Well, everyone, it has finally come to this. This part of the JL Vs. TB story arc (either 5 or 6 by this point, I've honestly lost count) has, at last, reached its own little epic climax. With everything that has been going on to increase tensions, to divide the heroes against each other, and with bottled up emotions spilling out in epic fashion, it's no wonder it's produced such wonderful chaos between our two favorite heroes. With all of it leading to this critical battle between the mighty Son of Krypton and the Apex Predator on the top of the food chain.

Who will emerge the victor? Will our heroes escape the Justice League before their only chance of escape is blown up? Will the others make it out safely? And will the author not leave his readers hanging off a cliffhanger for once in his life?

Find out, down below!


Mailbox Time!

Mr. Ursine: You'll hang off as many as I feel like! LOL, enjoy!

Golem XIV: Well, you said you couldn't wait to see my friend. Hope the fighting is satisfactory to your tastes!

KF Fan: I already PM'ed you my reply. Hope you've been enjoying the story!

dld51: Sorry, it was the perfect spot for a cliffhanger. I think you'll find this chapter more, satisfying.

nw150: I guess it doesn't help that I'm close to the mountains where I'm at. All she'd have to do is look, form a portal, and she'd be hanging me from a cliff in seconds.

neslykoki: To be honest, that part where she said "Hello there" was influenced by Obi-Wan Kenobi's greeting to General Grievous in Star Wars. As to whether there's more dialogue or not, well, you'll have to read if you don't want me to spoil it for you.

Eris: These are some questions I can answer without spoiling anything. One, Superman is literally the Man of Steel. It's really hard to hurt him without any Kryptonite on hand. He can take blows from a being as powerful as Doomsday and get back up and swing again. In other words, no earth animal and every alien creature Beast Boy has ever met would be capable of causing him any trouble because of Superman's super quick reflexes, his near invulnerability, and the fact that he has heat vision, frost breath, and several other powers I might not be aware of. Not to mention, Beast Boy was emotionally unstable at that moment and was thus incapable of thinking logically. So it shouldn't be surprising that Beast Boy himself was beaten up so easily. However, with the Beast, it's going to be an entirely different story. Hope that answered your questions! And enjoy the chapter!

frog31791: I wouldn't call Beast Boy an immature idiot here as much as he wasn't thinking straight. When people are thrust into highly charged emotional situations, it's actually very common for reason and logic to be thrown out the window. That's mostly what I wanted to capture there. And yeah, I was setting it up for this epic fight. Hope you enjoy!

FanficsOP: I know. I really liked it when I thought about that too. They've been fighting together for most of the fic. I thought for this one person they both deserved their separate fights. Hope this meets your expectations!

ANTI REAPER: It has been a moment since the Beast's last appearance. Let's walk in together to see how this fight goes down, shall we?

Pixel-Pie02: Because it's a hobby for me to give people anxiety, don't you know? I hope you mean the end of the story arc and not the end of the story, we have at least another ten chapters before that. :) Hope you enjoy that bucket of popcorn my friend!

Harmony735: I honestly hope this was worth the wait.

WarpCrazy: Woop Woop is right! Both for some progress and for the fighting!

waleedziad1970: Sorry to break it to ya, but you're not going to like what I say down at the bottom. On the bright side, you no longer have to wait for this one!

TheLostOneIsFound: I'm pretty certain no one has ever said that to me before. Hope that you enjoy the chapter!


Since Last Time: 1 more favorite, 3 more follows (Total: 285 favorites, 330 followers)


Updated: July 12th, 2019 8:00 P.M. MST


Wonderful Disclaimer: Even though I don't own this, I wonder if some DC Comic writer will one day come across this and make a battle scene between Superman and the Beast. Because if they did, I wouldn't ask for a penny. It'd be awesome just to see this in comic form.


Chapter Forty-Six: Superman Vs. The Beast


Immediately after the last chapter

The outside of the factory was shown. The sky up above was completely dark because of all the storm clouds. Big fat droplets of rain from the storm were pounding everything in sight, along with heavy 30 to 40 mile an hour winds. A heavy contrast to the hot sunny day it had been just a couple of hours ago.

The Justice League, Young Justice, and Teen Titans were still evacuating from the Doom Patrol's secret base to a safe distance. Most of the heroes who were already out were checking to make sure no one was in the surrounding buildings in case the explosion wasn't contained to just the factory…

In other words, the battlefield was perfectly set for a one on one duel.

The scene moved to a part of the grassy/muddy field somewhere around the factory.

KABOOM!

Superman's body burst loudly out of the ground. He continued up through the air before coming down rolling across the roof of the factory.

He got back up in the middle of the structure and put a hand to his face. His jaw felt a little sore from the hit he had just taken. "I forgot he had that trick up his sleeve," Superman grumbled to himself.

Beep!

Superman's comm beeped now that he was outside of the factory and its jamming field. "Clark. What just happened? Nightwing's telling me he just saw you burst out of the ground of the northeast portion of the factory lawn. Is everything alright?" Batman said over Superman's comm.

"Awhoooooo!"

Before Superman could respond, the Beast appeared on the edge of the roof and howled its challenge. The Apex Predator looked ready for a tough fight as it bared its fangs and claws. Shifting from it's challenging howl to a low menacing growl.

Superman grimaced. "The demoness is down. But now I'm facing the Beast. Keep the others back while I deal with it. It could be very dangerous for them to come close right now with the protective state the Beast is in." He said before he snapped his comm shut.

"Thirteen minutes to base self-destruct." The A.I. of the base announced to the area around the factory.

"Alright. Why don't you show me another one of your tricks Beastie?" Superman taunted as he got in a ready position. His eyes glaring for the Beast to challenge him.

The Beast didn't hesitate. He launched off his hind legs, pouncing towards Superman quicker than a speeding bullet. "Rawrrr-" He howled with fury.

Pow!

Superman intercepted the Beast mid-air with a lightning fast sucker punch to the chest. The Beast was sent flying off the building in surprise and from the sheer force of the powerful hit.

"Rwoowwrrrr…" Ksch.

The Beast's surprised howl grew fainter and then the sound of a lot of office glass breaking sounded over a mile away. Superman wiped the rain off his face and floated up off the ground. The wind made his cape flow epically behind him. "Too bad. I was expecting something a little, more." Superman said before he moved to pull out his communicator again to tell Batman it was finished.

A flash of green came out of the distant building.

Superman stopped and looked up. An eery feeling went down his spine as he narrowed his eyes trying to find what he had seen… Then it was like the Beast had materialized out of thin air. So fast had been its movements that Superman's eyes finally caught up right as the Beast's hairy green fist was cocked back.

Pow!

Superman was sucker punched in the chest and sent flying the other direction off the factory roof. His limbs flailing as he flew.

The scene changed to the inside of a building.

KSCH! Boom!

Superman's body went flying through the glass. He slid across the floor of the office space into a cement wall that stopped his momentum with a loud boom. Superman still looked surprised by the force of the hit he had just taken.

"I haven't had a hit like that since General Zod!" He yelled in shock. The first hit that had hit him out of the ground of the underground base was nothing compared to that!

"Hey, Clark! I'm in the same building a few floors above you! Do you need any help!?" Black Canary asked over his comm.

"Rowwr!"

Superman looked up and saw the Beast come flying in through the hole he had made. The Beast was heading right towards him to continue the fight.

KSSSS!

Superman started firing his heat vision lasers from his eyes. "Stay away Dinah! Let me deal with him-" Superman was yelling quickly into his comm.

Unfortunately for Superman, the Beast ducked under the blast while he had been yelling into his comm.

Pow!

The Beast punched Superman in the side of the head and launched him away.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Superman went through several different walls. And out into another building.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He finally came to a stop in the middle of some cubicles. "Are you sure about that?" Black Canary asked over the comm again.

"Positive. I just changed buildings anyways. Now get away and make sure nobody else gets harmed." Superman said a little frustratingly as he got back up. Shutting his comm off again in the process.

The Beast came charging through the hole just as Superman got back up. "Awhooo!" He howled.

"Freaking little pest," Superman said gravely. His eyes turned red again.

KSSSS!

Superman fired his heat vision again, and the Beast rolled to the side to dodge.

KSS! KSSSS! KSSS!...

Superman fired his heat vision lasers again and again as he turned with the Beast. The Beast was forced to stay on the move to avoid the hurtful red lasers.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

The Beast plowed through cubicles, desks, cement walls, and various office equipment. What wasn't destroyed by the Beast's quick moving bulk was fried by Superman's red heat vision. The two together probably caused enough damage by this point that the insurance companies who covered for all the various office equipment and stuff would probably have a heart attack at the damage report.

The Beast, not knowing this, continued to flee in circles quickly around Superman while destroying stuff. He gradually got closer and closer with each arc around Superman. His movements lithe and agile despite his hulking size as he dodged each heat vision blast. Eventually, the Beast got close enough that it finally tried to pounce on Superman. "Rowr!"

Pow!

Superman quickly turned off his heat vision, and sucker punched the Beast in the face.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Beast went flying backward through several different walls away from Superman and disappeared from sight. Superman smiled victoriously and put his hands on his hips. "Ha, he thought he had me there." He said proudly.

Kckckck.

The building around Superman groaned. Superman quickly did another look around. His almost continual 360 heat vision laser arc hadn't just cut through cubicle walls and office supplies. But it had also cut through walls, metal supports, and various other things all around that had weakened the integrity of the building.

Kckckck.

The building groaned again. The Beast had also destroyed plenty of walls and supports in its efforts to get close to Superman. And the result was about ready to fall.

"Uh-oh-" Superman started to say.

KCKCKCK!

From the outside, it looked like part of the office building had caved in. Luckily, the chaos and havoc from it didn't spread to the rest of the large building. Pieces from it did fall down below onto the sidewalk and street. It would be a logistical nightmare for the insurance companies to deal with.

That's why you shouldn't sell a modern office building with a ten-year guarantee warranty in the superhero world folks. Somehow, part of it is going to get wrecked by one hero/villain or another.

Kckck.

The rubble shifted, and Superman appeared from underneath it. He threw the large piece of debris off him to the side. Fat drops of rain started to clean the dust off his face. "You still handling it Clark?" Black Canary asked skeptically over the comm.

Superman pulled his comm out again. "Okay, I wasn't expecting that to happen-" He was saying in his defense as he looked at the destruction all around him.

Pow!

Superman got kicked out of the rubble across the street back onto the muddy grass field down below. Almost losing his grip on his communicator in the process.

"Awhooooo!" The Beast howled on the roof of the building victoriously.

Superman got back up off the muddy ground. His red and blue uniform looked almost brown with all the mud and dust on it. It might have had some other materials from the office building, but the author wasn't too sure… Either way, Superman looked a little angrier. "Why you-" He started to say.

"You're right. I'm sure you've got a handle on it." Black Canary said sarcastically over the comm right as he put it back in its holster on his hip. "Will they stop trying to talk to me while I'm dealing with this." He muttered angrily to himself.

The Beast picked up a large piece of rubble next to it and chucked it at Superman.

KSSSS!

Superman's heat vision blasted the piece of rubble into pieces.

The Beast then threw a large desk down at Superman.

KSSSS!

Superman did the same thing to it.

The Beast continued to pick up more and more large pieces of rubble and junk all around him and chucked them like a machine gun at Superman far below.

KSSSS! Pow! Pow! KSSSS!

Superman alternated between using his heat vision and punching the remains into pieces with his fists. It looked to be annoying him more than anything else despite the Beast's fast pace in throwing the objects.

Pow!

While Superman was completing the action of destroying a piece of concrete, the Beast finally picked up a large piece of roofing. It was about the equivalent of several dozen tons, and yet it threw it at Superman like it weighed nothing.

Superman jumped off the ground at the large piece of rubble.

KSSSS!

His heat vision sliced the cement roof of the building in two. Superman flew right through the two pieces with his fist already primed. The Beast's green pupiled eyes widened in surprise. He had his next object already to throw but hadn't expected Superman to do what he'd done.

"Yah!" Superman yelled.

KAPOW! "Rowwrrrr!"

The Beast howled in surprise as Superman's fist punched him hard in the chest, and launched him off the rubble into the clouds up above. Superman set foot onto the rubble with a sigh. He looked for the Beast to fall back out of the storm clouds.

Boom!... Boom!...

Lightning boomed in the sky up above. The rain continued to fall down onto Superman's face as he looked. The Beast didn't appear though.

Superman narrowed his eyes. "Well, if he isn't going to come back down, then I'll just have to go up." He said.

Whoosh!

Superman sped up into the sky and disappeared into the dark storm clouds.


Raindrops fell through a large hole in the ceiling and pattered against the cement floor. The blue klaxons still flashed brightly on the walls of the mostly destroyed room. The Zeta Tube at the end of it laid untouched.

"Ur, ow…"

Raven groaned to herself where she lay on the floor. Her eyes were shut tightly from the pain she felt coming from her abdomen area.

"Umh, ow, ow, ow!" She tried to move, but then she whimpered as the pain increased dramatically.

'Pain… so much… it hurts…' Raven thought.

Her hand moved to lightly touch against her stomach. She winced, but she tried to let her bright blue energy heal herself… It hurt too much. Even lightly touching the severe burns made it feel a hundred times worse.

Raven pulled her hand away and opened her eyes enough to look down at her hand. Her pale hand had blotches of blood on it from where she had touched her stomach. She then braved her mind and looked down at where Superman had blasted her gut.

It looked even worse than how it felt.

Without her cape or leotard in the way, she could see parts of her skin where it was either charred black or red and breaking out in hives. The hives had burst here and there, and blood was coming out slowly from them. However, that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the areas where her skin was charred and burnt away. It definitely looked like third-degree burn marks that needed to be treated pronto. Blood was slowly oozing out from those patches of destroyed skin.

"Nine minutes to base self-destruct." The A.I. of the base said.

Raven closed her eyes and whimpered to herself. She didn't have the willpower to move. She couldn't even get past the overwhelming pain that was bombarding her mind to enter a healing trance, which if she did she wouldn't be able to come out of it in time to escape the explosion.

She needed help, and soon…

"Garfield. Please, help." Raven whispered.


Boom!

Lightning lit up Superman's face as he flew determinedly through the middle of a storm cloud. He looked around at the lightning show around him that lit up the sky. His cape flowed behind him with the high-velocity winds. Even with all the light flashing around him he couldn't find any trace of where the Beast was hiding.

"Come on out Beast!" Superman bellowed to the storm clouds around him. "I'm invulnerable! There's no way you can win against me!"

The Beast didn't appear.

"Your friends are gone! Your base is self-destructing! And last time I checked, your 'mate' is in no position to run anywhere on her own! So, unless you want her sent to hell the wrong way in the explosion that's coming, then show yourself and let's finish this fight!" Superman called out.

He continued to look around.

Whoosh!

Something moved really quickly to the right. Superman turned to face it but didn't find what had made the sound.

Whoosh!

Superman turned to the left. Again, he didn't find what had made the sound.

He started to look cautiously around. 'Where the heck did that Beast go-' He started to think.

Wham!

Superman got slammed in the side, sending him reeling through the storm clouds. His eyes barely saw the large green scary looking eagle before it flew away into another storm cloud.

"Urgh!" He managed to quickly right himself and flew for where the eagle had just been.

The green eagle wasn't in sight when he exited the other side of the swirling storm cloud. Superman cocked his head in confusion. 'What the heck. It was just right there.' Superman thought.

He looked around again. Trying to find where the eagle had gone… then for some reason, he felt to look up.

Pow!

A large green one ton of muscle and rage bear slammed its fist down into Superman's face. "Argh!" Superman grunted from the impact as he started to fall through the air with the surprising weight of the bear on him.

"Roawrrr!" The bear gutturally bellowed as it wrapped its legs around Superman's waist. Locking Superman to himself.

Pow! Pow! Whack! Pow!

The bear started to angrily box up close with its large green muscular fists. Each hit was like a jackhammer to Superman's face and chest, and because of the bear's legs wrapped tightly around him, he was taking the full force of each hit without being launched away.

'What the heck! These blows were hurting him before!' Superman was barely able to think as blow after blow from pure hard muscle hit him.

'Harder Beast! Make him hurt for what he did!' Master ordered.

Pow! Whack! Pow! Pow!

Boom!

Lightning lit up all around again. The ancient fear of lightning the Beast and his master held made them pause for just a second out of fear.

KSSSS!

Superman finally reoriented himself enough to fire his heat vision and grazed one of the bear's arms. "Rawrrr!" The bear growled angrily as it grabbed its arm and let go of Superman.

Before Superman could use his heat vision again, the green bear quickly morphed into a slightly larger peregrine falcon and took off. Superman got a hold of himself and took off after it. "You're not getting away-" He started to yell.

Boom!

The falcon broke the sound barrier and quickly disappeared from view into the clouds at its supersonic speed.

Superman stopped. He looked stunned at how quickly the falcon had disappeared from view. "Okay. What just happened there? There's no way a bird should be able to fly that fast." He asked in disbelief.

Boom!

Lightning lit up Superman again. It showed patches of his face darkening in some spots. Places where his face was starting to bruise from the heavy blows. "Urgh!" Superman suddenly groaned in pain. He put a hand to his face. "That's impossible… I'm supposed to be invulnerable." Superman grumbled.

In case he hadn't noticed, the Beast seemed to be breaking a lot of the impossibilities in this fight.

Superman could already feel the energy he had absorbed from bathing in the sun's rays outside the Watchtower earlier that day healing the bruises. Even though he was healing, he was wondering to himself how the Beast could have possibly hurt him… 'Does he have freaking Kryptonium in his body or something?'

Beep! "Clark. We haven't seen you since you disappeared up into the clouds. What's your status?" Batman asked over the comm.

Superman quickly pulled his comm back out. "I'm sorry about that Bruce." He observed the dark storm clouds around him. "The Beast is proving to be more of a challenge than I had anticipat-" Superman started to reply.

Slash!

At that moment, the green falcon streaked across the right side of Superman's face. Its sharpened claws leaving a gash along his right cheek.

"(Bleep)!" Superman yelled in pain as his hand covered the cut. He was surprised by the pain.

"Clark?!" Batman asked worriedly.

Superman already felt his flesh starting to heal over the gash that had been made. When he took his hand off his face, he could see Kryptonian blood on his hand. "Are you kidding me?! He can slice through my invulnerable skin too?!" He yelled angrily.

'What kind of animal is he?'

Slash!

The falcon streaked by again, proving he was correct as it left another gash on Superman's arm. Superman had to grit his teeth in pain and gripped his arm. "(Bleeping) (Bleep)!" Superman yelled.

"Clark! What do you mean slice your skin open?! What's going on up there?!" Batman yelled.

Slash! Slash!

Another slash mark appeared on Superman's side, and then his other side almost simultaneously so fast was the Beast peregrine falcon's speed. Superman was forced to not focus on the pain, even though he wasn't used to it, and focused instead on locating and fighting the falcon.

"Will you all stop calling me! I'm dealing with it!" Superman yelled angrily before he forced his comm into its socket on his hip again.

"Clark-!" Batman started to yell again through his pocket.

'There, destroy that electrical doohickey so our enemy can't call for his pack.' Master commanded.

Slash!

Another gash appeared on Superman's hip, which destroyed the communicator he had just put in its holster. "Urgh!" Superman grunted as he turned to the left and the right trying to locate the falcon.

'Now keep the pain coming!' Master ordered angrily.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

The green falcon kept on flying by faster than the eye could follow. It left slash mark after slash mark on Superman's face, arms, legs, sides, and even the large S on his chest. No matter how much Superman tried to look around to locate it, there were too many thick swirling fast-moving storm clouds in the way. And it was so small and going so fast that he'd be lucky to even spot it.

The only thing he was really lucky about then was that he had had a lot of leftover energy from the sun built up to keep him healing and going. Not that it'd help if he used it all up right now.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Another couple of slash marks appeared on Superman's chest. He looked down at his chest and saw a large B carved into the S of his uniform. He might have had a good healing factor, but his uniform didn't.

"That freaking little-!" Superman yelled.

Slash!

Superman felt a little bit lighter and looked behind him. His now severed cape flew off with the high powered winds of the storm.

"You've got to be kidding-" He started to say.

Slash!

Another slash mark appeared where the first one had healed over on his face. "Aughhhh!" Superman finally yelled in fury. He had had enough of being used as a scratch post.

Superman started to spin rapidly in the air, releasing a hail of frost breath all around him that pushed clouds out of the way. It also froze rain particles into pieces of hail. It was like watching a blizzard form in the middle of a thunderstorm. Lightning arced off the pieces of hail in such a way that was impossible to describe.

The green falcon, which had been speeding in for another attack run was forced to veer off to try and avoid running into the cloud of frost. Unfortunately, it had been traveling too fast to try and change its course in time before hitting the electrified hail.

Pow! "Keeeee!"

The falcon screeched in pain as a large chunk of ice from the storm clipped its wing. Making it go numb from the electricity.

Superman heard the screech, and immediately turned and sped to where he had heard it. He found the falcon before it had a chance to speed away.

"Got you!" Superman yelled triumphantly as his hand lunged to grab for the falcon.

His hand, instead of gripping the falcon's wing, instead caught hold on the mane of the Beast. Superman found himself staring into the large almost pupilless green eyes of the smirking creature. "Oh, come on-" He started to say.

KAPOW!

The retaliatory punch Superman received blasted him out of the clouds back into one of the buildings down below

"Urgh-!" Pow! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Even though Superman was quick to get back up, the Beast was quicker to appear and go straight to the punch. Punching Superman off the roof of the building through several other different buildings.

"Rawgr!" The Beast howled angrily while chasing alongside Superman's flying form.

Pow!

Pow!

Pow!

In almost demented fury, the Beast took off jumping from building to building. Keeping up with Superman as he treated him like a ball in a pinball machine. Following through all the destruction, punching Superman with almost unheard of strength again and again and again. Crashing through building after building after building.

"Ragggghhhh!" The Beast let out a final bloodthirsty howl of fury.

KAPOW! Kschchchchch!

Superman flew through and out of the last building, which collapsed from the force of him going through it. The two heroes who had been on the rooftop hurriedly jumped to different buildings to avoid the catastrophe happening down below. Superman's body hit, slid and rolled across half the distance of the lawn surrounding the factory where the fight had started. Leaving a huge skid mark in the rain-spattered mud of the grass field as he slowed down to a stop next to a piece of rubble from earlier.

"Urgh." Superman groaned. He got back up more slowly than before. He looked like he had just gone to war, and lost pretty heavily with the way his uniform now looked.

Thump.

The Beast landed on the muddy ground a little bit in front of him. "Awhoooooo!" The Beast howled in victory. It still sounded full of energy, much to his dismay. It then pounced forward again to finish the fight.

"Seven minutes to base self-destruct." The A.I. of the base said.

Superman growled to himself. "That does it." He said in an angry tone, as his hand lifted up the piece of concrete next to him. "I'm done with this Beast."

The Beast closed in to deliver another heavy punch.

POW!

Superman brought his hand back and slammed the slab of concrete into the face of the Beast. "Rowwrrrr!" The Beast howled in pain as it fell backward with one large paw gripping its face.

That was when Superman unleashed his full potential.

Pow! Pow! Whack! Pow!

Moving almost faster than the eye could follow, Superman started to move around the Beast. He punched up down, left and right like a boxer. The Beast wasn't launched away by any of the hits. Mostly because Superman was hitting him from too many directions at once for the Beast to fly away.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Superman delivered a few quick punches to the Beast's face in rapid succession.

Pow!

He tried to deliver another punch to the face, which the Beast stopped by grabbing his hand out of the air. "Grrrr!" The Beast growled angrily. Setting its large paws dug into the muddy ground, and its claws latching down to hold himself in place.

Crack! "Augh!"

The Beast's other fist smashed into Superman's wrist, breaking it. He yelled at the surprise pain of having his wrist broken. His other hand, however, formed a fist while the bloody-nosed Beast was smirking over its victory.

POW! Crack!

Superman retaliated by using his other fist to punch the Beast in the side of its chest. The ribs that Raven had just healed earlier broke again from the force of Superman's hit. His clawed feet, however, kept him from being launched away by the force of the hit.

"Rowwwwwrrrrr!" The Beast howled in pain again as its hand moved to protect its side.

"Give up!" Superman yelled at him.

Pow!

The Beast backhanded Superman in the face with his other paw, launching him back into the muddy ground. Then it tried to pounce on Superman again while he was getting back up off the ground.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Superman retaliated by delivering three quick lightning fast blows to the side of the Beast's head, which knocked the disoriented Beast to the ground. While the Beast was disoriented, Superman tried to quickly mount his back and put the Beast's head into a headlock. His broken wrist from before still hurt, but it was healing. Even if it had been usable, it was hard to make the headlock with the muscle bulge in the way.

"Just give up!" Superman yelled again.

"Grrrr!" The Beast growled again as he grabbed Superman off his back with both his hands.

WHACK! Crack!

It brought Superman over itself and used its knee to slam Superman in the face. He broke Superman's nose in the process. "Aughhh!" Superman screamed in pain.

Pow! Snap!

Superman struck the side of the Beast's kneecap with his fist. The resulting hit dislocated the Beast's knee from its socket and sent him onto the ground again.

"ROWRRRRR!" The Beast howled, not with pain, but with fury. He quickly got back up, throwing Superman down into the ground in front of him. Before he could do anything the Beast extended his claws.

Slash!

The Beast's claws left open gashes in Superman's chest. If Superman hadn't been quick to move when he did, they would have likely pierced deeper into his vitals. The thought almost scared him, and he winced as he quickly got back up gripping his bleeding chest in the falling rain. "It's useless Beast! I'm healing and you're not! You won't win if this fight continues!" Superman yelled at the Beast to try and mask his fear.

His wrist was almost mended by now, and his nose, though it wasn't setting straight (that'll be a painful surgery) was also starting to stop bleeding. The Beast, on the other hand, was still suffering from the broken ribs and its dislocated knee. The Beast growled as rain dripped off the front of its wet mane.

Snap! Crackle! Pop!

With a sound that vaguely resembled pop rocks, the Beast used its front paws to painfully snap its kneecap back into place. Then it got in a battle stance on its now somewhat fine leg. Superman looked kind of surprised at that.

"I guess some things don't need a healing factor after all." He said to himself as he readied for the oncoming onslaught.

"Awhoooo!" The Beast howled before it darted forward again.

Pow! Pow! Whack! Pow!

The best way to describe most of what happened after that moment for the next portion of the fight was that the two relentlessly beat on each other. The two moved so fast around each other that it all became entangled in one big blur. Bursts of wind came out from each connected hit, flattening the grass around their fight. It was like watching a complicated, deadly dance between the two.

The heroes on the outskirts could do nothing but watch what was happening with bated breath. The epic fight continuing at such a pace that the Flash felt dizzy trying to follow it out.

The Beast kept on aiming for the face or the chest while Superman tried to aim for the broken rib area or the formerly dislocated knee. The Beast, however, kept dodging those blows and left Superman with a stinging bruise every time he attempted to strike at those areas.

Pow! Pow! Whack!

Superman got three quick blows to the Beast's face again.

Wham! Pow! Kapow!

The Beast responded with three quick strikes to Superman's chest, gut, and head.

Whoosh!

Superman tried to punch forward for the Beast's rib area again. But his fist got nothing but air.

KaPow!

The Beast brought a mega downward cut on Superman's left shoulder. The force of the hit buried Superman into the muddy ground.

"Pbbthhh!" He spat out mud as he tried to quickly get back up.

Pow! Pow! Whack! Crack!

The Beast punched Superman three quick times in succession to his face. Superman's nose broke all over again from the force of the third hit.

"Argh!" Superman yelled in pain before he tried to drive forward again to attack. Punching for the Beast's gut to knock the wind out of it.

The Beast released his claws in one of his hands again as it swiped down.

Pow!Slash!

The Beast was launched back several dozen feet from the punch to the gut, but its claws managed to slash completely down to the bone in one of Superman's arms right as the punch connected. "AUGHHH!" Superman yelled in pain as he felt his biceps get severed in two.

The Beast tried to take advantage of the opening by jumping forward off both legs and punching for Superman's broken nose to hurt him even more.

Pow! Whoosh!

Superman and the Beast's fists collided with each other at the same time. A shockwave of air went out from the force of the two hits connecting with each other.

The two separated from each other.

Pow! Pow! Whoosh! Whoosh! Pow! Whoosh!

The two quickly circled each other. Their fists collided with each other over and over again, producing shockwave after shockwave from the force of each hit. Both of them had looks of fury on their faces. This was starting to look less like a fight to defeat and more like a fight to the death by the second.

Superman started to punch forward again when he saw the Beast's fist coming from up above this time. 'CRAP!'

POW! Whoosh!

Unlike the other times, Superman brought his arms up to block the Beast's downward punch. Even with the resulting shockwave, the Beast didn't relent. He continued to push downwards. "Urghhhh!" Superman growled determinedly.

"Rowwr!" The Beast howled in anger.

Pow! Whoosh.

The Beast brought his other fist into the equation onto Superman's arms. There wasn't as much of a shockwave of air like the last one. The two were left in a handlock, with Superman pushing up against the hulking Beast and the Beast pushing down on Superman.

"Five minutes to base self-destruct." The A.I. to the base said.

Superman grunted. He could feel his arm where he had just been wounded starting to give out. If it hadn't been for the Beast slicing through his biceps, he would have been able to hold up. But now since his biceps was still in the process of healing, and since his wrist was still throbbing where the bone had been broken, he was actually starting to lose an actual strength on strength contest with the Beast.

'Way to go Beast! We've got him right where we want him!' Master thought in their mind.

"Hurhurhur." The Beast sounded like it was laughing.

'No, I'm not losing to a freaking green circus animal!' Superman thought angrily. His anger drove him to desperation.

In a desperate move, Superman pushed with his arms, backflipped, and kicked upwards at the Beast's face.

Pow!

Fortunately for Superman, the maneuver worked as his foot connected solidly with the bottom of the Beast's jaw.

"Rowrr!" The Beast howled in pain as it backed away in surprise from the hit. It clutched at its broken feeling jaw.

Superman landed back on the ground and sped forward.

Pow! Pow! Crack!

Superman's two fists slammed into the Beast's side where the broken ribs were. The sounds of more broken bones filled the air.

"Rowwwrrrr!" The Beast howled in pain as he stumbled back. One of his arms moved to shield his side from the next blow.

Superman, however, wasn't punching again just yet. In fact, his eyes glowed a bright red. 'No mercy now!' Superman thought.

KSSSSS!

Whether it was because he was crazy, or because he wanted this last move to be a punch, the Beast's eyes widened as Superman struck his own hand with his heat vision lasers. Turning it red hot. "YAGHHHHHHH!" Yelling through the pain of it, Superman then punched forward with his superheated fist. Traveling so fast, it broke the sound barrier in superheated fashion.

KAPOW!

"ROOOWWWWRRRRRRR!" The Beast howled loudly in surprise and pain as the red hot fist connected with his sternum and sent him flying backward through the air over the length of the field.

BOOM! Kschchchchch!

The Beast was enveloped in a cloud of dust as it epically slammed back into the side of the factory with such force that the entire left wall of the complex collapsed inward on itself.

Superman approached through the falling rain of the storm. Water dripped off the tips of his hair and ruined uniform. He held his arm and ruined hand close to him as he slowly and tiredly approached.

"That was a good fight. I haven't met a more worthy opponent since I faced off against Doomsday." Superman said in a tired voice.

Boom!

The dust had cleared enough by this point because of the falling rain, and a streak of lightning lit up the Beast. He was slumped forward on the ground next to a piece of the collapsed wall. He had large bruises forming on his kneecap area, his lower right chest area, and on his limp arms and face. Last but not least, was the burning red burn area on his chest that had taken the brunt of the heat vision/fist combo.

Superman's hand let go of his arm. The flesh and muscles in it had stitched themselves back together perfectly. His nose was still bleeding a little bit, signifying that he was running low on the sun's radiation energy he had been using to heal himself throughout the fight. His burned hand remained the same for now.

"To bad it all has to end now." He said calmly.

Superman's eyes glowed red. Not with heat vision. "After all, I can't allow you to ruin my party anymore little Beastie. Don't take it personally." Superman, yet not Superman spoke.

It was a risky move for the mysterious figure controlling Superman to do this, but in the heat of battle, strange things always happened. Especially if you used too much of your strength against a strong opponent. Superman's mind was barely aware in that moment from how tired it was anyways. And after the villain gave up his brief control, Superman would be left to think that his initial superheated punch had killed the Beast. He'd have to live with the guilt of killing someone, which only made the villain smile more with anticipation.

It helped that Superman and the others would never suspect what had actually happened at that moment when they were surrounded by the cloud of dust Superman had so unknowingly made for him.

Superman took a step back, and then he charged up his heat vision. Inside, he couldn't understand his thought process at that moment. He didn't know why he was already going to blast down a downed foe. The only thing the spell on him would make him remember after the event, if he did remember anything that is, was that the Beast had made a move to attack him. And he had only made to defend himself.

'It'll be for the best. He can't be allowed to roam this world freely. And his mate will soon be joining him when we exile her to Outer Perdition.' The voice in Superman's mind thought to him. Just to make sure the hero's morals wouldn't get in the way and override the spell that allowed him to control the strong hero in this one moment where it would count. These spells were complicated after all, and the villain had to vary its effects and powers from hero to hero.

The Beast looked to have lost hope. He silently whimpered to himself at the pain he felt. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to move, everything just hurt too much. Beating this Kryptonian almost seemed to be impossible to him…

'Beast, please. We have to get up.' Master thought to him.

"Gar…"

The Beast opened his eyes. 'Raven.' The thought echoed in their combined mind.


(Slow motion)

Superman started to take a step forward. His eyes glowed like two red suns in the midst of the falling rain and settling dust. "Yahhhhhh-" Superman started to yell.

The Beast's mind snapped to attention. Mate was still nearby, and mate was hurt worse than he was. 'NO!' The Beast thought angrily.

The pain didn't matter anymore. The fight didn't matter anymore. Everything else didn't matter anymore. What did matter laid on the floor somewhere down below. His mate was hurting and in danger! And this pathetic excuse for a hero was intent on harming her!

'I will not go down when mate is on the line!' The Beast thought determinedly. The thought process had gone through his mind faster than the eye could blink.

KS-!

The laser blast had barely started to leave Superman's eyes when the Beast disappeared from his spot. It was so quick that it couldn't be mentally comprehended. Not even by Superman, whose eyes could keep up with the Flash. The Beast then materialized in front of Superman

"Rawwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrr!" The Beast's angry howl was drawn out in the slow motion as his fully extended claws sliced upwards.


(Slow motion ends)

SLASH!

"AUGHHHHHHH!" Superman screamed loudly in pain as he blindly took a step back and gripped the slash marks across his face and eyes. The quick action had cut off his heat vision and made it useless. It had also punctured through both of his eyes. "I can't see! I can't see!" He yelled in surprise and pain. The obvious effects of being blinded.

"ROWRR!" The Beast howled in fury. 'Now while he can't see! Give it our all!' Master ordered in his mind.

The Beast was more than happy to oblige.

Pow! Pow! Pow! Whack! Pow!

Without the use of his eyes, Superman was forced to blindly defend against the now awakened threat. And the Beast was taking full advantage of Superman being unable to see as each blow came from completely random directions. Forcing Superman this way and that at speeds that surpassed anything the fight had shown before.

Crack!

Superman's wrist was broken again.

Snap! Crack! Crack!

His shoulder was dislocated and broken into pieces.

Slash!

His chest got slashed open again.

Slash! Slash!

Both his arms got slash marks trying to defend himself.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A couple of ribs in the lower part of Superman's back was broken from a heavy blow.

One after the other.

All within a short span of time.

"AUGHHHHHH!" Superman screamed as his body felt absolute pain.

'What do I do?! I can't even see him!' He was barely able to think in desperation. His super strength and absolute invulnerability were epically failing against the epitome of evolution. And what energy he had left was still working on trying to fix his eyes while fixing his other wounds so that they wouldn't be fatal.

Crack!

One of Superman's legs got broken.

Snap! Crack!

The kneecap in the other leg was dislocated and also broken after being dislocated for good measure.

Pow!

A heavy blow to Superman's gut knocked the wind out of him.

Crack!

His nose was then broken against the Beast's knee again, and the hit also gave Superman a concussion. "Ugh…" Superman finally fell onto his knees and looked blindly up as the Beast brought its fist back. He was feeling so much pain from various parts of his body that he had entered a state of shock.

"Nobody, harms, MATE!" The Beast gutturally bellowed.

KAPOW!

Superman's body was sent flying high up into the air from the massive uppercut. His arms were limply spread out, and rain pelted his heavily bruised face as he approached the bottom of the storm clouds.


"Clark! Clark! Answer your comm damn nab it!" Batman yelled into his comm as he tried to get a hold of Superman.

The base was about to explode at any minute. They needed to extract the two fugitives, and now!

"Does anybody have eyes on Superman!?" Batman yelled to the heroes around him.

"I don't have anything on my scanners yet," Cyborg said.

"Me neither over here!" The Flash yelled, looking through a pair of binoculars.

"Bats! I found him!" Green Arrow yelled as he pulled his binoculars away from his face.

Batman appeared at his side. "Where is he, Oliver?" He calmly asked.

Green Arrow pointed up. "He flew out of that dust cloud, and he's going up near those storm clouds." He said.

Batman's face looked skeptical under his mask. "He already came down from there earlier. What is he doing now?" Batman said to himself as he pulled out his binoculars.

He found Superman just as he was nearing the peak of his ascent. The flesh around his eyes had almost healed. And despite all the damage he had taken, what energy he had left was trying to heal all of his various wounds. A couple of slash marks in his chest were trying to close around this green like object. It looked like…

Batman gasped and pulled the binoculars from his face. "Clark!" He yelled.


The massive green eel that had so effectively zapped Superboy before wrapped itself tightly around the closing flesh of Superman's chest. It could feel the Kryptonian's heart beating frantically underneath it as it charged up for one last attack.

'Take this invulnerable piece of scum!' The Beast and his master thought together angrily.

The amount of electricity it charged attracted the electricity from the clouds all around. Their combined fear of lightning was knocked aside by their overwhelming anger towards this being.

The being who had drastically hurt mate.

CRACK! BOOM!...

The flash of light that came was so bright, that Batman, Green Arrow, Cyborg, Zatanna, Nightwing, Aquaman, Black Canary, Captain Atom, Kaldur, and all the other heroes and civilians who had been watching from rooftops miles around all had to turn their faces away. A shockwave of ozone launched out from the impact point. The soundwave that hit everyone's ears was loud and deafening, destroying more than a couple of eardrums.

Finally, it was dark and silent. The aftereffects of the bright flash of light dispersed. All the heroes stared back towards the dark grounds of the factory with stunned looks on their faces.

"CLARK!" Batman yelled over the sound of the storm.


Pshshshsh…

It was dark on the ground. The rain pattered lightly against the scarred land, gathering in puddles in the dips and craters of destroyed patches of grass…

Thump.

Superman's body fell onto the ground. His face looked mostly okay besides being a little bruised and beat up. The rest of him, however, looked bad. Broken bones, dislocated joints, broken dislocated joints, open charred gashes in his arms and chest among several other places.

Zzzzt! "Urgh…"

Some leftover electricity flared off his body, making Superman groan involuntarily. Other than that, he remained motionless.

KaThump. "Heh, huh, heh, huh."

The Beast landed limply onto his good leg. He breathed in and out heavily as the rain pattered against his matted fur. The wind made his wet mane trail behind his head like a flag.

Finally, the Beast looked back to the downed Superman. He had won the fight. 'Puny invincible hero.' Master thought.

"Hmph!" The Beast harrumphed and started to walk away on its hind legs. 'No one is invincible when the opponent gets angry enough.'

"Urgh…"

The Beast stopped as Superman groaned behind him. The Beast turned to face Superman again. "Wait, please, don't go…"

Superman was trying to get up off the ground on his hands and knees. His eyes opened, revealing the fogginess that had been in them before was gone. The remnants of the broken spell were at that moment in the process of erasing their presence from his mind. After a second though, Superman fell down limply back to the cold muddy ground. His eyes closed tightly in pain. "I, I'm sorry…" He drawled out painfully. Not that he'd remember after the spell had finished leaving his mind. A special effect given to him for the type of manipulation he had been under.

'I could finish him off here.' The Beast thought as he flexed his claws. His claws could easily pierce the Kryptonian's thickheaded skull. Plus with all his healing energy out of commission…

"Mmmm…"

A whimpering sound barely registered on the Beast's senses. He turned his head to the sound. It had sounded like…

"Mate." The Beast gasped out loud.

He needed to go back and get mate to safety.

He looked back to Superman. There was the Kryptonian though. He had hurt her. He needed to pay…

'Enough. He's beat. Let it go.' Master said in his mind.

The Beast looked torn. 'But the Kryptonian, he hurt-' He tried to respond.

'Beast. Mate needs us. Mate is in great danger. If we don't get her, she'll go up in big boom boom.' Master said sadly in his mind.

The Beast stared at Superman's form for a second more. "Two minutes till base self-destruct." The A.I. of the base said.

'Please, Beast. Let him go.' His master said.

The Beast grunted to himself, and then he ran off on four legs into the rain towards the other side of the factory. Going as fast as it could even with the pain his injuries were causing him. "Awhoooo!" He howled again.

Zip!

The Flash showed up next to the downed Superman right after the Beast started to run away. He pulled out his comm and opened it. "Batman, I found Clark!" He yelled into it.

"What's his status?" Batman asked worriedly.

"He," The Flash gulped. "He looks pretty bad sir." The Flash said.

"Show me," Batman ordered.

The Flash pointed his comm at Superman's downed form. Over the camera, it looked just as bad as in person. "Alright, get him out of there. We need to get him to the Infirmary in the WatchTower." Batman said.

The Flash looked up at the retreating form of the Beast. Just as it ran around the corner of the factory. "The Beast is still in the area. It looks pretty hurt too. I could possibly-" The Flash started to say.

"No!" Batman cut off the Flash. "Leave the Beast alone. If it tore up Superman, there's no telling what it could do to you." Batman said.

"But-" The Flash tried to say.

"Get Clark out of there. We're evacuating. That's an order." Batman said gruffly.

… "Yes, sir." The Flash said before he closed his comm. He didn't hesitate in pulling Superman up off the ground. But he did struggle to get underneath him.

"You know, you're heavier than you look, Clark." The Flash muttered to himself.

Zip!

The Flash ran off through the mud towards the buildings with Superman on his back.


"Sixty seconds to base self-destruct." The A.I. of the base said.

Boom. Kckckck…

The battle torn room shook as part of the base caved in from the damage caused earlier by the fighting. The klaxons on the walls were still blaring a bright blue. The rain was falling steadily through the hole in the ceiling. The puddle from the rain had grown large enough, that it had traveled across the room to a huddled cloaked figure on the ground.

Raven blearily opened her eyes as the room around her shook.

Thump! Kckckck!

A piece of the roof fell near her head. Yet she barely even noticed it. She barely felt the fine particles that hit against her face and settled in her hair. Her eyes barely registered what was going on around her. The pain from before was fading away into an unnatural bliss.

'Am I… still alive?...' She slowly thought.

Her eyes lazily looked down at her body again. She had a small red puddle forming beneath her. Her stomach area looked like a horror scene from a nightmare. What wasn't red was black. And what wasn't black kind of looked like her muscles... Wait, were they red too? She couldn't tell or give it the clarity of thought needed to worry about it. She knew that she probably needed to get into a healing trance. She knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she needed to heal, to escape…

Yet it barely registered. She could barely remember how it was supposed to work. Especially when the cold, the pain, and everything that was distancing itself away from her at that moment felt like a dream come true.

"Thirty seconds to base self-destruct." The A.I. for the base said.

The floor below her felt so inviting. And life seemed so hard now. She preferred it. That nice, warm, comforting, soft and inviting floor. She couldn't imagine a better way to go. At least she would have died having tried to defend someone other than herself. That had to count for her atoning for her past mistakes, right?

Her eyes. Her tired amethyst eyes, slowly, lazily, started to close.

Thump.

A green figure appeared at the edge of her vision. She could barely hear him running limply across the floor towards her downed form. As it approached, for some reason it got smaller.

'Hmmm?' Raven thought. The figure somehow inspiring her curiosity to hang on for a little while longer.

"R… ae… ae! Rae!" A familiar shocked voice finally got through the haze in her mind. Enough that thoughts sparked in her mind at his voice.

"Gar?" She asked lazily. Her voice didn't sound like hers. It sounded too relaxed. To laid back. To... carefree.

The green figure bent down next to her. A drop, maybe a tear, fell against her face. "Oh, Rae. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The green figure said in anguish.

Raven smiled a little as Beast Boy came into focus. He looked like he had been hurt, and he also looked close to crying. Yet he was there. He was there for her at last. "Gar," Raven said more happily.

She felt herself get gingerly lifted up off the ground. She might have heard a wince, but she couldn't tell if it was hers or his. She did, however, feel his hand run through her hair. It felt nice, so nice and comforting. So much more so than the floor had. She rested her head in the crook of his neck. It felt warm, so warm and inviting.

"I'm so sorry Rae. I'll get you somewhere safe and sound, I promise." He said.

Raven continued to lazily smile. "Okay, Gar." She whispered as she relaxed into him.

"Base self-destruct in 10 seconds. Nine, eight." The A.I. of the base said.

Beast Boy started to run. Raven was still smiling, looking up into his face with the blue klaxons lights in the background. "Thanks, Gar." She whispered.

"Seven, six, five, four, three, two-"

The ground started to shake. A series of lights appeared above her. Or maybe it was over her. She didn't really care. The klaxons of the base and everything disappeared into a stream of light…

"One, ze-"

As the light became its brightest, she closed her eyes. And everything, the distant shaking from the oncoming explosion, the fear of being on the run, became like glass. Her eyes closed their shutters, pitching her world into darkness.


Author's Notes:

And that marks the end of this arc of the story! If there was a name I'd give the last few chapters, it'd be Divide and Emotion. Anyways, Woohoo! This has to be my favorite chapter, by far! Sorry, not sorry for leaving on another cliffhanger! It wasn't so much a cliffhanger as the last few at least. Hope you all enjoyed the epic chapter!

Just a warning. The next chapter probably isn't going to come out for another couple of weeks. I have finals coming up the next two weeks, so I'm going to be focusing some more time on that and giving updates to this story a break. However, that doesn't mean I won't be posting updates to other stories I have. I just hope that you all will continue to stick with me as we plow on into the rest of the story. I'd guestimate we have a little more than 10 or so chapters to go.

Till Next Time

Allen