Fight Club - Part 3
Flash joined his team mates as they gathered the defeated heroes.
"Is this all you have, Roulette?" Wonder Woman challenged.
"Oh, not even close. I think it's time for a reunion. Don't you?"
The three Leaguers only had seconds to ponder her words before their new opponents rose up. Superman, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern were menacing enough on their own, but together they could be called terrifying.
Especially if their sights were set upon you.
"Aw, come on!" Flash took a few steps back.
"We can do this," Wonder Woman encouraged, "we just have to be smarter fighters."
"I will deal with Superman," J'onn volunteered.
"Hal's mine, which leaves you with Kendra." Wonder Woman looked back at the Flash. He nodded.
At that moment, the three possessed heroes attacked.
"Surprised, Batman?" Ivy grinned. "No, of course not. You are the world's greatest detective, after all. You expected this."
Batman just stared at her, not offering a reply. Ivy traced the muscles of his chest before leaning into his ear.
"There was a time when I would have taken this chance to get to… know you more. Sadly, my heart lies with another."
"And it must burn you up that he wants nothing to do with you," Batman suddenly retorted.
With an angry cry, Ivy slapped the Dark Knight. "I'll teach you some manners, Batman," she hissed.
"Believe me, it won't work. We've tried," Aquaman said dryly.
Ivy smirked. "My methods are a little more persuasive."
"Wait," Roulette interjected. "Before you remove their wills, let them watch their friends dies."
She pressed a button on her desk, and the far wall split into two, revealing a giant screen. It flashed to life as it showcased the battle occurring below.
Martian Manhunter turned intangible, allowing the heat vision to pass through him. Infuriated, Superman flew in with a punch. Just like his heat vision, though, he flew through the Martian.
J'onn flew through Superman, then stuck his arm into the Man of Steel's back and materialized. Superman roared with pain. He floated in the air, dazed from the pain, as J'onn pulled his arm out. He sent the Kryptonian to the ground with his Martian Vision.
J'onn looked around. His team mates were at a stalemate. They'd knock each other down, only to get back up again. Flash dodged Hawkgirl's airborne swipes, as Wonder Woman deflected Green Lantern's plasma blasts.
He was about to help when he was attacked from behind. Superman slammed into his back, sending J'onn tumbling through the air. He regained his stability only to be pummelled to the ground. Superman hovered above him, his eyes glowing crimson red.
We cannot beat them, Martian Manhunter spoke into the minds of his team mates, not by holding back.
Wonder Woman beat back a construct truck. I agree. We must fight with all our strength!
Then let's do it! Flash zoomed past Hawkgirl and charged at Green Lantern.
The Emerald Warrior threw up defences, but Flash easily zipped past them. He stopped beside Green Lantern, and to his surprise, Flash focused all his speed into his right arm, vibrating it. He punched Green Lantern, the vibrations strengthening his punch tenfold. Green Lantern's personal force field shattered into green shards as he flew across the arena.
Now freed from her opponent, Wonder Woman went after Superman. Rising into the air, she unfurled her lasso. Coming at him from behind, she wrapped the lasso around Superman's neck. She soared over him, then plummeted to the ground.
Superman croaked as he was pulled down. He clawed at the knot, but the lasso was unbreakable. Wonder Woman landed on her feet and pulled with all her might. Superman crashed into the stadium, the force of the impact causing a crater.
Superman began to rise. Wonder Woman put a stop to this by digging her heel into his throat and pulling the lasso.
"Yield," she commanded.
Batman smirked. "You're losing."
Roulette glared at the Dark Knight. "Not for long."
"Really?"
With a flex of his muscles, Aquaman snapped the vines. Before Ivy or Roulette could react to this surprise, Aquaman hurled a chair it at Ivy. She fell down, the chair on top of her. Roulette attacked with a high kick, but it barely affected Aquaman. He finished her with a right cross.
With the villains down, Aquaman freed Batman.
"So how do we stop this?" Aquaman kept a cautious eye on the ladies.
"Ivy's controlling them with a spore, just as she's done before. I have an antidote."
"But?" In his experiences, Aquaman knew there was always a but.
"I don't have enough here. I'll call in the Batmobile with the rest." Batman typed commands into his gauntlet.
"Go. I'll watch these two." Aquaman nodded to Ivy and Roulette.
"That won't be necessary."
Batman and Aquaman whipped around. Nightwing and Booster Gold stepped into Roulette's office. Booster raised his arms and let loose twin blasts.
Aquaman and Batman went through the far wall and plummeted into the stadium.
Supergirl sat in her cell, curled up. She'd woken up a few hours ago, but other than seeing a few of Roulette's guards, all had been quiet.
She took a deep breath, trying to reassure herself that Jamie was alright. She'd seen him deal with a lot more and walk away from it. He could take anything she dealt out. He was tough. He was Siphon. A member of the Justice League. And one of the people she cared most about.
She told herself aloud that he would have wanted to be stopped, but her words sounded hollow.
"It's true, you know."
Kara's head jerked up at the voice. She rose and pressed her hand against the wall, now certain Jamie was on the other side. She wanted to break through the wall, but kryptonite chunks in the floor controlled by a panel across the hall prevented her escape.
"I'm glad you stopped me. I've had just about enough with losing control of my body."
"How..?"
"Your last punch cleared my head. The heat vision seems to have evaporated any remaining pieces of Ivy's spores. As always, you saved me, Kara."
"Jamie, where are you?" Kara rose to her feet.
"In the cell next to you. I think."
Determination and will set into Kara's mind. Pushing through the pain and weakness the kryptonite caused, Kara drew back her fist.
It took a couple punches, but she finally broke through.
Batman fired his grapple hook. He grabbed Aquaman and the two descended towards the ground. The crowd in the section of seats below them screamed and ran. Booster tackled Aquaman and Nightwing landed a kick on Batman's chest.
Aquaman crashed into the seats. Booster soared above, firing blasts at the Atlantean king. Aquaman took cover, but there was nothing he could do. Booster was out of reach.
Batman landed on his feet, and performed a back hand spring to avoid Nightwing. He dropped a smoke bomb, temporarily blinding his former protégée. Seeing Booster in the air, Batman decided to level the playing field.
In one swift motion, Batman brought out a batarang and threw it. It sailed towards Booster, striking his middle finger. Right where he wore the Legion flight ring. The batarang sent out a volt of electricity, disrupting the ring's function. Booster dropped out of the sky.
He rose to his knees and shook his head, trying to clear it from the pain. He stood up and pried the batarang from his ring. A noise caught his attention and he looked up.
Just in time to see Aquaman's fist.
Booster was rocked by Aquaman's left cross. He followed up with a right, but Booster caught his fist. Booster's suit granted him many abilities, including super strength, force fields, and energy blasts. He brought his other hand to Aquaman's stomach and let loose a blast.
Aquaman was propelled backwards from the force of the blast. Booster followed his Atlantean opponent.
Fully recovered in a matter of moments, Aquaman ripped chairs from the stands and tossed them. Booster easily swatted them away. He unleashed more blasts and Aquaman rolled out of the way.
Rolling to his feet, Aquaman took his trident from his back and changed his tactics. He dodged Booster's blasts, then struck. In one heavy strike, he jammed the trident into Booster's suit. Not deep enough to puncture skin, but enough to puncture the force field and the suit. The suit shorted as sparks flew. Aquaman pulled the trident out and spun. He bashed Booster with the blunt end of his trident. Booster dropped like a stone.
Batman walked up and dropped Nightwing on top of Booster. "The antidote is here."
Wonder Woman, the Flash, and the Martian Manhunter had been fighting their team mates for what seemed like forever. In reality it was only about five minutes. There was still no sign of either side being defeated.
Wonder Woman used her bracelets to deflect heat vision. The beams bounced and struck Hawkgirl.
Flash zoomed in and rained down punches and kicks. This freed Wonder Woman to deal with Hawkgirl. Still dazed from the heat vision, she was an easy opponent. Diana took her mace and flew at Superman. The force of the blow made Superman's head snap back, and Wonder Woman was afraid the mace may break. She energized the mace and thrust it into Superman's stomach.
Superman cried out and Wonder Woman brought the mace down on his head. Superman fell to the floor and she tossed the mace aside.
"This isn't working," she muttered. "We need to make sure they st-UGH!"
A green bus slammed into Wonder Woman from behind, catching her by surprise. Green Lantern rose into the air, a sneer plastered on his face.
Flash narrowed his eyes, "J'onn, get him down here!"
The Martian nodded. He flew at Green Lantern, but Hal countered with a hammer and knocked him out of the sky.
Green Lantern felt a tug at his leg and looked down. With a mighty heave, Wonder Woman pulled Green Lantern down with her lasso. The ground cracked as he landed.
Taking the opportunity, Flash raced by and swiped the power ring. A swift kick finished him off.
Flash, always the curious one, inspected the ring. A war cry brought him out of his inquisitive state. He looked up to see Hawkgirl flying towards him. Flash easily side stepped her, giving Wonder Woman a window of opportunity.
Unhooking her lasso from Green Lantern's leg, she threw it at Hawkgirl. It hooked around her wings, halting her flight. Wonder Woman pulled back and drove the winged woman into the ground. She tied up Hawkgirl's legs, arms, and wings with her lasso, putting her out of the fight indefinitely.
That left only Superman.
Flash dodged and Wonder Woman deflected a barrage of heat vision. Fully recovered, the Martian Manhunter stood.
"I believe it is time to end this."
J'onn's eyes glowed as he reached into Superman's mind. Superman suddenly collapsed to the ground, moaning.
Seeing his team mates questioning looks, he filled them in, "I planted a suggestion in his mind. He believes he is surrounded by kryptonite."
Flash grinned. "Smart idea."
Wonder Woman cracked her knuckles. "And now we break out of this cage."
The sound of breaking glass rang throughout the now deserted area as Wonder Woman forced herself out of the fighting arena.
Flash and the Martian Manhunter stepped out after her. They were joined by Batman and Aquaman.
"Roulette's up there," Batman pointed up at the office.
"Not for much longer." Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter rose into the air.
Much to the League's frustration, Roulette and Ivy were already gone. The two villains were exiting through an entrance in the cell block.
"Another lost arena!" Roulette vented her anger at no one in particular.
"Calm down." Ivy waved her off. "As soon as we get Siphon we can start over."
"Yeah, about that…"
Ivy and Roulette rounded a corner, only to be met with Siphon, arms crossed.
"How did…? It doesn't matter. Siphon, come with us," Ivy waved him over.
"No." Siphon's eyes narrowed in a show of disobedience.
"No?" Ivy's eyes widened, then a smirk appeared. "Fine. An extra dose of love, then."
Ivy raised her hand and plants began to grow through the floor.
"I don't think so!" Supergirl burst out of a wall, catching Ivy by surprise.
One good punch put Ivy down.
"You're out too?" Roulette backed away.
"Jailbreak." Siphon punched through the control panel mounted on the wall.
As if they were one organism, the cell doors slid open.
Roulette was soon outmatched twenty to one.
With Roulette and Ivy incarcerated, and all the heroes freed, Cadmus Labs had been called in to clean up.
Amanda Waller walked through the arena floor. She overheard one of her agents complaining.
"Why can't we ever get to the fight? We always come after."
"Must've been a good fight too, for that much blood to be spilled."
Amanda continued on, ignoring their complaints. After all, great things came with patience. And patience meant coming after the fight.
She crossed her arms behind her back. "All right, pack up the samples. We have a lot of work ahead of us." She picked up a vial and examined it. "Especially if this blood belongs to them."