Smallville 2012
. . .
Endgame
. . .
The distraction was enough. Diana saw Lois tear through the gag and then heard her scream in slow motion, everything around her slowed down, she saw Aresia jerk her head in the direction of the cry, drops of her blood splattering down toward her, and that was enough, Diana forced herself up on her arms once more and in the same movement, drove her fist into Aresia's abdomen – the momentary distraction had given her the advantage. Aresia sailed upward and toward the roof, smashing through it, Diana rose to her feet, looked at Lois and then leapt after Aresia. Catching up with her and meshing her fists together, smashing Aresia back down toward the Warehouse, following her down as she tore through the roof, smashing one of the skylights in the process.
Diana crouched on the floor beside Aresia, and picked her up by her neck and stared at her, Aresia's eyes were bloody now, one was swollen closed and the other was streaming and bloodshot, she thought against Diana's grip and Diana sent her skyward once more for good measure, following her into the sky and unfurling her lasso, tossing it and hooking it around Aresia, swinging her around to disorientate her and then sending her ground ward again, landing beside her in a repeat position, the only difference being that Aresia's face was bloodier and her arms were more cut up.
"What are you doing here sister," Diana demanded, "I left you on Themyscira with the other Amazons…the night that I left you, left the island – I avoided you purposefully because I knew how you would react, you would prefer we remained isolated and thus remained vulnerable to danger wouldn't you?"
"I see now," Aresia hissed, "that the world of man has truly corrupted you – I came to bring you back into line, bring you back to the island for the crime of stealing the armour you now flaunt so boldly before all gathered here," she began cackling, "I am regretful that I did not complete the task myself and I am regretful that it took me so long to get here, but I have one thing not to regret Diana," she regained her strength enough to lean in close, "today you die."
"Diana!" the yell came a fraction of a second to late for her to react, Diana rebuked herself for giving Aresia the opportunity to distract her – she should have dispensed with her, but they had needed the information. She felt the curse burn through her and she collapsed to the ground, writhing in anarchy and turned to face the Sorcerer, he was draped in violet with a headscarf that left only his pale face visible to the world – he was clearly not a born Sorcerer but one that had acquired an appetite for magic – she could tell that from his shoddy appearance.
"You know Aresia," Diana said fighting against the pain as she lay on the floor next to her former sister, she noted the arrival of a fifth presence in the room – a humanoid feline, deftly stalking across the room from the far entrance, she had moved past Lois now and was drawing level with the Sorcerer, "there is something that you should never doubt – there is a reason the Titans never defeated the Olympians, there is a reason that Evil never defeats Good Aresia – because the Evil are weak and prone to over-estimation." At that point she sprang to her feet, and twisted herself over the top of them, fighting through her screaming pain receptors to land behind the feline, grab her shoulders and throw her over her head, sending the vile creature howling into the distance until she impacted with the wall.
She saw the Sorcerer's hands flaring with magical energy, growing all the shades of the spectrum and raised her gauntlets defensively – now would be the true test of her armour's limits but then she relented and instead turned her attentions to the feline. The Sorcerer scoffed with a laugh and cackled confidently, "Insolent Woman – now you shall die."
"I don't think so," murmured a voice as a sixth presence strode into the room, the Sorcerer swivelled firing his bolts at her but she deflected them harmlessly, "I don't like people that abuse magic like a tool – Knis ni eht dnorg!" Zatanna yelled, instantly watching the Sorcerer's feet be sunk into the ground, "And I don't like people that attack my friends either." She declared, knocking Aresia unconscious with a simple hex. She ran toward Lois as Cheetah and Diana sailed across the room, grappling with one another furiously.
"Zatanna behind you!" Lois shouted as she broke free from her bonds, Zatanna turned in time to intercept the beam – she could discern the magic's origin, it was certainly stolen – that much was clear, no-one like the Sorcerer was naturally endowed with them – the spells were Greek, which was the reason the counter-spells were so fresh in her mind. She caught the beam and then under her breath began chanting the hex that she had learned, the light of the beam which had been a dull amethyst turned to a deeper violet and then into a softer fuchsia as it pulsated between them, Zatanna dug in her heels and closed the distance, manipulating the beam with her white-glove clad hands, until she drew level with the Sorcerer and he stared at them. Lois looked away as there was a bright flash of light and the Sorcerer lay on the floor, slumped and unconscious, she ran to Zatanna who was now watching the duel between Diana and Cheetah.
Diana was bloody but showed no signs of tiring from the feet, if anything her attacks were becoming more coordinated, she blocked a swipe from Cheetah's claws with her gauntlets, blunting the sharpened blades and knocking them away harmlessly, landing an uppercut to Cheetah's jaw – not that the duel was all one way. Cheetah responded by springing nimbly over Diana, grabbing her by her hair and swinging her round horizontally in a half-circle, knocking her into the dirt, Zatanna would have gotten involved but at such close quarters it was difficult to tell who her spell would hit.
Lois flinched visibly as Diana's head crunched with another impact on the ground and she stayed down in stead of rising this time, Cheetah turned back snarling with the sweet taste of victory before dropping to the floor, clutching at her ears and yowling, Dinah dropped from the ceiling into a defensive crouch and on having appraised that the situation was in control, moved to Diana's side and helped her to her feet.
The four women regrouped at the centre of the Warehouse.
"We need to get back to the City – there are villains and Toy Soldiers everywhere – Chloe's helping move most people out of the City or into cover but they can't protect everyone." Dinah impressed upon them, Lois hadn't picked up on the distant rumblings before – she'd presumed there was a thunder storm having been cooped up for most of the day at the pleasure of Aresia – evidently they were explosions and the City was crumbling around them.
. . .
After weeks of being cooped up it felt good to be fully immersed in water – especially good considering he was protecting people and he was about to get even with Black Manta – he could see his suited adversary towards the bottom of the tank, grasping a harpoon-gun close to his chest – presumably plotting to deal his foe a lethal blow – not that that fazed AC, he grinned as he took great strokes towards the bottom of the tank and smashed a fist into Manta's helmet – denting it and being rewarded with a spout of bubbles – the suit was compromised and leaking.
Manta turned surprisingly nimbly for someone wearing such a bulky suit, dropping the bulky harpoon gun – it was useless at close quarters – and instead levelling his wrist at AC, shooting several darts out – like miniature torpedoes they raced across the tank, their tips containing vials of poison – designed to wear down an adversary. AC easily dodged the first salvo, slipping in between them with little trouble but felt one graze the bottom of his leg and groaned as he first spotted the ooze of blood drifting outward from his foot and then felt the poison begin seeping into his bloodstream. He focused; he could feel the vibrations from Manta closing in but in stead called out telepathically to the creatures in the tank for help.
He opened his eyes – his normally perfect underwater vision was blurring, he took a swipe at Black Manta but it was delivered so sluggishly that it past wide and allowed Manta within the swipe, allowing him to score some cheap shots in Aquaman's abdomen, causing him to wince and then angling a kick that caught him on the side of the phase, causing his head to spin as he drifted limply towards the base of the tank. He called out once more, allowing his telepathy to engage the creatures of the tank. He blinked his eyes as Manta dove downwards towards him – silhouetted against the top-lighting of the tank, and tried to stand him but felt his legs seize up – the poison was beginning to shut down his body.
He opened his eyes feebly and spotted two silhouettes honing in on Manta from behind him. A second later he was shooting to the surface and he emerged on the side and felt himself be carried and then dumped on the side, there was a stabbing pain in his arm and then he was wide awake once more and his feet were coming awake. He squinted and then blinked a few times to clear his eyes and spotted who'd rescued him, Mia, her hair still wet from the engagement smiled at him, he looked down and spotted Dick – Robin he corrected – tossing away an empty syringe, he grinned.
"Didn't realize I'd have to save your ass," he grinned, "although your buddies helped." AC bent over the side of the tank and groaned as his head span – he'd moved too fast – but he saw what had saved him, two Tiger Sharks were circling a few meters below, Manta's lifeless suit lay on the bottom of the tank – presumably he'd been stunned by the two Sharks, he could never be sure. The Aquarium shook and dust drifted down from the rafters.
"Go," he encouraged the two younger Heroes, "I'll be fine here."
. . .
"Okay causing this much shade on a sunny day? Not cool!" Courtney yelled as she dove out of the sky, firing blasts from her staff at the Shade as he dodged along the road, he turned and fired a few blasts from his cane which she swung between to dodge, barrel-rolling upward until she was hovering comfortably above him, she pointed her staff downward and sustained the beam this time, lengthening it and then furling it around the shade, wrapping him tight and then lifting him up, smashing him face first into a building and leaving him slumped and out of action.
"Courtney behind you!" yelled Mia too late for her to avoid the enormous, glowing yellow fist as it strove down, she plummeted from the sky face first into the road, slumping with her staff, Mia levelled her bow at the assailant, flinging of a couple of her regular arrows but they harmlessly bounced off – Robin twirled a few of his discs at the floating villain but they proved equally as ineffective, Mia sprinted having checked that they were safe to Courtney's side, checking her pulse and assuring that she was still alive.
"We need to keep moving," Robin appraised, "if she's fine we have to go – the longer we keep dealing with the bottom feeders, the more time they have to execute their plans – the Aquarium was a diversion."
"Well look what we found," hissed Copperhead as he pounced from the side of the building, fangs barred, "a couple of bite size snacks." He neared Robin, as Speedy levelled her bow at her dancing partner – Volcana, she bent over as though she was blowing a kiss and Speedy dodged the flames at the very last moment, forward rolling and flipping up in time to fire an ice-arrow from her quiver, levelling it and firing it. For a moment she had almost convinced herself it had worked, Volcana remained motionless for a moment – but then the ice began fragmenting and breaking down at the edges until she smashed free, snarling in earnest as she fired bolts of fire towards Mia.
Robin ducked and dived to avoid Copperhead's fangs, trying to land kicks and punches inside of him but failing each time as the taller fighter pressed him back. He fumbled in his utility belt ever few seconds to try and grab a disc to use at close quarters or one of his poles but to on avail, each second leaving him more vulnerable to attack. He spotted his opening and twisted out of Copperhead's grasp, slipping down to the ground and sliding through the spread legs of Copperhead, flipping up and landing a kick in the small of his back.
He heard Mia yell behind him and turned to see what had happened – she'd clearly been caught by a blast from Volcana and be burned – but he had little time to focus on her troubles as Copperhead's fist smashed into his face, knocking him to the ground, following up swiftly with a kick in the chest and the groin that caused him a rare cry of pain as he lay on the floor. Copperhead didn't allow for respite, pulling him up by his suit, bending his knees and springing up, hurling Robin head first towards a streetlight, an ear-splitting crack sounding out as he collided with it.
Copperhead now turned to Mia but she wasn't allowing him to get involved, she fired an arrow and Copperhead braced to dodge it but then cursed under his breath as it exploded, releasing a net that wrapped around him and then diffused an electrical shock, paralysing him and dropping him to the floor bagged up tightly. Volcana's fire shots were becoming more frequent but she had also closed distance – this meant her shots were less advantageous and Mia now had the advantage. She raised her fists and blocking a strike from Volcana, turning her right hand vertical and jabbing at Volcana's neck causing the older woman to scream as pain resonated through her body.
The momentary paralysis gave Mia the edge as she delivered an uppercut to Volcana's jaw and then followed up as she stumbled backward with a punch to the face, breaking her nose cleanly and causing blood to gush out of her nostrils. As it dripped down Mia clasped her hands together and elbowed her squarely in the chest, causing her to bend at the knees and she seized on the low stature, grabbing Volcana by the head and driving her down into the ground, successfully knocking her out, Mia dusted her hands off and then ran to Dick's side. The throw from Copperhead had probably broken his collarbone and his arm but he would leave, she bent and though she didn't know why kissed him softly on the head and then sprinted off in the direction of downtown Metropolis but paused as the ground shook with the force of another explosion.
. . .
Clark had gone on ahead – he wanted to go in together with Bruce but in reality Bruce was only a man, he had a few gadgets like Oliver but it wasn't realistically safe for him to go into an environment like this – he might know the Joker but at the end of the day the Joker could kill Bruce if necessary, it would take a hell of a lot more than a bullet to kill Clark, and besides this was his battle now – Bruce had his loved ones back safely in his grasp, Clark didn't have that – Lois was still being held hostage and the Joker had Lana.
Clark cruised in low toward the Luthorcorp building, springing up at the last moment till he landed at the summit of the roof, and spotted Lana – the Kryptonite wasn't effective at this range but within a few meters it would be, she was chained up somehow – Clark couldn't define exactly what metal was being used but it was strong enough to bind Lana and the abilities of the suit. Clark spotted the Joker with a pistol and the Joker grinned madly, levelling the pistol at Lana.
"Come Clark – your beloved is only seconds away from death – if you dare then you can save her – if you do not then she will die and you will have another death on your conscience," the Joker laughed shrilly as he cocked the pistol in readiness, "your call Mr Kent." Clark heard the trigger pull in slow-motion, his legs were already moving beneath him as he began crossing the roof, he could feel his powers eroding with every step but he gritted his teeth and powered forward. He could see the bullet now, travelling towards Lana whose face was scrunched up in a scream of peril, Clark dove the last few feet, angling his fist in a manner that he hoped would crumple the roof and buck Lana too a safe distance. Unfortunately the Joker's uppercut met him square on in the jaw, deflecting him, Clark spotted Kryptonite glowing on the knuckle-duster as the Joker stood above him grinning, Clark looked at him as he first levelled his pistol at Lana and fired a single shot, procuring a scream from her and then produced a Kryptonite sword. He felt his guts twist as the blade jabbed into his abdomen, driving up underneath his ribcage – not enough to kill him but enough to immobilize him.
. . .
"What is the problem Star Sapphire?" Sinestro taunted from beside her in the sky above Metropolis, "When I left you, Jordan was on the run and I heard you sent him crashing into this building – I had simply presumed you might finish the job." Carol said nothing and instead descended slowly toward the ground, she could tell things were going awry – the Heroes who had presumably escaped from the facility were now taking down the villains and the Toy Soldiers rapidly, as if to confirm her thoughts a blur of green-energy flared across the street below, taking out a swathe of soldiers as a flashes of electric-blue energy melted or dissolved more of the clockwork soldiers.
She dropped down swiftly and then angled forward, sailing into the flaming wreckage of the Daily Planet; she could immediately see Hal, glowing in the darkness of the superstructure, his mask remained fixed tightly to his eyes but his body was motionless, he stirred slightly as she drifted closer to him, she felt Sinestro draw up behind her, staring imperiously down at his former colleague – Jordan looked up at him and his face tightened resolutely against his fate. He looked up toward her and his piercing eyes cut straight through to her – was this really what she wanted on her conscience murder? The truth of the matter was that she had assumed the role of Star Sapphire in the pursuit of beautiful things, it allowed her to be an effective jewel thief, breaking into the most secure vaults in the world and seize the most valuable gems and trinkets for her personal collection – it gave her life a sense of meaning. This wasn't what she wanted.
"A job well done in bringing him down," Sinestro praised, "but if you are not willing to finish the job then I shall dispatch Green Lantern – another member of their pathetic Corps wiped from the face of the galaxy." He levelled his wring and Carol spotted it flaring, she focused upon her crystal and then turned toward Sinestro, firing a single beam toward him. Unfortunately it was not quite enough to incapacitate him, she took the secondary blast square in the chest as she soared into the sky, she raised her hand to her headdress in order to focus the blast, aiming at squarely at Sinestro who had conjured a simplistic shield above his head with his ring. She dodged further back while intensifying the beam and then sailed forward, only to shoot through his shield as he dissipated it and take the full force of an enormous yellow-fist to the small of her back, nose-diving toward the ground and crashing through the superstructure to lie next to Hal in the rubble.
She spotted Sinestro descending and lifted her hand to her crystal to defend herself but heard Hal murmur something and stopped.
"I hadn't expected you to be so weak-willed," he sneered as he levelled his ring toward her, "but I will dispense of you just as easily as I shall dispense of this amateur." He levelled his ring but before he had a chance to fire it twin-beams targeted him, the green energy of Hal's ring and the fuchsia energy of Carol's crystal intertwining to focus and subsequently blast past and through to Sinestro, knocking him backward and leaving him collapsed on the floor, defeated. Hal lifted himself out of the rubble and bent beside Sinestro, grabbing his power-ring from his hand before tending to Carol and lifting her out. She embraced him and kissed him passionately on the lips before relenting as she recalled the Joker's plans.
"We have to find the Joker," she instructed, "now."
. . .
"Now how does it feel Clark – you've lost one of your greatest loves and I am about to kill you in cold blood here as your precious city burns all around you, does it hurt Clark? To know that you failed, to know that your friends are dying and to know that you couldn't save everyone? Does it sting at you every time you think about the people that you didn't save today?" the Joker taunted as he angled the Kryptonite blade toward Clark, twirling it in his fingers as he circled his incapacitated foe. "Batman," the Joker addressed as he swivelled to face his grey-black suited foe who snarled a little, "what's the matter Bats? Did I do something wrong?"
"Firstly you kidnapped my son," he declared, throwing one of his Batarang's which slashed a gouge into the Joker's skin, tearing away the fabric of his suit, "and then you schemed to hurt innocent people and torture people all in your sick quest for power – I always knew you were messed up in the head but I didn't think you could actually go to those lengths Joker, I didn't think it possible that you could actually stoop lower than you already have but kidnapping teenagers? That's a new low." The Joker stood up and grinned wider still. Batman threw another Batarang and it knocked the Joker to his feet but he simply cackled instead of crying out in pain as he cast his head skyward, offering his face for Batman to slash with another Batarang.
"Do the job Batman – kill me, kill me and destroy this entire city," the Joker grinned madly, "there is a Nuclear Device in the basement of the Daily Planet, while your little band of heroes are stretched out thin and wide across the City trying to stop my villains a timed device is counting down in the basement, and when the clock runs out – boom," he laughed disconcertingly, "Metropolis disappears in one blast and takes out the only Heroes that could ever truly make a difference."
"Not today it doesn't," announced a voice, Batman turned on his heels in time to see a Green blur dart away from the building, he braced himself as Star Sapphire – or Carol Ferris as he knew her – approached, dressed in her black-magenta jumpsuit, she lifted her hand to the crystal in her headdress and focused her beam at the Joker incapacitating him on the floor, she caught Bruce's look and waved him down, "sometimes you only learn what side you're on at the last moment." She looked past Bruce as she watched Hal ascend into the sky, carrying with him the device. She felt the shockwave knock her to the floor as the explosion reverberated around her ears, she heard Bruce hit the floor beside her as she looked up and spotted the amber mushroom-cloud blossoming out across the city, she sprinted to the edge of the building and pencil-dived of it, sailing toward Hal as he plummeted from the sky, but she saw a blur fly past her and halted. She saw Clark catch him and relented that it was all over – they were safe.
. . .
Three Weeks Later
. . .
Chloe had never seen the Watchtower so crowded as she descended the staircase, followed by Clark, Diana, Bruce and Hal – the four saviours of the day by all accounts, she paused and then beamed at the assembled Heroes as they all fell silent, she nodded encouragingly to Clark and he stepped forward, standing awkwardly – public speaking had never been his forte – as he mentally prepared himself to address them.
"What we did together as a Team was phenomenal, we protected Metropolis and saved countless lives from the evil plans of the Joker – but he is only one in a vast number of villains, most of them are behind bars but there will always be a new villain or a new weapon that needs fighting," Clark declared boldly, "the Earth will always need protectors, we are going to be those protectors, you will find earpieces here at the front of the room – Chloe will use these from Watchtower to contact you if we need your help, membership is of course optional but together we think we can make a real difference not just here in Metropolis but in the wider world also…I guess that's it." He stood down and there was a smattering of applause before people broke of into separate groups.
"I spoke with the Guardians," Hal began swiftly, wishing to say his piece before the others, "they've assigned me to remain on Earth as a permanent Lantern here, so looks like I'll be sticking around a little longer."
"Me too," Diana grinned tenaciously, "I think I can make a real difference here in the world of Man – whether my mother disapproves or not, together we can really make a difference here, and I would like to make up for lost time on the Amazons behalf."
"Well sorry to rain on everyone's parade," disagreed Bruce, "but me and Robin work as a solo outfit, just call us associate members, if it's an emergency then we'll be here, otherwise we have our work cut out in Gotham."
Clark nodded, he then turned as Lois walked up and grinned slightly, her cuts from the duel were beginning to subside and she smiled as she planted a loving kiss on him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and then reluctantly pulling apart, "So you got your team sorted out Smallville?"
"In a manner of speaking," he said casting his head over the crowd of assembled heroes, "although I still need my secret identity – think you can help me out with that?"
"Lois Lane – Reporting for duty!" she joked and kiss him more enthusiastically.
. . .
Thank you for staying with me throughout my first Smallville Fic,
Hope you enjoyed it, there might be another one
In the works but I don't know,
Reviews welcome,
Acrobat
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