow construct.

"It seems if you want something right, you have to do it yourself," Sinestro noted.

GL shook his head in pain before creating a shield to block another blast from Sinestro.

"Your constructs cannot hold forever, Jordan!" Sinestro promised. "Soon, I will be rid of you. And then… perhaps I will pay your dear Carol another visit."

GL's eyes narrowed.

"Big mistake pal. Threats like that just make me fight harder!"

Suddenly, several green beams shot out from his shield, each one forming into a blunt weapon. One by one, these constructs struck Sinestro, hitting him at speeds too great for him to keep up with. Finally, GL flew right up to him and smacked him across the face, knocking him out and causing him to drop to the ground.

Back with Superman, he and Metallo were still duking it out. After getting smacked aside, Superman went flying through a wall, landing on the ground hard. As Superman pulled himself up, he saw the broken pieces of the wall and had a thought. He tried using his x-ray vision on them, but was unable to see through.

"Lead… perfect!"

He tore off a piece before flying back towards Metallo, smacking him across the face with it. He continued striking him again and again until he collided with a pillar, allowing Superman to wrap the metal around him and weld it into place.

"You think you've won?!" Metallo challenged. "You're dead, Superman! You hear me, dead!"

"Not today I'm not. Come on, let's find J'onn and Batman!"

Down below, J'onn and Joker stared each other down, waiting for the other to make their move.

"You don't look up to this," Joker noted. "Looking a little green in the gills. Hehehehe."

J'onn just narrowed his eyes in response.

"Where is Batman?"

"Hmm, I can't seem to recall. My mind just isn't what it used to be."

"Is that so?" J'onn replied, his eyes going red.

J'onn peered into Joker's mind, and was instantly assaulted with a storm of raw emotions, thunderous laughter, and images that made the martian want to vomit. J'onn pulled out and collapsed on the ground, causing Joker to laugh in response.

"A mind is a terrible thing to lose, they say. Personally, I find it's overrated."

Joker then kicked J'onn across the face, knocking him back.

"Don't worry, green jeans. If it stings too much," Joker then pulled out a knife. "I'll cut it out."

Joker readied to stab J'onn, but a hand caught his arm. He turned towards it and, to his surprise, Batman was standing before him, swinging a punch that knocked him back. Batman then went over and helped J'onn.

"Are you alright?" He asked, kneeling over him.

"I… I think I will be…" He let out a shaky breath, a hand on his head. "I knew of man's propensity for violence, but this… how can a man so vile and heartless live with himself?"

"I've been asking the same question for years."

"No fair!" Joker snapped. "How did you get free?!"

"Truthfully, I could've escaped anytime I wanted to. I just thought it would be better to stick around and keep an eye on you clowns."

Joker tried lunging at him, but Batman socked him across the face, knocking him to the ground.

"You're despicable…" Joker let out in a Daffy Duck impression before falling unconscious.

Later, the villains were all wrangled up and being escorted off. As they were led out, Humanite stopped in front of Batman.

"One member of our party has yet to be accounted for," he pointed out.

"Luthor," Batman deduced.

"Unfortunately. He said he was going to fetch something, but I assume that was absolute poppycock.

"We'll worry about that."

"Alright. I trust you'll keep your end of our deal."
"Right. Double what Luthor was paying."

Humanite nodded before being carted off.

"You bribed him?" Superman remarked.

"Once I realized he had no personal stake in this, I deduced his reasoning and made him a counter offer."

"Nice work. Still, I'd give anything to have Luthor being carted away along with them."

"Perhaps we still can," Wonder Woman remarked. "Superman, where would he go?"

"Where else? Lexcorp."

"I have a plan," Batman declared.

At Lexcorp, Luthor was sitting at his desk, going through some paperwork. He glanced at the news that was playing on his TV, which showed the Injustice League getting arrested. He sighed, then resumed his work as if nothing had happened. Just then, a shadow loomed over his desk, forcing him to turn around and seeing Superman hovering outside. Slightly annoyed, he opened the window.

"I'm afraid we already have a window washer."

"It's the filth on the inside that concerns me," Superman remarked, landing inside.

"Charming. However, I don't recall giving you permission to enter my office, so state your business and leave."

"I know you hired the Injustice League to try and kill us."

"Injustice League? Can't say I've heard of such a garish organization. It's certainly not one I would ever have a part in."

"You had Corbin try and kill me before."

"And just what proof do you have of this? As I recall, Corbin stole my creation."

"You just have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Indeed I do. Now, are you done interrogating me? I'm sure there's a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere."

"You won't weasel your way out of this one. I don't know why you keep trying to kill me, but you won't succeed."

Lex seemed to mull that over, then he stood up

"I suppose you're right. After all, throwing robots and super villains at you just doesn't seem to cut it." He went to a safe in the wall, typing in a combination and opening it. "As the saying goes, 'you want something done right'..." He pulled out a large chunk of Kryptonite, the stone glowing brightly and bathing the room in its radiation, "...'you do it yourself'."

Superman backed away in shock, slowly feeling weaker upon exposure.

"Where… where did you…"

"What?" Lex replied, tossing the Kryptonite to himself. "This old thing? Just a little souvenir from the old home town. Thought you'd appreciate it."

Superman collapsed to the ground as Lex walked over to him, holding the Kryptonite out to him.

"You asked why I want to kill you. Well the reason is simple, I hate you. More accurately, I hate what you represent. You see, human beings have existed on this planet for many years now, evolving and growing all the way. Whenever a meteor hits the planet or a flood washes everything away, we pick ourselves up, and grow stronger as a result. But you, you offer a certain… complacency. Why worry about hurricanes or fires when Superman and the Justice League can swoop in and save the day. The human race has become far too complacent, and let's face it, you won't be around forever. So I figure, if you can show that a god can be killed now, it will give the people some sense to think for themselves again."

"I… I'm not… a god…"

"Yes, you would say so," Luthor remarked, walking towards a window. "But honestly, that modesty only makes people want to praise you more. But once I'm through with you, they'll finally see you for what you truly are: just a man."

"And… what about… your friends…"

"Oh please. A gift here, a bribe there, and they'll forget this whole mess happened. What's important now is that soon, humanity will have a new Man of Tomorrow: me."

"At least you'll have company in prison," Superman replied in a much more confident tone.

Lex instantly turned around and saw Superman standing on his feet. He ran over with the Kryptonite, but it seemed to do nothing.

"Impossible! The Kryptonite-"

"Won't protect you any longer," Superman replied in a voice not his own.

Suddenly, Superman's form began to morph, revealing that the Man of Steel was actually J'onn J'onzz.

"No!"

"Ooh, that must be embarrassing," GL remarked as Lex turned to see him, and Batman were standing in the doorway.

"You're usually more careful Lex," Batman noted. "You slipped up."

"And you're going down for it. Hard."

GL then used his ring to grab hold of the Kryptonite, yanking it out of his hands so Batman could snatch it and store it in his belt.

"Cyborg, you get all that?" Batman asked over comms.

"Every word. Sending it to Metropolis PD as we speak."

"Good work."

"Guess your plan worked like a charm," GL remarked.

"It seems I was correct before," J'onn admitted. "You are an invaluable asset to this team."

Batman just smirked before they all turned to Lex.

"So much for your image as a benevolent business man," Wonder Woman remarked as she flew in through the open window. "This is the end of an era."

"The end of your era, maybe," Lex remarked, pulling out a remote and pressing a button on it.

Suddenly, an aircraft appeared outside and opened fire on the four of them. Wonder Woman used her bracelets to deflect the blasts as GL returned fire. As they continued to fight, Lex quickly climbed inside and manned the controls, firing several missiles at them. The missiles hit the ceiling causing a massive explosion that gave Lex the cover he needed to escape.

"He's getting away!" GL shouted, having shielded them from the blast.

"Not for long," Superman declared through the comms.

Lex flew through the city, hoping to put some distance between him and the League. As he looked back in triumph, his plane suddenly came to a screeching halt, throwing him forward. He looked in front of him to see Superman holding the plane by its nose, his face cold and emotionless.

"Going somewhere?" Superman remarked.

Lex just snarled in response.

Not much later, Lex was cuffed up and being placed into a police transport vehicle.

"Now there's a sight I've wanted to see for a long time," Turpin remarked.

"Tell me about it," Superman agreed.

"Enjoy it while you can, Superman," Lex swore. "There's no way anything I told the martian will hold up in court! I'll get the best lawyers, the best witnesses, the best-"

"Yeah, yeah," Turpin cut off, slamming the back door shut. "I told him he had the right to remain silent."

"What he lacks is the capacity," GL quipped.

"I'm just happy this whole mess is over," Superman remarked, seeing the truck drive off. "If we're lucky, the Metropolis PD will freeze all his assets so he can't weasel his way out of this one."

"I'll see what I can do," Turpin promised.

Down the road, Lex was stewing in rage, while also plotting his revenge. Just then, red lightning began surrounding the truck, the driver hitting the brakes as all four tired were violently slashed. Something then shattered the front windshield as blurry yellow hands plunged into the chests of the driver and his guard. Just then, a figure stopped right in front of Lex, revealing himself to be a man in a yellow and black suit similar to that of the Flash's. His whole body was vibrating, distorting his face and giving him red eyes.

"Lex Luthor," the man greeted. "Big fan of your work."

"And you are?"

The man vibrated his hand, using it to snap the chains on Luthor's hands.

"Someone who wants you to continue your work dealing with the League. On one condition."

"And what might that be?" Lex asked, rubbing his wrists.

The man then grabbed Lex by the collar and lifted him close.

"The Flash is off limits."

"The speedster? Why do you care what happens to him?"

"I have my reasons. So, do we have a deal?"

"... very well."

Then, the figure sped off, leaving Lex to make his escape.