Chapter 27: GodWar Part 2
The stunned silence that had filled the Batcave upon Harley and her friends' arrival was shattered the minute they collided with the first heroes on Superman's side. The rest of cave was awoke from their surprised state at seeing the villains and the fighting resumed tenfold. Ignoring all the heroes in her way, Harley dodged, leaped over, and did enough acrobatic moves to earn her the envy of any Olympic athlete. After all, they were not her target, just the blue tights and the red cape who had her man by the throat.
As she raced toward Superman Harley yelled out, "You better let him go blue boy or else I'm going to bash that bland face of yours in!"
"Certainly."Superman stated, watching as she approached him, his hands still around Batman's throat, "As soon as you give yourself up to the law."
"Can't. I'm afraid Bats would just drag me back out of Arkham and I would rather not hear a grouchy lecture from him." Harley replied.
Clark's attention needed to be focused on Batman soley, Bruce quickly landed a swift kick to Superman's ribs. He let out a soft sigh but otherwise the kick really didn't faze him. The kick wasn't really meant to cause him harm anyway, just return his attention back to Bruce, which it did. Seeing this, Harley grinned to herself and quickly pulled out a baterang from her belt, tossing it at Superman. As the baterang near him, it exploded right in his face. Caught off-guard, Clark dropped Bruce from his clutches.
Not wasting a second, Batman slammed his frozen-over gauntlets against the floor, shattering the ice and freeing them. Back in the fight, Batman landed three hard punches to Superman's stomach, the kryptonite-laden gauntlets actually causing some physical damage. Before he could react to the attack Harley was already behind him, twirling in the air and landing a quick kick across the side of his head, knocking him to the side and away from the pair.
Gaining a moment's reprieve, Batman decided it was a good time to confront Harley on a few issues, "So you brought some of my worst enemies to the Batcave? What made you think that was a good idea?"
"Well...we did kinda need the help Bman." Harley answered, flashing a apologetic smile, "Besides give me some credit. I had them cover their eyes before we went to the waterfall entrance. They shouldn't know where they even are."
"Really Harley?Well I guess that eases my troubled mind." Bruce said sarcastically.
"...I'm sure they didn't peek." Harley replied, pouting a bit.
Before the conversation could continue Superman was come back into the picture, flying straight towards the two. He landed a hard punch to Batman's chest, knocking him back. Harley leaped at him, managing to get a hit across his face before Clark batted her away like she was nothing more than a moth. Batman, somehow managing to stay on his feet from such a punch, was back in the fight, racing towards Clark. Superman tried to throw a punch at Bruce's head, which he easily dodged, sliding across the floor on his knees. Batman slung a hard punch to Clark's knee, causing him to yell out in pain and sink to one knee.
This gave Harley the perfect opportunity to land a hard double-kick to Superman's exposed back. Clark tumbled over Bruce, who grabbed him and, using Superman's momentum against him, tossed him over The Dark Knight and once more over the railing. The pair were again alone, so to speak, to continue their conversation.
"You know Bruce you have no right to complain. Especially since you have been lying to me and hiding this whole conflict with the League from me."Harley growled, an irritated look on her face, "When this is over you're going to wish you were dealing with Superman instead."
"Guh-!?" Batman exclaimed, for once at a loss for words.
Luckily for him, or unlucky(depends on whose side of the conversation you were on), Superman rushed back into the fray, fly-tackling Bruce and slamming him into the ground. Harley was about to come in Bruce's aid, before she too was tackled, knocked over to a nearby platform. Her body slid across the floor, coming to a stop at the edge of the platform. Harley looked up to see Wonder-Woman standing over her.
"I'm glad you decided to show up Quinn." Wonder-Woman sneered, venom clearly in her voice, "Saves us the trouble of tracking you down."
"Geez you're being awfully bitchy today Miss Boob Armor." Harley countered, grinning as she spun on her hands, managing to swipe Diana's feet right out from under her. The Amazonian crashed to the floor, gritting her teeth, "Why don't you go back to your little island and stay the hell there and leave us alone!"
Harley didn't have time to react as Wonder-Woman quickly rose back up on her feet, punching her hard across her left cheek. Harley tumbled off the platform, just barely able to catch herself from falling to the darkness below with one hand. With no effort at all, Diana lifted Harley up by one hand, clearly demonstrating the futility of facing off against her. However Harley wasn't one to give up so easily.
Delivering a quick kick to Wonder-Woman's stomach, she managed to push her away and free herself from Diana's grasp. She was right in front of Wonder-Woman the second she was free, delivering three punches to her face and a quick side-kick to her ribs. Due to her armor, Diana barely felt the kick, instead grabbing Harley's outstretched leg and spinning her around multiple times, before releasing her mid-swing. Harley flew across the cave, quickly pulling out her own grappling hook and firing it into the cave ceiling above. The hook stuck, helping to slow her descent, but the rock the hook was stuck to gave way, causing Harley to tumble harder than she had hoped to the floor. While the grappling hook had slowed her fall, she still hurt horribly all over. She knew there was going to be bruises all over her body tomorrow.
Harley barreled her body away just as a red metal boot slammed down on the floor just where she had been not even a second ago. Cracks had formed underneath Wonder-Woman's boot. It seemed she had been aiming for Harley's chest, hoping to crack a few ribs and end this fight quickly. Still on the ground, Harley threw two baterangs at Diana, who brought up her arms, shielding herself and blocking them with her metal braces. Harley got back on her feet, back-flipping away from the Amazonian and putting some distance between them.
"I knew you hadn't changed Quinn." Wonder-Woman spoke bluntly, "Bringing those super-villians here to take advantage of the chaos and try to take out the Justice League."
"Are you stupid?" Harley asked incredulously, "First off, I only brought four of my friends with me. I don't think five of us could take down the entire Justice League. They only came here to help me save Batman from bullies like you and that Boy Scout."
"We're not the criminals here." Diana replied, gritting her teeth in anger.
"It's getting a little hard to tell." Harley countered, flashing a cocky grin, "After all, my friends and I aren't the ones destroying the Batcave and hurting their own teammates."
Having enough of the banter, Wonder-Woman launched herself at Batwoman. Harley blocked two of her punches, before taking one across her right cheek. Wonder-Woman then tried to land a hard punch to Harley's gut, which she just barely managed to stop her punch before her fist made contact. Harley's eyes bulged in fear, jumping back away from the Amazonian and holding her belly, breathing heavily at the close call.
Either Wonder-Woman didn't notice this odd behavior or just chose to ignore, grabbing her lasso from her waist and twirling it over her head. She slung the rope over the distracted Harley, tightening it around her neck. Being brought back into the fight, Harley tried pulling the rope away from her throat and off of her, but Diana tugged hard on the rope, causing Harley to fall forward onto the floor.
"I'll drag you back to Arkham by the throat if I have to." Wonder-Woman warned, pulling at the rope and causing Harley to gag, backing up her threat.
"It's shocking to think you're single. Your personality just draws people to you!" Harley spat back sarcastically.
Reaching into her utility belt, Harley flung two round pellets at Wonder-Woman. Upon impact with her body, green smoke engulfed her. Her little smoke screen wasn't going to stop the Amazonian however. She inhaled deeply,sucking up all the smoke and revealing Harley in front of her, who was wearing a gas mask she had put on from her belt.
"It's going to take more than your little smoke pellets to take me down." Wonder-Woman stated, raising her fists up to throw down once more.
Harley removed the mask, smiling sweetly to her, "Oh silly. That wasn't smoke. That was an enhanced version of sleeping gas. Should be taking affect any moment now. Especially since you swallowed all of it like a big dummy."
Wonder-Woman was already feeling the effects of the sleeping gas. Her face a mix of rage and sleepiness, trying to reach out and grab at Harley vision was getting blurry and her body felt as if it was getting heavier and heavier. Finally, Wonder-Woman crumpled to the ground, out cold.
"Sweet dreams Boob Armor." Harley said, bending down and patting her black hair, a bit roughly.
Winning her fight with the Amazonian, Harley surveyed her surroundings. The Batcave looked even worse, to the point that it was getting dangerously unstable. Rocks were falling from the ceiling above and the metal platforms were sagging or tilting to the side, groaning under the strain of the battle.
She saw Killer Croc battling it out with two Justice League members, Doctor Fate and Aquaman. Despite being outnumbered, Waylon seemed to be holding his own, although she doubt he could hold out for long. She turned her gaze to Scarecrow nearby just in time to see the Flash raced towards him. Crane tossed a small pellet in front of him, releasing red gas, his fear toxin. Flash was going too fast to stop himself from running right into the fear gas. Coming into contact with the toxin, he tumbled to the floor a few feet in front of Crane, already screaming and batting at invisible monsters that were seemingly crawling all over his body.
While Scarecrow seemed to be winning his fight, the same couldn't be said for the Riddler, who was repeatedly getting punched in his face and kicked, unable to block against the onslaught. He was fighting(more like taking a beating) against Red Tornado. Well, she still appreciated the thought of him fighting for her cause. Just wished he could actually fight!
Poison Ivy was faring far better in her fight with Green Lantern. She had huge vines wrapped around both of her arms, lashing out at the ring-created constructs that Hal tossed her way. She was doing well defending and dodging against the Green Lantern, even managing to get a hit in every once in awhile. If this kept up, she could be able to tire him out and take Hal Jordan down if she can dodge and defend long enough, with the occasional hit here and there.
Harley finally turned her attention to Bruce, who was still duking it out with the Man of Steel. She could tell that Batman was starting to tire out, and noticed the increasingly angered look on Superman's face, like he was about to lose it at any second. She watched as Batman leaped at Superman, planting two small devices on his chest, before jumping away from him. Suddenly the devices exploded, causing Superman to be knocked off his feet and the front of his costume to be in tatters. Harley decided now was a good time to help Bruce against the boy scout once more, running at full speed towards the platform the two were fighting on. However she would not make it in time for what's about to transpire.
The Man of Steel had had enough, tackling Batman and holding him in place as he began tearing away pieces of Bruce's armored suit. His gauntlets, the metal chest-plate, and more of his suit clang to floor as Superman tore away at his armor. Now devoid of protection, Batman reached into his belt and tossed one of his smoke pellets into Superman's open mouth, causing smoke to erupt from his mouth and making Clark gag horrifically. Superman, clutching his throat and coughing nonstop, threw Batman across the cave hard. Without his protective armor, Batman slammed hard into the rocky cave wall. A loud crunch was easily heard as Bruce's back connected with the wall. Harley stood motionless, watching in absolute shock and horror as Bruce's now limp body slid to the ground, before he crumpled on his side, un-moving.
Everyone had heard the sickening crunch, despite the fact of the Batcave being a war-zone. No one moved as they all stared at Batman's motionless body, wondering what had happened and if the Dark Knight was going to get back up, or even could. Harley shook herself out of her shocked state, running towards the crumpled form of her lover, her footsteps echoing in the now silent cave. Harley sunk to her knees as she cradled Batman's head.
"Bman! Bats! Say something please!" Harley yelled at him, tears starting to stream down her face. Bruce did not answer her, his eyes closed and his body motionless. She hugged his head closer to her body, her voice ringing out for all to hear, but whether she was pleading with the heroes or God himself, she didn't care. As long as someone would help.
"Please Batman!"Harley sobbed, begging the limp body in her arms, "Don't leave me! I need you!"
Harley brought her head closer to Bruce's face, her forehead touching his and she whispered to him, "We need you...You're my everything. I can't face this world without you by my side..."
"Harley I'm-...I'm" a voice called out to her. She raised her head to see Superman looking at the pair, his face a mix of sadness and the horror of what he had done.
Seeing Superman and listening to him even dare to be apologetic caused something inside Harley to snap. She gritted her teeth in unbridled rage as she gently placed Batman's form to the ground, before rushing towards the Man of Steel. She managed to grab at the shattered pieces of Batman's gauntlet, coating two of her baterangs in the green kryptonite two baterangs as hard as she could, they stabbed into his shoulders, causing him to yelp in pain. He didn't even have a chance of taking them out before Harley jumped at him, slamming her boots into his shoulders and pushing the baterangs further into his body. Harley knew she couldn't win this fight...but she couldn't stop herself...and she had no reason not to.
"You took him from me!You took away one of the few pieces of happiness I had left!You took away the man I loved with all my heart and soul!" Harley screamed at the top of her lungs, driving her fists into Clark's face again and again, never letting up. She could feel her fingers starting to hurt and slowly break, as if she was hitting a concrete wall. Superman didn't fight back, either too tired or too ashamed of what he done to do so. It was like Clark was letting her attack him, knowing he had crossed a line he shouldn't have crossed. No one intervened in this bloody brawl, everyone was rooted to the spot and could only watch at the dark turn of events that has happened.
Superman fell to the ground in front of Harley, his face bloody as was Harley's fists as well. She couldn't tell if it was his blood or her own. She had grown numb to the pain. No longer having the need to be vocal, Harley silently picked up a nearby metal shard, a broken piece of the kryptonite-coated gauntlet. She took the metal piece and brought it right over Superman's chest, a look in her eye that reminded everyone of the old Harley Quinn, only ten times worse. Her eyes were lifeless and crazed, and a dark smile formed on her face.
"Eye for an eye blue boy!" Harley said, her tone returning to the old criminal Harley Quinn,she laughed darkly as she raised the metal piece over her head, "or better yet, a heart for a heart."
What was about to happen finally snapped everyone out of their shock. No longer were their sides to the conflict, the fight was over and everyone needed to stop Harley from going down a path where she could never come back from. Even her Arkham friends rushed to stop her, the Harley that had taken form was no longer the sweet and kind Harley they had grown to love and fight for. Everyone knew they wouldn't stop her in time, and Harley knew it too. She smiled menacingly to herself as she brought it down towards Superman's chest, but stopped upon hearing a soft and strained voice.
"Harley...no...stop..."She turned to see Bruce staring at her, weakly reaching out to her and breathing heavily. He had not moved from the spot, nor did Harley think he even could.
Upon hearing his voice the poisonous cloud that had shrouded her mind begin to clear, and she looked in horror at the metal piece in her hands and the crumpled Superman underneath her. Batman had stopped her just in time. Harley started sobbing once more as she tossed the metal piece aside. She sunk to her knees beside Superman, staring at her hands and contemplated what she had been about to do.
That was when the Batcave finally gave way, no longer able to withstand the punishment it had sustained during the battle. The cave ceiling started falling in, smashing into the platforms nearby as the platforms gave way as well. Everyone screamed as rocks felled upon them from above and were falling into the darkness. As if on autopilot, Harley jumped towards Bruce's limp form and held him tight, trying to shield him from the rocks above.
Time seemed to slow as Superman looked around, watching his friends and Harley's tumble for the destroyed man-made floors into the darkness below. However, amid the screams and the sounds of smashing rocks, Superman heard something strange. He could hear a tiny heartbeat, somewhere...no wait...it was two heartbeats. He turned his gaze to Harley Quinn, the small heartbeats coming from within her. His eyes widened as he finally understood why the two had fought so hard. They had not been just fighting for Harley's future but the future of two other soon-to-be.
He instantly got back up onto his feet, and rushed toward Harley and Bruce. He stood above the two, wrapping his body around them as huge boulders slammed into his back. He shielded them and held them close as their own platform finally gave way and the trio fell into the darkness below.
So I re-edited a few things in this chapter, with some readers saying to me they didn't like the fight between Harley and Superman at the end. I was going to show in the next chapter that Harley had done more damage to herself by simply punching Superman, her hands broken. Also some people don't seem to understand that Clark let Harley beat him up, he knew he had crossed a line and he had no will to fight back. Not to mention throughout these two chapters he has been constantly exposed to the kryptonite gauntlets, so he's not exactly at 100% right now and a little weak. Don't worry, your god-like Superman is still a god. Let him take a punch every now and then. I've always had this problem with Superman, this untouchable object that can't get hurt or beaten. An unrelatable character and a boring one at that, so I at least did this to make him more human and interesting. If you don't like I'm sorry but that's how this Superman is in this story.