An ear-splitting sonic scream erupted from the mutated metahuman's mouth, instantly shattering the glass and knocking Captain Marvel off his feet.
Launched backwards in a surprised daze, he crashed through a computer desk sending lab reports, microscopes and pencils flying wildly in the air.
Slumping over to the floor, Billy sorely rubbed the back of his head as Superman quickly rushed over to his side.
Emerging from the cylindrical cocoon, the being known (and feared) as the Parasite cracked his neck eagerly before fully stepping into the light.
A hairless, remorseless humanoid with a physically impressive physique to boot, his skin complexion was almost entirely dark purple with various root-like protrusions snaking his face and upper chest.
He was dressed only in sleek black pants, baring his muscular torso and sinister intentions.
Standing in front of the still reeling Captain Marvel, Kal-El steeled his facial expression as he stared down the purple metahuman.
"I gotta admit Superman, the service here sucks. I've been waiting a half hour, and only now do they finally bring out the main entrees," the Parasite grinned, his gleaming teeth showing as he gestured at the two Leaguers. "But you know what they say. Better late than never."
The Kryptonian's eyes narrowed. "More like never. You have two options here, Raymond, and I'm only going to say it once. You can either come with us quietly, or we'll drag you back to Belle Reve kicking and screaming."
"Yeah, what he said," Captain Marvel added, fighting a slight headache courtesy of the faux Canary cry.
Flashing them a knowing smirk, Parasite replied simply, "I think I prefer kicking and screaming."
And with that, he opened his mouth and unleashed another supersonic cry, its destructive waves aimed directly at the heroic duo.
Caught at close range, Superman fell down to a knee, gripping his now throbbing ears as Parasite's sonic attack continued to reverberate all around him.
"N-n-not again!" Shielding his ears against the deafening screech, Captain Marvel remained on his knees until the metahuman relented seconds later.
Gritting his teeth at the heavy ringing still present in his sensitive eardrums, the Kryptonian glowered up resentfully as the ghoulish metahuman crossed his arms smugly.
Noticing his pained grimace, Parasite taunted him, "Didn't see that coming, did you big boy?"
"How…did you...steal...her...?" Before Superman could finish his disjointed sentence, Parasite dismissively scoffed at him, "I didn't steal anything. No, for that little number you can thank the lab coats here at S.T.A.R. Labs. Evidently, they've been cleaning up the Justice League's messes for quite a while now, collecting blood samples, running their little tests, blah blah blah. I'm sure they thought it was a noble endeavor and all, but unfortunately for them they made a mistake."
Parasite's eyes, an abyss of darkness in themselves, narrowed into irritable diamonds. "They forgot to invite me."
"What did you do, Raymond?" Superman growled, stalling just enough to fully regain his bearings.
"What did I do?" the Parasite chided at him mockingly, his nasal laughter echoing against the metallic walls as he sneered, "Well, what didn't I do? You don't just set up the biggest buffet in town, appetizers and all, and not invite your best customer! That's just bad business, Superman."
"And you, of all people, should know how much of a glutton I am," he added in a particularly sinister tone, before continuing with a sigh, "Now, it took a little convincing, more than I'm sure they were comfortable with, but in the end, they gave me exactly what I wanted. And when the customer is happy, everyone gets to go home happy in one piece."
Smirking, he chuckled darkly, "More or less."
Superman's eyes glowed crimson, lighting up the floor beneath him.
"See, before I wasted my time hunting you heroes down one on one. But now that I can access that delicious DNA directly through those blood samples, I can be anyone, anything that I want. Now before you hurt your head thinking about it too much, let me just spell it out for you." Pausing for dramatic effect, Parasite held both arms out in a confident pose. "I am the League now. Metahuman-"
Cutting him off mid-monologue, Superman shot out a raging ruby blast from his pupils, the twin beams heading directly towards center mass.
Making no move to defend himself, he only smiled as Superman's heat vision shot towards him….
….. and promptly disappeared right through his chest!
His monstrous form briefly became intangible before returning back to normal as the blast instead scorched the concrete wall.
"-and alien," Parasite finished with a devious smile, a stark contrast to Superman and Captain Marvel's surprised gasp.
Blitzing forward in a dazzling blur quite reminiscent of the Flash, the Parasite was already upon the Kryptonian before he could even fully get off the ground.
Seizing him by the throat, the metahuman almost effortlessly hoisted Superman up in the air, his one-handed grip surprisingly firm and oppressive.
"I do love me some Martian, but there's nothing like an old-fashioned slice of Kryptonian to really sate the appetite, eh Superman?" he grinned devilishly, his bare hand closing in around the Man of Steel's throat.
Eyes bulging in shock, Superman could only wince painfully to his adversary's malicious touch as another, much more familiar sensation soon crept back in.
Weakness.
Almost immediately, he felt his superhuman strength being drained, siphoned away from his Herculean muscles and transferred directly to the humanoid.
The Parasite's expression shifted to one of utter exuberance as he gleefully watched Superman squirm and struggle, but ultimately be completely powerless as he took the power away from the fabled hero.
Clawing at his outstretched forearm desperately, Superman thrashed and fought against his overwhelming grip, but with every agonizing second his movements became much more sluggish and feebler.
Letting out a victorious sigh all his own, the Parasite was in complete control as he felt Superman begin to falter and-
"Hands off, ugly!" With a grunt, Captain Marvel shoulder checked the Parasite, forcibly knocking the villain backwards.
Releasing his hold, the humanoid collided backfirst against the stasis chamber, slumping down to the ground with a faint moan.
Catching Superman just before he collapsed, Batson gently laid him down against a nearby counter before facing the supervillain head-on.
Warily approaching the still downed metahuman, he remained on his guard as the Parasite finally lifted up his head.
Instead of anger, however, the human-sized leech instead sized up the wizard's champion with a degree of, strangely enough, curiosity.
"I actually felt that. Good," he nodded, almost out of respect for the champion of the gods.
Brushing off the move like it was nothing, the Parasite got to his feet. "I don't recognize that stupid costume, so we obviously haven't been acquainted yet. I like to know my victims, so, you got a name?"
"Yeah." Hands on his hips, Billy Batson declared confidently, "My name's Captain Marvel, and I'm the guy who's going to kick your butt!"
"A sense of humor too. How cute," the Parasite growled, his eyes now burning crimson.
With a cry, he unleashed his own version of Superman's heat-vision straight towards the hero!
Taking into the air, Marvel shot to the right, avoiding the incendiary beams just in time.
Heading straight towards the Parasite, Billy reared back his right hand and launched a momentous right cross towards the Parasite.
Rendering himself intangible just as the fist entered his range, the fist instead harmlessly sailed through the Parasite's entire torso, along with the rest of Captain Marvel.
Touching down now with his back facing the supervillain, Billy twirled around but it was too late.
A swift Kryptonian-enhanced back first to the chin jolted him, followed quickly by a powerful uppercut to his gut.
Grabbing the nearly doubled over Captain by his white cape, Parasite smirked arrogantly before throwing him against the stasis chambers with only a mere twist of his hips.
Smashing through one of the glass chambers, Billy flopped down to the floor with an arched back and a head full of stars.
"So, Plan B, then," he thought to himself, fighting through a brief mental daze as the purple humanoid rounded the corner to face him directly.
"I don't think you get it yet, kid. If Superman can't beat me-" His remorseless eyes closed in on Batson before telling him, "No one can."
Opening his mouth, the Parasite unleashed another corrupted Canary cry.
Channeling Mercury's speed, Billy sped out of its destructive trajectory just in time, the sonic waves instead destroying the glass chamber he was taking cover behind.
Becoming a crimson blur that zigzagged around the maze of scientific equipment, Billy came back around with a vengeance just as the metahuman was about to utilize his acquired heat vision.
"Ugghhh…" Intercepting him a split second later, Billy delivered a thunderous left uppercut directly behind the Parasite's jawline, launching him off his feet.
Flailing wildly in the air, the supervillain's fall was finally "broken" through a computer desk.
Regaining his previously confident composure, Billy cracked his knuckles eagerly before bolting forwards to press his advantage.
Pushing himself out of the mess of wires and cracked computer screens, the Parasite was no longer amused as he observed Captain Marvel hurtling towards him like a crimson rocket.
"Enough games!" he roared, his eyes now glowing green.
Holding his right hand out, a look of brief strain crossed his purple visage before he activated yet another one of his acquired abilities.
Cocking his fist back, Batson was about to drive his point home when he quickly found himself unable to do that, or rather, do anything at all.
His body was now completely frozen in mid-air, and despite his best efforts he couldn't move a single muscle.
Taking his time getting back up, the Parasite made his way towards the trapped champion with his eyes still mimicking Martian telepathy.
"You've got some fight in you, kid," he taunted, reaching out with his other hand to grab Marvel's exposed neck. "Let's see what else you've got."
But before he could do that, an even bigger set of arms suddenly hooked his armpits!
Wrenching the Parasite backwards, Superman captured his nemesis in a full nelson choke hold before he could react.
Breaking his concentration, the Man of Steel gladly cranked up the pressure as Batson nearly faceplanted on the floor, only catching himself at the last second.
"How long do you think you can hold me?" the Parasite snarled back to the Kryptonian, who despite his weakened state told him, "Long enough."
Following his mentor's cue, Captain Marvel sprung back up delivering a powerful right to the Parasite's jaw, and then a winding uppercut to his gut.
A downright goofy grin crossed the young hero's face as he continued unloading on the purple humanoid, slowly but surely wearing him down with every Herculean blow.
Finally rearing back with his dominant hand as the Parasite started to slump forwards groggily, Batson threw another haymaker aimed directly at the villain's dazed expression.
It connected, but not at the Parasite.
Shifting his density to the point of intangibility, the villain remained still as Batson's fist sailed harmlessly through his body and instead inadvertently clocked the Man of Steel.
Eyes widening in surprise as Superman winced in pain, Billy Batson fumbled to sting together an apologetic response only to be blasted back by a desperate burst of the metahuman's heat vision.
Renewing his struggles against Superman, Parasite threw himself backwards with the Kryptonian still wrestling with him.
Flying up into the air, the humanoid finally loosened up Superman's hold by slamming him backfirst against the ceiling.
Breaking free, he whirled back around and once again seized the Man of Steel by the throat.
Pinning him against the metal surface, he and Superman both now hovered perpendicular to the ground below.
Sitting back up now clutching his hopefully not burnt midsection, Batson's eyes widened as they homed in on the scene unfolding above.
Easily fighting off Superman's protests, the Parasite now wrapped both arms around his neck and began replenishing his strength at the hero's expense.
Leaning in to fully relish his agonizing grimace, the malevolent metahuman hissed at the writhing man, "After I finish you, I'm going to enjoy draining the kid nice and sl-argh."
Snapping his head forwards, Superman caught the gloating supervillain square in the nose with a violent blur of a headbutt, forcing him to break the hold.
"You talk too much," he defiantly mocked the slightly flustered supervillain.
Baring his teeth, Parasite started to lunge forward only to be met with a startling right hand from Metropolis' protector.
Keeping up the momentum, Superman delivered another powerful cross to his temple that sent the humanoid spinning a full rotation of grogginess before finally coming back around for more.
Ducking a wild haymaker, Kal-El parried another punch with a jab of his own, becoming increasingly more energized with every landing blow.
"Hah!" A fourth strike, delivered with his signature level of strength, finally created some distance between the two, catapulting the purple rogue backwards.
Righting himself in the air, the Parasite's eyes burned crimson once again.
However, Superman had the same idea.
Both combatants shot out their heat vision at the same time, bathing the room in crimson light as both beams met in the middle.
Grunting heavily, Superman remained steadfast but even he couldn't deny the Parasite's crimson beam starting to gain traction.
The crimson glow from their energy clash only highlighted every detail of the rogue's truly demonic expression: his insane eyes, his thin lips curling into the beginnings of a triumphant smirk- all of it.
But it also highlighted a hulking blur of movement coming at him from behind.
Driving his shoulder into the unsuspecting villain's lower back, Captain Marvel's aerial momentum finally broke the Parasite's focus.
Wrapping his forearms around his waist, Batson continued forward with the metahuman caught in his grasp.
Taking a moment to reorient himself, Superman shifted over to the side Parasite was propelled directly into striking range.
Measuring his target, the Kryptonian readied his right forearm and then….
"Hah!" Parasite's head was nearly decapitated as Superman exploded into him with a massive clothesline, his mountainous forearm knocking the supervillain backwards.
Still gripping his legs, Marvel held him in place as Superman brought both hands down on the supervillain's stomach in a powerful axe handle, sending him plummeting back down to the floor.
As he fell back down to Earth, however, Superman "accelerated" his descent by firing off another crimson blast that lit up his monstrous exterior.
Shrieking in pain, the metahuman quickly built up momentum as the ground rose up to meet him.
Landing with an emphatic thump, the Parasite rolled over into a prone position with a thin wisp of smoke now trailing from his midsection.
Seconds passed, and the being once known as Raymond Jensen was still down, and seemingly out by their hand.
"That. Was. Awesome!" Batson beamed happily, offering a high five to the Man of Steel.
Wearily returning the friendly gesture, the two then followed Parasite back down.
Touching the ground first, Captain Marvel cautiously prodded at the still face down metahuman with the toe of his boot.
No response.
"Hey Superman, I think we got him," Batson grinned proudly, his hopeful sentiment not shared by the Kryptonian who landed next to him a moment later.
Still fighting off the effects of the metahuman's parasitic abilities, Superman crossed his powerfully built arms across his chest, obviously deep in thought.
His X-Ray vision indicated a relaxed heartbeat emitting from the supervillain, similar to someone who was either unconscious or at least close to it.
Oblivious to them, however, Parasite's eyes quietly opened, an emerald glue in each pupil.
"For now," Superman finally answered him, taking a knee next to his monstrous foe. "Knowing him, he won't stay down long. Captain?"
Marvel perked up as Kal-El instructed him, "Find General Eiling and get a metahuman dampening collar. The sooner we tag this monster, the sooner we can-ack!"
Before he could finish his thoughts, Parasite's hand suddenly shot up and grabbed him by the throat.
Choking on his own words, Superman barely had time to react as the supervillain peeled his monstrous visage off the floor.
"Oh, but we were having so much fun," he growled, his game of possum catching both heroes by surprise.
Breaking out of his shocked stupor first, Captain Marvel lunged towards the villain only to be hurled back by another one of his telepathic waves.
Hurtling backwards at a breakneck pace, Billy barely had time to brace himself before crashing directly through the nearby wall.
A pile of debris and bricks immediately caved in on him, completely smothering the young hero in a mountain of brown and industrial black.
"That takes care of him." Craning his neck back to the Kryptonian, the metahuman rose back up with Superman still in his veritable grip.
Holding him up above the ground with the utmost of ease, the Parasite proceeded to drain him once again, his now rejuvenated expression a deep contrast to Superman's increasingly fatigued grimace.
Recharging his energies until his already bulging biceps exuded the pure aura of full-blooded Kryptonian might, the Parasite took in a long, rewarding breath while dominantly holding the hero up with only one hand.
"Sometimes, you just make this too easy, Superman," he mocked with a devious chuckle, relishing Superman's tortured expression a second longer before telling him, "Now, as fun as this has all been, I'm afraid I must get going. Things to do, powers to steal, you know how it is."
"It….won't…..last," he groaned hoarsely, even his usually authoritative voice strained by the metahuman's invasive presence.
Smirking, the Parasite cocked his head towards the right before sneering at him, "Good thing you're not the only thing on the menu, then."
Furrowing his brow in confusion, Superman was about to question his seemingly enigmatic statement before suddenly being thrown backwards.
Skidding across the floor, the Man of Steel could only wince and glare up weakly as the Parasite's eyes now switched to crimson.
Aiming his destructive glare upwards, the supervillain's ruby beams sliced through the base of a rather gargantuan set of machinery.
The remnants promptly fell down on the downed Superman, burying him completely underneath at least a few feet of solid metal.
"Give my compliments to the chefs," the Parasite called out, speeding back over to a nearby table.
Kneeling underneath the counter, he retrieved a metallic briefcase and opened it briefly to examine its contents.
At least six capsules were strapped against the leather, with almost every superpowered member of the League, human or otherwise, scribbled across the containers.
Grinning from ear to ear, he snapped the briefcase shut and shot up into the air, using his entire body as an indestructible battering ram to smash through the ceiling and escape into the city above.
Author's Note: The story should wrap up soon, but in the meantime, thanks so much for reading and as always feedback would greatly be appreciated!