CHAPTER TEN: GOD VERSUS MAN

Aqualad found himself near the Man of Steel, one of his personal heroes. He had been raised in Atlantis, of course, but that did not stop him from idolizing Superman when told the stories of adventure that Aquaman had given him during his training. Ever since then, Aqualad, real name Kaldur'ahm, had wished for a chance to one day meet his hero. And not only had he been given the chance to join the Justice League and finally meet the Man of Steel, he was now working with him in the field!

However, Kaldur knew the dangers of being so excited. He had been trained so that he knew whether or not it was the right time to express such emotions, and he knew it was not time to express these emotions, especially due to the nature of the threat from the unknown organization of supervillains, as Superman had put it. Since they had no idea of who the leader was and who was pulling the strings, they had to be extra careful.

"How does it feel?" asked Superman as they stood atop a large building overlooking Metropolis, the city the Man of Steel protected. "To be here in the field, I mean? I'm sure you must be scared."

Kaldur looked to Superman. "Yes, sir," he admitted respectfully. He spoke in a soft voice, and Superman could already sense this youth was wise beyond his years. "I've wanted to work alongside you for so long, and now that I am, the only problem with it is this dire situation. We've been threatened, and I know that we must be careful now."

"That is true," said Superman. "But that does not mean we can't have some light in the situation. For all we know, this is some small distraction, and there's not really such a huge evil in the world. The ones behind this might just be third-rate villains. Trust me, we've dealt with those before. Batman and I have, at least. Some of the heroes have been able to go without those types and remain with great villains, which I sometimes envy them for."

Kaldur looked out over the edge of the building, down into the city, which was filled with sparkling and twinkling lights. It seemed none of it had been touched by darkness, almost. He just hoped that was how everything remained. He didn't think he would be able to take it if such a beautiful city was ravaged by a great wave of destruction. But he knew it had to happen sometime or another. He just hoped that if this city was attacked by some force, it wouldn't be irreparably damaged by that evil.

"This city is so beautiful," said Kaldur. "I couldn't imagine it being destroyed. I don't know how I would be able to take it. Has it ever been badly harmed by a fight?"

"It has," Superman said. "A few fights have destroyed parts of it. The worst was when I was forced to battle Darkseid, one of the New Gods and ruler of the planet Apokilips. I hated that fight. Supergirl was badly injured by the end of it, and sometimes I still blame myself for those injuries. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for allowing those injuries."

"But they were not your fault, were they?" Kaldur asked.

"No, they weren't," Superman admitted, "but I felt as if they were because I had a chance to prevent them, and I didn't take it, unfortunately. That's the problem with this world. No, not just this world. That's the problem with life. There's so much that could happen, so much that could go wrong, and there aren't that many chances to stop it from happening. That's why it's so maddening. I don't like it, but I know I was sent here by my biological parents for a reason."

"At least your father isn't some murdering psychopath," Kaldur said. "You probably know him, maybe even faced him a few times before. Black Manta is his name."

"I know," Superman said. "Aquaman told me when he gave me the recommendation of adding you as a recruit. I don't care about that very much, however, so long as you make your own choices and don't allow your past or where you come from to define you. That's the thing about some of these supervillains. They lack a true reason for being what they are. They just believe they can be truly defined by their past and where they come from, which I very much disagree with. You can let it define you, yes, but it's not something you necessarily have to do, if you understand."

Aqualad nodded. "I would never allow it to define me. I have made my choice. My father has attempted to reclaim me, and while I believe I hold love for him, I do not believe it would be right to return to him. He must be punished for his crimes. He has committed too many grievous crimes against my king. Those who commit such crimes need to prosecuted. As for death, I do not think so, though I think it depends."

"Never kill just because you think it's right," Superman said. "Never kill to begin with, is what I'd say, but I understand there are those who believe killing might be right. I don't want you to think that way, but I know I can't stop everyone, unfortunately."

"I don't kill, don't worry. I would never do such a thing. My King—Aquaman, as you call him—has told me that it is not allowed as a hero, and I believe him. I trust that decision. Killing and vengeance blacken the soul, though it seems Batman has been able to get past the latter and do well with it."

"Batman's gone through more than most of us. It's not his fault that vengeance is one of his trademarks, if you understand me there. His life has been full of tragedy, and I wish I could help him. But it seems he's been able to get through it thanks to his allies."

"I must say, they were quite nice. Was that all of them, or were there more? I don't think I got all their names."

"No, that was not all of them. The three you met were Nightwing, who had the black-and-blue costume. He was once known as Robin, but that post was taken over by two other people. You saw the third Robin there, as well."

"What happened to the second one?"

"It's not my liberty to tell you, though I do know. It's personal to Batman. That's all I'm going to say. Mistakes were made, and allies were let down in some way. But that's it."

Kaldur nodded. "That is all right," he said. "I asked too much. I shouldn't have poked into something I cannot hope to understand."

Superman smiled. "Smart," he complimented. "I don't blame you for being curious. It's just that there's so much that I couldn't say it, and I don't feel right telling you something that is all too personal to Batman."

Kaldur nodded.

"The third one, the girl, is known as Batgirl. She's definitely the sweetest one of them all, and she and Supergirl count each other as sisters now. However, she is not the only girl on the team. There is also Catwoman, who, despite her name, is not that much older than the others, maybe a year or two than Batgirl and Nightwing. Robin is sixteen, and he is the youngest of the team. We teamed up with them a while back, and there was another girl besides Batgirl and Catwoman. She called herself Spoiler, and she was about sixteen or seventeen. I don't think she's around at the moment, but you'll likely meet her sooner or later, I'm sure."

Kaldur nodded, happy he'd been able to learn more about his allies. He'd already met and worked with Red Arrow before, so he knew who that was. There were more, he was sure, including Superman's cousin, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman's sidekick, Wonder Girl. He was sure he would meet them again soon, once this was over.

A beeping sound reached his ears, and he turned around to see Superman taking out what looked to be a communicator. He hit a few buttons on the digital screen. Kaldur looked a little closer, and soon enough, Batman appeared. A girl with green eyes and wearing a shiny black costume made of some sort of material was behind him.

"What is it?" Superman asked.

"Have you received a transmission from any of the others?" Batman asked him gruffly.

"No," Superman answered. "Why?"

"I just received a message from Green Arrow. He seems to have sent it first to Flash in Central City. But there's something wrong about it. He didn't bring Aqualad with him."

"What's so strange about that?" Superman asked.

"He said that Aqualad was injured," Batman said. "And yet Aqualad is with you. Something is wrong. Do you know anything about this, Aqualad?"

"No, I don't," said Kaldur. "Could he be hallucinating?"

"It's possible," Batman said. "Who did Green Arrow take with him?"

"No one," Superman said. "There weren't enough recruits or anyone of that sort left. Unless he took another hero, which I don't think he did. Something's not right…"

"Be careful. I'm going to go through the coding of the other communicators to see if I can find anymore such transmissions."

And then he was gone, without any sign of him leaving.

"Something's not right," said Superman. "There's something going on. It does seem we really are being attacked by supervillains. We need to be on our guard for this."

Suddenly the Man of Steel stiffened. He looked around for something, and Kaldur wondered what exactly was happening. He touched Superman's shoulder, hoping to learn something from his hero.

"I have enhanced hearing," Superman explained. "There's a fire not far from here…at a LexCorp factory. We need to hurry. There might be those in danger. Wait, can you deal with the fire? Aquaman and other Atlanteans are weakened by fire, I know."

"Well, as long as you blow some of the flames out, then maybe I'll be able to help during this time."

"I'll see what I can do," Superman said. "But remember, as a hero, you have to push yourself to the limit. But that doesn't mean to push yourself to the brink of dying."

Kaldur nodded. He could suddenly see smoke from the rooftop he stood upon. It rose into the air, like gray streaming snakes.

"Quick, get on my back," said Superman. Kaldur did so, and they were off toward the source of the fire. As soon as they saw the LexCorp factory, Superman was forced to dodge as an explosion came right toward them. It did so for a moment before dying down.

Kaldur thought, We have to find some way inside. He was already feeling the heat setting in, and sweat began to collect in large amounts on his forehead. He wiped it off and returned to concentrating on the matter at hand.

"Hold on!" Superman said, and they crashed through the building. Kaldur jumped off Superman as soon as they had landed, and he felt the sweltering hear wash over him. He began sweating profusely, but he knew he could move on despite the hindrance.

"Do you see anything?" he asked Superman. "Or hear it?"

"So far, nothing," Superman replied. "Wait a minute…one of the walls here is made of lead."

"Doesn't that prevent you from seeing through it?"

"Yes. It seems that whatever villains are trying to stop us are hiding behind there. It would make the most sense." He walked over to the wall. He found something, or so Kaldur thought. Superman pushed as hard as he could, and the wall there began to move.

As soon as it had been completely moved out of place, a woman with violet eyes and dark black hair came through the smoke. She wore a white button-up shirt with a black skirt and black high-heels. She stopped for a moment, looked up at Superman, who was quite taller than her, and hugged him.

"Lois, what are you doing here?" Superman asked.

"I was kidnapped," she said. "I was supposed to be investigating today, but I didn't think it would mean this. I think I was kidnapped, at least. I was at home, and next thing I knew, I felt a pain in my head, and I woke up here. But it's all fuzzy." She seemed to think for a moment, and then her strange violet eyes widened. "Wait a minute…"

"Come now, Ms. Lane, is there any point in revealing everything to the Man of Tomorrow?" came a voice. It was deep and rich, but down below, Kaldur could hear a cold and evil creep.

Out of the shadows came several supervillains. One of them had what seemed to be purple skin. He wore metal bracers around his wrists, ankles, and abdomen. His eyes were black, but his pupils were white. Kaldur had seen him before, but could not remember his name.

The second wore black armor with red eye-lenses and spiked gauntlets. Kaldur recognized him as Black Spider, an assassin who was mainly an antagonist of Batman. He was well-trained, as Kaldur had been told by Aquaman once during his briefing of the enemies of the Justice League.

And the third and final was one Kaldur knew all too well. He was one of the Justice League's greatest antagonists. Lex Luthor was completely bald, with green eyes and high cheekbones bringing the look together, making him a handsome man. He wore a green-and-purple warsuit with a yellow symbol on the chest. The suit made him appear taller than he already was.

"Luthor," Superman said coldly. "I should have known you were behind this. But how did you escape prison? There was no breakout I heard of."

"I have a few associates left up my sleeve," Luthor explained. "And I plan to use them to full effect. Do not question me about who they might be, because I shall not reveal them to you." He looked to Kaldur. "This must be Aquaman's sidekick. I must say, he is fit to be a hero, but it seems his vulnerability to extreme heat is being exacerbated. Should we help him?"

"Let's just kill them," said Parasite. "I'll suck all the life out of the whelpling!"

"No!" Luthor snapped. "Killing is not a part of our mission, you know that! We have to take him in, alive! That is what our associate told us, and I am going to honor that vow."

"Who is this associate, Lex?" Superman asked. "I want you to tell me now."

Luthor seemed to give in for a moment. "Alright. I will. But not right at this moment. First…let's see how you deal with your blood on the ground. Or maybe the blood of someone you love?"

He aimed an armored hand at Lois, but Superman got in the way. A blast erupted from a pulser in the palm, and Superman yelled out in pain as he was thrown through a wall. Lois had moved out of the way just in time. When Kaldur looked back at his hero, he saw Superman was groaning in pain, writhing on the ground as green light moved over his body.

"Krrryptonite," Luthor taunted, moving closer ever so slightly. But Kaldur jumped in front of him, not wanting his hero to be wounded anymore than he possibly already was. "Ah, Aqualad. Wanting to save the Man of Steel from what he deserves? Well, then, that's just nice. But the only problem is, we all know your weakness."

He aimed another hand at Kaldur, who jumped back as fire shot from the fingertips. The smoke caused him to cough, and his eyes watered as it forced itself through into his vision. He couldn't see through the haze. He heard a laugh, and he felt pain as he was punched in the chest.

He flew through a wall, and when he finally hit the ground again, he felt blood dripping down his face. He got back to his feet, and took his water-bearers out from the pack on his back. He looked through the smoke, his eyes having adapted to it. He saw Black Spider coming toward him. The assassin aimed a gun at him. Kaldur thought it was almost funny that such an accomplished assassin believed he could taken down by a simple gun.

Unless…

The bullet Black Spider shot out of the barrel of the gun whizzed past Kaldur's head. The bullet hit a wall behind him, and it exploded. He realized the bullets were explosive, which made them very dangerous to those of his kind. He used his Water Bearers to attack the assassin with a blast of water, which knocked Black Spider on his back.

But the assassin, having obviously been trained well, jumped right back up. He began to laugh.

"It's funny," he said, "that you believe you can defeat us. You are no more than a boy." He spat the last word out, in great disgust. "I hate the Justice League, especially when it comes to Aquaman. He beat me pretty badly once, and for that, I think I should make his little whelp pay."

He aimed the gun again, and Kaldur dodged once more, only to be blown forward by an explosion. Black Spider took hold of him and punched him a few times. But Kaldur succeeded in recovering his stance, and he kneed the assassin in the gut. Due to his extra strength, the armor cracked, but he felt his knee nearly crack in the process. That led Kaldur to believe the armor had been made in such a way that it even made it hard for some heroes to break it or to remove it.

Fire was only a weakness to Atlanteans in the way that it dehydrated them, and that caused it to be able to break the skin of the Atlanteans if it was hot enough, or if it encased something such as a bullet. Kaldur knew how careful he needed to be at the moment, as Black Spider possessed a gun such as that. One that could cause an explosion somehow. He still didn't understand how that was possible, but it was now, and that made this fight so much more dangerous.

He was already severely dehydrated. He didn't know how much longer this could go on. He decided the only way this could end was for the fight to be taken outside, where there was a pond or lake or ocean, possibly. He just needed some body of water, or he would obviously die. He needed to hurry this fight up before that happened. He just hoped that his king was not wounded in any way. If Aquaman was injured, then he didn't know what he would do. He remembered he had taken Robin with him, and if that was true, and if Robin had been truly trained so well by Batman, then maybe his king would have a chance against whatever villainy he was forced to go up against.

Meanwhile, Superman lay on the ground, having finished writhing from the Kyrptonite blast from Lex's gauntlets. The supervillain came toward him. He was smiling brightly at the fact his greatest enemy now lay at his feet. But Superman was going to take him down. He knew it.

He got back to his feet and aimed a punch at Lex. The punch succeeded, sending Lex back a few feet. But Lex lunged at him and punched him across the face. Superman had just noticed that the gauntlet was growing green, and he felt blood fly from his mouth as the punch met its mark. The next one hit him in the gut, and he gasped for breath.

He aimed another punch, but it was stopped by Lex.

"You have no reason to be here, Superman," Lex said. "You should had perished when Krypton exploded. But now we have a chance to kill you. I've wanted this moment to come since I first learned of your existence. You are no more than a terrorist masquerading as a superhero. You will one day turn on us, and I will be seen as correct. Thank God." He laughed and threw Superman behind him.

As Superman attempted to get back to his feet, he was grabbed from behind, and he felt his lifeforce be sucked from him as Parasite laughed. "How do you feel now, freak?" cackled the villain.

"Hold him still," Lex said. He aimed his gauntlet. Superman punched Parasite, and he succeeded for a moment to throw to the lifesucker off him. But then a Kryptonite blast hit him the chest, and he screamed as the power intensified. He heard Parasite scream as well.

Though Parasite could take his abilities and make him weaker, the Kryptonite also hurt him.

A gunshot echoed through the air, and Lex growled. The flow of Kryptonite energy ended, and Superman was able to catch his breath. He looked behind Lex, and he found Lois there. He roared at her, "RUN, LOIS! GET OUT OF HERE! I'LL HANDLE THIS!"

She looked at him with deep concern, then looked to Lex, who was coming toward her. He was preparing to hurt her, she realized. She turned around and began running, but Lex ran after her. Superman used the very last reserves of his strength, most of it having been taken away by Parasite, to fly after him, Parasite hot on his heels.

He took Lex down, but Lex succeeded in using his Kryptonite gauntlet to blast him again. Superman looked to Lois.

"Lois…" he gasped, in too much pain, "…go! Now!"

At the same time, Kaldur, who was even more severely dehydrated, had gained the upper hand, and he punched Black Spider as hard as he could, using his Water Bearers on the assassin as he was knocked into a wall, forcing him to crash through the wall and be knocked out as his face hit a pipe, cracking one of his lenses.

Kaldur limped into the next room, and he found Superman beaten, being blasted by Lex. He screamed, and looked to Kaldur.

"RUN!" he yelled. "GO FOR BACKUP!" He took something out of his utility belt, and though Lex attempted to catch Kaldur got to it before he could, and Superman said, "Coordinates…use them! Take Lois…Go! NOW! AAAAHHHH!"

Kaldur looked to Lois, who was crying.

Then he ran toward her, as well as he could. He used his Water Bearers to break through a wall.

He turned around, and found Parasite coming toward him. Kaldur took hold of Lois, and looking down, noticed there was conveniently a pond below them. He jumped, taking Lois with him, and they heard Parasite scream in anger, followed by Lex not long after.

Kaldur felt pain creeping up on him, and he blacked out before they hit the water.

Farther up, Lex and Parasite turned away from the hole in the wall.

"It's of little consequence, Parasite," Lex said. He saw Black Spider had come to. "We have Superman, and Scarecrow will be happy, I'm sure."

Black Spider held a communicator in his palm now. He clicked a few keys, and Scarecrow's voice was heard through the burning factory. "Do you have him?" he asked.

"Yes," said Lex. "The Atlantean King's whelp and Lois Lane succeeded in escaping, but it's of little consequence, I'm sure."

"Yes, it is," said Scarecrow. "Joker has Batman cornered, from what I've heard, and Metallo, Ares, Harley, and Poison Ivy are near Themyscira. As long as Batgirl is brought to me by them I will be fine. You have done well, thus far. Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern have been taken out by Merlyn, Ma'alefa'ak, and Star Sapphire. The only sidekick able to escape was the one with Green Lantern, him being the only one who seems to have brought a sidekick with him. And according to Merlyn, my fear toxin took care of Green Arrow in a matter of seconds. He seemed to remember something where the Atlantean King's whelp was injured, however. I don't understand it, but it happened. And now we only have Wonder Woman and Batman left. And then there's Batgirl. I can already feel her heart in my palm."