And it is time again for another episode chapter, now this is a chapter that I have been looking forward to doing for a long time. I want to thank Celgress and superfan, MoonyKunai for reviewing last chapter and now on with the show.
I own nothing but the plot
Normal pov
"So this is how it ends." Lex Luthor says in a mocking tone as he lords over Superman who is helpless because of the Kryptonite that Lex is holding. "You know I've carried this around for years waiting for just the right moment. But now that it's here I almost feel a little…let down. Almost." Lex watched as Superman struggled to get back up. "Any last requests? Perhaps a final letter to your widow?" Lex asked as he held lords the Kryptonite above Superman. "I'm sure she will be devastated."
"Luthor, I have to know those weapons you sold to the terrorists. How?" Superman begins to ask.
"How did I get them through customs?" Lex finished asking for him walking away from him towards a window Lex continued to mock him. "A gift here, a bribe there when money talks people listen. Like Stavos at the shipping company, and Schneider the Interpol agent who looked the other way."
"Sounds like you're going to have company in prison." Superman states confidently standing up much to Lex's surprise.
Lex runs closer to Superman bring the chuck of Kryptonite closer to his face, but surprisingly Superman is unchanged. "It can't be? The Kryptonite!"
"Won't protect you any longer." J'onn states revealing himself to be a fake all along.
"No!" Lex yells in dismay.
"You're usually more careful Lex." Batman states as he, Green Lantern and Storm appear behind him. "You slipped up."
"And you're going down hard." John says with determination using his ring to take the Kryptonite from Lex which Batman pockets into his belt.
"Mission accomplished." Batman says into a speaker.
"So much for your image of the benevolent businessman." J'onn says as the team surrounds Lex. "This is the end of an era."
"Any last requests? Perhaps a pen and paper for a letter?" Storm says mockingly narrowing her eyes at him. "If there is even someone to write too."
"That won't be necessary." Lex states then takes out a remote presses the button on the remote, which brings up a flying aircraft that he quickly fires at the group of heroes. While the heroes were dodging the attacks Lex quickly got inside and flew away as the building exploded.
Luckily though Green Lantern used his ring in time to protect the group. "Why do they always run?" John asked as the group got back up.
"Same reason why they always reveal their plans." Storm states evenly. "Their egos make them think that they can get away."
Despite everything Lex was feeling smug as he flew the aircraft away from the building, until he saw that the real Superman was flying after him. Frustrated Lex fired missiles at Superman to slow him down. Lex who was feeling confident again in his escape suddenly had a seizure making him lose control of the aircraft. Lucky for him Superman recovers quickly and seeing the aircraft flying out of control swiftly flies over to the aircraft and stops it from crashing.
"Lex?" Superman questions after he safely places the aircraft on top of a building and opens it up. Superman peers inside just as Lex passes out. "Lex!"
Hours later Lex awakes in a hospital bed and finds Superman, Storm and a doctor standing in front of him. "You!" Lex shouts glaring directly at Superman.
"Lex this is Doctor Patel. He has something to tell you." Superman begins to explain.
"No I've got something to tell you!" Lex interrupts. "Whatever I said to the Martian won't hold up in court. I'll get the best lawyers, the best witnesses, the best-"
"Lex!" Superman shouted in a serious tone. "None of that matters anymore."
"You've got something way more important to worry about." Storm adds narrowing her eyes at Lex. "I suggest you listen to the good doctor."
"Mr. Luthor you had a seizure. Has this happened to you before?" Doctor Patel asked, but Lex just glared at the doctor. "My test show you have a rare form of blood poisoning."
"Impossible!" Lex shouts grabbing the chart in the doctor's hand.
"Remember that chunk of Kryptonite you carried around for years?" Superman asked.
"What about it?" Lex asked still looking down at his chart. "Kryptonite only affects you."
"Actually we're finding that it can affect humans too. But only if exposed over a long period of time." Doctor Patel explains much to Lex's dismay.
"This is your fault! All of it!" Lex yelled throwing the chart at Superman.
"Of course it is it's not like it was your decision to carry around a radioactive rock from outer space all the time in your obsessive sexually charged need to destroy him." Storm whispers under her breathe knowing that only Superman would hear her.
"What's the treatment? Radiation? Chemo?" Lex turned to ask the doctor.
"Unfortunately there is no cure." Doctor Patel explains.
"Then find one!" Lex demands. "Price is no object."
"I'm sorry." Doctor Patel says with a sigh. "There is nothing I can do. It's terminal."
"Happy Superman." Lex asked turning to face his enemy again. "You and your girlfriend must be thrilled!"
"Lex, if there is anything I can do-" Superman begins to say.
"You've done more than enough." Lex states with a glare. "I'm sure you and your girlfriend can go be smug somewhere else."
"Let's leave." Storm says with a glare heading for the door. "Before I speak ill of the dead."
Superman just turns to shake his head at Lex and follows after her.
Cut to the Watchtower
The rest of the Justice League were waiting for Superman and Storm to report on what happened to Lex Luthor when the couple walked into the control room arguing.
"I'm just saying that comment was out of line!" Superman argues slightly glaring at Storm much to the surprise of the team.
"Considering who Lex Luthor is? He deserved far worse!" Storm argues back also glaring at Superman.
"Whoa, I never thought the dream couple would argue like this." Flash states still clearly surprised. "Actually I didn't even know they could argue."
"Enough." Batman says in a cold tone which causes the argument to stop. "What's is going on with Luthor? Last time we spoke you said that you think he had a seizure?"
"He did have a seizure." Superman says shaking his head. "And it gets worse."
"Or better." Storm interjected much to Superman's dismay and the League's surprise. "Depending on who you are. At least this is one thing he can't use money to escape from the consequence."
"How can you say that?" Superman questions her. "Lex is going to-"
"Can you two stop arguing long enough to share what's going on with the rest of us?" Hawkgirl demands now wanting some answers herself.
"I'd like some answers as well." John added in crossing his arms to his chest as he glared at the two.
"Right." Superman states remembering himself now that he noticed everyone was watching him and Storm. "It's seems that all the years Lex spent carrying around a piece of Kryptonite has caught to him. He thought that it would only affect me but some research has shown that's not completely the case. A lot of scientist and researchers are starting to realize that prolonged context has less then ideal consequences."
"In other words Lex unknowingly has caused himself to suffer from a rare blood disease…for which there is no cure." Storm finished for him, the group gasped in surprise at her admission.
"Are you sure that there is no cure and that Luthor will…die? I mean if this has happened to others they must have found something?" Wonder Woman questions. "I mean even with all the charges Luthor would still have a lot of money and influence to cure himself?"
"You would think so but it turns out that even the scientist whose job it is to research Kryptonite still hadn't been exposed to it as much as Luthor." Storm answers. "The other people whom this has happened to weren't so far gone that it couldn't be combated enough to let them live. The disease is still there but they'll live. Luthor on the other hand…not so much."
"So this disease is going to kill him." J'onn states evenly. "And there is no way around it."
"Who would have thought that a radioactive rock from outer space could do such a thing?" Storm states rolling her eyes.
"Storm?!" Superman proclaims in dismay. "That isn't fair! Lex is dying and-"
"And I'm not going to pretend that I am sad about that." Storm says evenly. "I'd never wish death on anyone even my worse enemies' but-"
"But it sure makes things a lot easier when it happens." John finishes for her.
"Exactly." Storm states shrugging her shoulders. "And if a few more people can do it to themselves like Lex, my life would be so much easier."
"But Storm you can't believe that it's right to feel that way?" Superman tries to argue.
"Again I wouldn't wish it on anyone even Luthor." Storm says shaking her head. "But I'm not going to pretend to feel pity when I really don't."
Cut to Stryker's Island
With no interest in defending his case now that he knew about his deadly disease, Lex Luthor would now spend the rest of his days (however long they may be) inside of a holding cell at Stryker's Island. Lex was currently trying to get to sleep in his cell but couldn't because Ultra-Humanite whom occupied the cell next to him was watching an opera program on the public broadcasting channel.
"Hey keep it down!" Lex yells punching the wall. "Can't anyone die in peace around here?" His yelling does nothing to lower the noise, so Lex hacks into his own TV so that he could communicate with Ultra-Humanite. "Humanite!" Lex yelled much to the albino gorilla-humanoid's dismay. "How can you stand that cattle-whoaling?"
"Music is one of the meager pleasures I'm allowed in here." Humanite explains. "Along with a few other accessories. You should try the culture channel, it might improve your disposition."
"There's nothing wrong with my disposition that a little freedom wouldn't cure." Lex replies back.
"That's not what I hear." Humanite says with a smirk.
"I need your help. And I can make it worth your wild." Lex reasons with Humanite.
"What do I need with money?" Humanite answers back.
"Everyone needs money." Lex proclaims. "The question is how much." With that Lex disconnects the communication leaving Humanite to ponder his request.
Cut to later that night
Two guards were walking down the hall with a tray of food that they were bring to Ultra-Humanite. After using the eye scanner the guards walk in to find Humanite on his bed reading a book.
"Dinner Humanite." One of the guards informs him.
"I'm afraid I'm a little under the weather." Humanite states not moving from the bed. "Could you please wheel it in here?"
"What do you think?" The second guard asked the first.
"Well he is a model prisoner. But why take any chances." The first one says pulling out his club just in case.
The two guards walk into Humanite's cell with the tray of food as the get closer to his bed the step onto a metal sheet that quickly electrocutes them, knocking them out. Humanite uses a button to stop the electrocution and picks up a guard. "Salisbury steak? Really?" Humanite states after lifting up his dinner tray and then putting it back.
Humanite carries the unconscious guard over to Lex's cell and uses the guard to get passed the retina scanner. "Luthor!" Humanite calls out once the door has been opened.
"Impressive." Lex states once he walks out of his cell and sees the passed out guard. "But let's not linger." With that said the two make a run for it, the alarms start to go off and now the prison is on lockdown.
"There they are!" A guard yells as he sees what appears to be Humanite climbing a wall with Lex on his back trying to escape. "Open fire!" With that said the guards begin to shot at Humanite and Lex.
"Hang on." Humanite states as he continues to run away from the guards attacking them. Humanite runs with Lex on his back dodging shots along the way.
"All units' two prison inmates have escaped." Batman could hear from his police scanner inside of the Batmobile. "The Ultra-Humanite and Lex Luthor, they are consider armed and extremely dangerous." With that said Batman drove his car as fast as he could to the prison.
Lex and Humanite whom have made it to the city quickly walk into an empty alleyway when they heard a police car about to pass them by. "What we need now is a small diversion." Lex states and then throws dynamite towards a building to set it on fire. "That should keep them busy. Come on." Lex states knowing that the authorities would be too busy with the fire to worry about tracking them.
Sure enough Batman stopped his car in front of the burning building. "I need backup here fast!" Batman yells into his communicator and quickly rushes towards the building to save a little girl that was still stuck inside. Batman uses his grappling hook to climb through the window to get to the little girl.
"I'm scared." The little girl says when Batman comes in and picks her up.
"Don't be. It's going to be alright." Batman states then tries to go back out through the window but unfortunately the fire causes that path to get blocked. Batman then runs out the door with the little girl and tries to climb down the stairs but they burn up in the fire much to his dismay and the girl's growing fear. The two of them were about to fall to their doom when Hawkgirl flew in and got them out of the building. Once on the ground the little girl ran towards her father who was waiting for her.
"I'm used to being thanked when I save someone." Hawkgirl says teasingly.
"I'm not used to being saved." Batman coolly says back, quickly Storm, Superman and Flash made it to the burning building. "Where are Luthor and Humanite?"
"We couldn't pick up their trail." Superman states.
"No Biggy it's two guys how much trouble can they give us." Flash says with a shrug.
"You mean besides a burning building?" Batman asked evenly glaring at Flash.
"Yeah but-" Flash begins to say.
"And considering that one of the people we are looking for is a dying makes it dangerous, because a man who's dying has everything to gain." Storm interrupts narrowing her eyes at the burning building.
"And nothing to lose." Batman finishes evenly in a serious tone.
Cut to an abandoned building
A human-cheetah hybrid carefully walks into what should be an empty building, she sniffs around smelling something when a man in a snake-like costume appears out of nowhere. Acting quickly the human-cheetah hybrid moves to attack the man much to his dismay.
"Easy lady easy." The man says backing away from the cheetah.
"Who are you?" Cheetah asked.
"The names Copperhead." Copperhead explains. "I'm here about a job."
"So am I. Somebody called me, was it you?" Cheetah asked.
"No. But maybe we'll be working together?" Copperhead tells her walking closer to her until there is hardly any space between them. "Closely together." Copperhead sticks his snake-like tongue out where it almost reaches her face but the cheetah growled and scratched him with her craws. "Ahh, witch." Copperhead shouts trying to use his tail to knock her down but the cheetah manages to get out of the way.
Not knowing it though the cheetah had bumped into a rather tall zombie creature. "Nice kitty." The zombie says petting the cheetah much to her displeasure.
"Hands off!" Cheetah yelled scratching the zombie with her claws.
"No one hurts Grundy!" Grundy yelled and then started chasing Cheetah.
Cheetah ran away knocking into Copperhead, the two of them begin to attack Grundy together when a man wearing all black uses a nightstick to surround the three in a shroud of darkness.
"Hey who turned off the lights?" Grundy asked as he, Copperhead and Cheetah looked confused.
"I did." The man in black states using his nightstick to take the shroud of darkness away. "And I'll do worse if you don't stop behaving like a bunch of children."
"Who do you think you are?" Copperhead asked.
"The Shade." Shade answers with a dramatic bow. "And my nightstick is more than powerful enough to handle you armatures." Shades states pointing said nightstick in Copperhead's face, suddenly a purple energy beam surrounded his nightstick and it began to float in the air. "Hey?!"
"Spare us. Without this you're less than nothing little man." A woman states as she floats down from the ceiling until she lands in front of the group. "Common criminals. Is this what I've been reduced to?"
"Criminals yes." Luthor states out of nowhere getting everyone's attention, he and Humanite were coming down from an elevator. "But common? Most certainly not."
"Lex Luthor? Well the plot thins." The Shade states as the group watches as Lex and Humanite reaches them.
"Cheetah, Sapphire, Grundy, glad you could make it." Luthor says greeting them. "And of course you all know the Ultra-Humanite."
"Charmed, I'm sure." Humanite says.
"Cut the courtesies Luthor. What do you want?" Copperhead asked forcefully.
"Each of you is the best in the world at what you do." Luthor begins to explain. "And I have need for your unique services."
"My talents don't come cheaply." Cheetah states evenly.
"You all will be paid most handsomely if you can do one simple job." Luthor proclaims.
"What kind of job?" The Shade questions.
"Destroy Superman and the Justice League." Luthor exclaims in a serious tone much to the group's surprise.
Cut to back to Watchtower
After putting out the fire Batman was watching a news report on the monitoring screen while Flash was talking to Hawkgirl.
"And I had those flames out before the firemen stepped off their trucks." Flash was bragging to Hawkgirl.
"That's fast." Hawkgirl says evenly.
"Fastest man alive." Flash says with pride.
"Which might explain why you can't get a date." Hawkgirl teases.
"Yeah…Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Flash says feeling offended.
"Quiet." Batman says coolly as he continues to monitor a news report turning up the volume.
"A dangerous hostage situation has been developing at the federal building." Snapper Carr states, causing Hawkgirl and Flash to run towards the screen. "So far the Ultra-Humanite has refused to speak to negotiators. A freak of science the Humanite is reportable a genius who's extremely dangerous-" The rest of the news report is cut off when Batman turns the monitor off.
"No Biggy right?" Batman said while standing up and looking at Flash who was also being glared at by Hawkgirl.
Cut to Federal Bank
Tons of news cameras, onlookers and authorities were surrounding the building as Humanite continues to hold the people in the bank hostage.
"Humanite let a hostage go and I'll give you one of my men in return." A negotiator asked trying to make some progress.
"What do you take me for a troglodyte? No deal." Humanite says while holding a hostage and pointing a gun at the police. The police then all point their own weapons at Humanite when a green light suddenly surrounded his gun. "What?"
"Drop the weapon Magilla." John states forcefully, taking the weapon away from Humanite.
Superman than flies in and pushes Humanite away from the hostage. Batman then drops from the ceiling to check on the hostage. "Look for other Hostages!" He tells Green Lantern.
"Right." John states then flies into the bank, he flies pass Superman and Humanite whom where still fighting.
"You're safe now." Batman says to the would be hostage.
"But you're not." Cheetah states much to Batman's surprise she attacks him.
Green Lantern hearing Batman's cry turns to check but is then taken by surprise when Grundy suddenly attacks him. Superman whom had Humanite backed up against a wall is suddenly hit from behind by Star Sapphire.
"Surprise?" Sapphire says mockingly after she knocked Superman down, only to just barely dodge a lightning attack.
"And not happy about it." Storm states glaring at Sapphire.
Meanwhile Batman was now trying to dodge Cheetah's attacks when Copperhead tried to sneak an attack behind him. Batman flips him over before Copperhead could attack knocking the two villains into each other the two villains get back up and begin to approach Batman once more. Superman starts getting up just as Grundy came charging towards him, Grundy managed to punch Superman again and again.
Lex Luthor watched on from the shadows as the League fought against the villains that he hired. "I'm going to enjoy this."
Superman and Grundy continue to fight with Grundy still laying a lot of punches on Superman when Hawkgirl flew in and used her mace to get Grundy off of Superman. Batman was flipping Cheetah away from him just as Copperhead tried to attack him from behind only for him to get knocked back by the Flash.
"Down boy." Flash states smugly looking down at Copperhead.
Cheetah tries to attack Batman again only to get lassoed by Wonder Woman before she could reach him. "Let me go!" Cheetah yells as she struggles to get out.
"Relax lady this will all be over before you know it." Flash says as he runs off only to get caught up in a shroud of darkness. "Hey?"
"That's what you think." Shade states coming out of the shadows after knocking Flash down.
Storm and Sapphire were still fighting with Sapphire just barely dodging Storm's lightning attacks, Shade uses his nightstick to cover Storm in darkness confusing her. Batman then runs to Shade kicking him back and making him drop his nightstick and top hat, freeing Storm from the darkness. Batman goes over to check on her when Sapphire begins to attack him with an energy beam. He throws a bat-a-rang at her mask causing her to lose focus and hit a large pipe. The falling pipe is stopped by Wonder Woman whom has to let go of Cheetah before it could hit her, giving Cheetah a chance to escape.
Sapphire starts attacking Wonder Woman whom blocks the energy beams with her bracelets. Superman and Humanite continue to fight with Superman still struggling against him. "Finish him off." Luthor says from where he was still watching the fight.
Batman while looking around finally notices Luthor and runs over to him, Luthor pulls out a weapon intending to shot Batman when he sees him coming but Batman knocks him down before he could. Batman and Luthor begin to fight and Luthor manages to land a punch that knocks Batman back. Luthor picks his weapon back up and points it at Batman.
Sapphire was attacking Wonder Woman with an energy beam when it hit her bracelets and shoot towards Luthor.
"There goes our paycheck." Humanite says then rushes over to catch Luthor before he could fall. "I'd hate to see anything happen to you Lex."
"I'm sure." Luthor says evenly then starts walking away.
Batman was going to go follow after them when Copperhead sneaks up behind him and bites him on the shoulder. Storm shots some lightning at Copperhead to get him off of Batman.
"Are you okay?" Green Lantern asked in concern.
"Don't worry about me. Stop them!" Batman says forcefully to the two heroes, Green Lantern flies after them but Storm pauses when she sees how much pain Batman is in.
"Batman?!" Storm says in dismay flying over to him. "Stay with me." Storm says holding his head as he starts to pass out.
Copperhead gets back up and runs to attack them but is stopped when he suddenly couldn't breathe any air. "Ororo…don't go too far." Batman says in a pained voice as he looked at her eyes which had gone hauntingly white.
"I know." Storm says coolly her eyes turning back to its normal blue as Copperhead passes out, she holds on tighter to Batman.
"Luthor! They're too well organized." Humanite says as he gets punched by Superman.
Shade is attacked by Green Lantern whom uses his ring to surround the villain in green light, which Shade uses his nightstick to get rid of the light. "Let me get us out of here. It's either that or prison again." Shade states as he turns to look at Luthor.
"Aright just do it." Luthor yells to Shade who then shrouds the whole place in darkness giving the villains a chance to escape.
Green Lantern uses his to push away the darkness, and the team looks around to see the villains were indeed gone. "They're gone." Hawkgirl says evenly.
"Look! Still got one of them." Flash says after finding Copperhead knocked out.
"And they got one of ours." Storm says coolly from where she was sitting with Batman, who was now sweating uncontrollably.
"What happen?" Superman asked flying over to them.
"He was bitten by that thing!" Storm answers her eyes nearly flashing white.
Cut back to Watchtower
Batman was being treated from the venom that Copperhead put in him when he was bitten by J'onn. "The venom antidote, it's working." J'onn states.
"Welcome back, we were afraid we'd lost you." Superman states to Batman when he wakes up.
"Luthor and the others? What happened?" Batman asked.
"They got away with Shade's help except for Copperhead." Storm explains.
"I'm heading over to Stryker's to interrogate him." Superman states.
"Alright let's go." Batman says trying to get up.
"No." Superman says forcefully stopping him from moving. "You're staying here, his venom almost killed you."
"So?" Batman says evenly still trying to get up.
"So you're staying here." Superman explains looking down sternly at Batman before walking away.
As soon as Superman was out the door Batman tried to get out of bed again but Storm grabbed his hand to stop him. J'onn watches as the two heroes stare at each other clearly having a silent conversation when Storm sighs then let's Batman go much to J'onn's surprise.
Batman walks out of the room and over to the monitors, J'onn follows after him now knowing that Storm wasn't going to. "You really should be resting." Batman just ignores J'onn and continues to work. "I know this must be hard for you. Feeling vulnerable you're the only one of us without special powers. But you don't need to prove yourself. You're a valued member of the team and we're only trying to-"
"I'm taking the shuttle." Batman says interrupting J'onn narrowing his eyes at him. "Unless you want to try and stop me."
"No." J'onn says moving aside to let Batman go.
Batman was walking towards the shuttle when he sees Storm standing in front of it. "I'm going alone." Batman states forcefully.
"I know." Storm says evenly. "But the minute there is trouble you'd better call or it won't be pretty." She says then walks away.
"I'll be fine." Batman says sidestepping around her.
"I'm serious Bruce." Storm says in a deadpanned tone. "Any hint of trouble."
"I know." Batman says evenly.
Cut back to Injustice Gang
"The best at what you do? What was I thinking?" Luthor asked angrily as he shouted at the group.
"We did everything we could." Cheetah says defensively.
"Did you?" Luthor asked mockingly. "Did you fight like your lives depended on it? Did you fight till the last man?"
"You get what you pay for Luthor." Shade states evenly.
"Are you saying you want more money?" Luthor asked trying to hold his anger in. "You want to be rewarded for failure?! I otta take the whole lot of you and-" Whatever Luthor was about to say was cutoff when Grundy lifted him up by the neck.
"And do what?" Grundy asked as Luthor struggled to break free.
"Go ahead do it!" Luthor says as Grundy continued to hold him up. "You'll be saving me from months of bedpans and feeding tubes. And you'll also guarantee that none of you will ever see a penny from me."
"You're crazy." Grundy states then lets him go.
"And what's wrong with that?" a voice from behind them says causing the gang to turn around and see Joker coming out of the shadows. "It's done wonders for me!"
"Get out of here." Luthor says dismissing the Joker.
"Oh Lexie! I'm hurt." Joker says getting into Luthor's personal space. "How could you have this little party without inviting me?!"
"It's not a party." Luthor says in a annoyed tone. "Grundy get rid of him!"
Grundy moves to grab Joker but Joker uses horn with a purple gas that knocks Grundy out. "But seriously Lex you need me." Joker states putting his arm around Luthor.
"Like I need skin rash." Luthor says sarcastically.
"Maybe so, but I know something you don't know!" Joker says taking something off of Luthor. "I know how the Bat thinks." Joker explains revealing the bat-shaped homing device that was on Luthor much to Luthor's surprise.
Batman had followed the homing device's signal to an abandoned building, he landed silently on the ground and began to walk towards where the signal was coming from. After a short while he saw the Injustice Gang sitting around a table playing cards.
"How long we wait here for?" Grundy asked looking bored.
"Patience Grundy." Luthor says looking down at his cards. "Patience."
Batman was watching them from above not noticing the Joker sneaking up behind him. "Grundy not like waiting." Suddenly without warning Batman was hit from behind knocking him over to the Injustice Gang's table. The last thing Batman hears is Joker's laugh as he passes out.
To be continued?
A/N and that's the end of this chapter hoped you enjoyed it see ya next time. And remember to please read and review.