The New Adventures Of The Justice League
Chapter 10: The Final Battle
As Captain Marvel neared Savage and Sivana the two villains backed up nervously. "Now, now, Captain Marvel," Sivana said. "Just because we subjected you to three years of being experimented on and killed that old man that followed you here from Fawcett City doesn't mean that you have to kill us."
"Shut up," Savage growled. "You're just making him angrier."
"We have to stop Captain Marvel from reaching Savage and Sivana," Batman said quickly.
Superman nodded. "I'm on it," he said and launched himself into the air, intent on stopping the raging clone.
Although he no doubt saw Superman hovering in front of him Captain Marvel showed no intention of stopping but rather speeded up. Superman braced himself for an impact but, to his eternal surprise, found himself thrown back into the wall before Captain Marvel had even reached him. Superman shook himself out of his stupor and raced back to the center of the room, almost tripping over Hawkgirl who had accidentally been hit by a flying piece of debris, knocking her unconscious. He knew Sivana and Savage were criminal scum who didn't deserve to live but that wasn't Superman's job to decide; that job belonged to a judge and jury, it was just up to him to see that they lived long enough to reach that point in time. And in order to do that he would have to take down another clone. Again. He forced himself to put away the memories of Superboy and Supergirl and to focus entirely on the red-suited man flying towards him. He focused all of his strength into his fist and hit Captain Marvel square in the face. The other man flew backwards an inch then recovered and came charging once more, this time leading with a fist of his own that was crackling with electricity. The fist hit Superman in the mouth, knocking the man of steel across the room and into Wonder Woman, throwing both of them into the wall, Superman dazed as blood trickled down the corners of his mouth and his vision was strangely clouded as were his thoughts.
Green Lantern gulped nervously as he watched Captain Marvel take out both Superman and Wonder Woman with one punch. J'onn was still down for the count, clutching his head as he kneeled in the floor sobbing and crying out his wife and child's names and Hawkgirl was now unconscious. "It's up to you, John," he whispered to himself. "Go take out your clone and save the bad guys." He quickly threw up a green box around Captain Marvel, a box that would have taken Superman hours to get out of. A box that Captain Marvel merely phased through before turning to John, his eyes glowing white as John found himself placed in a similar box, his ring gone from his finger and encased in a much smaller box that was floating near the ceiling. "You have got to be kidding me," he groaned even as his Green Lantern uniform disappeared, only to be replaced by his khaki pants and blue polo shirt.
"Looks like it's just you and me, Bats," Flash said cheerfully. "So, uh, you want to go first?"
Batman just looked at him, raising an eyebrow in response.
"Thought not," Flash sighed heavily before running at top speed towards Savage and Sivana who were now randomly pushing buttons in an attempt to find something to stop their creation with. "Hey, Cap, over here!" he yelled, going to the other side of the room.
Captain Marvel didn't answer him but kept flying.
"Hey if you're our clone then doesn't that mean you should be just as fast as me? By my account you're a whole lot slower!"
Captain Marvel turned to face him, his eyes glowing white once again before Flash suddenly found himself running at normal speed.
"Are you kidding me?" he yelled angrily, coming to a complete stop as he desperately tried to catch his breath. "Did he really just take away my powers?"
Batman just shook his head ruefully. "Never send a meta to do a human's job," he sighed, pulling out two batarangs and throwing them. They exploded upon impact after hitting the ceiling. Rubble fell down, the dust obscuring everyone's vision. Once the smoke had cleared it was to observe a very annoyed looking Captain Marvel surrounded by a white shield. He shook his head disapprovingly and Batman suddenly found himself floating in the air, the collar on his uniform tightening, cutting off his air supply. His vision was growing blurry and he knew that he was about to black out when a voice ran throughout the building.
Stop!
J'onn's voice was loud and clear as he stood up. He walked over to Captain Marvel and looked him straight in the face. "You are our clone," he said loudly. "You have our DNA and our powers. But most of all you have our potential for becoming a hero. I might not be able to read your mind but I can tell that you don't like what you're doing right now. At this moment in time you are acting more like Savage and Sivana than us. So if there is any trace amount of us within you then fight it. Fight your programming, Captain Marvel. Become a hero, becomeā¦us." His voice sank to a whisper as he finished talking and faced his clone unflinchingly.
Captain Marvel blinked at him in stupefaction then slowly nodded. "You're right," he said at last. "I am your clone and I do have the genetic potential to become a hero." Even as he spoke handcuffs appeared out of nowhere, effectively trapping the two villains to some support beams. The Green Lantern and his ring were both set free, while Flash discovered that he could suddenly run again while Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Batman all attempted to regain their breaths' after almost being killed.
Captain Marvel stood in the middle of the room, looking strangely saddened. "I'm sorry about everything," he said at last. "I never meant to deceive you guys, honest. But Mr. Luthor said I couldn't tell you guys the truth but I did try to delay telling you as long as possible."
Wonder Woman stepped forward, her blue eyes shining brightly as she walked over to Captain Marvel and placed a hand on his arm. "It's not your fault, Captain Marvel," she said gently. "You were just following your programming."
"Thank you," he smiled at her then said, "and my real name is Billy by the way. Billy Batson."
Suddenly each member of the Justice League (except for J'onn of course) remembered meeting a black-haired, blue-eyed little boy; a boy that had tugged at all of their heartstrings.
"You were the kid that stole my wallet? But how did you change your size?" Green Lantern asked in confusion.
"Like this," Captain Marvel smiled then stepped back. "Shazam!" he cried loudly. Lightning cracked even as it struck him then vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving behind the little boy that they all remembered.
"Oh my," J'onn raised an eyebrow. "This does present quite a few wrinkles."
"How did you know our secret identities?" Hawkgirl asked curiously.
Billy gave her a look and said, "I used my telepathy to read your minds."
"Oh," she nodded in understanding and smiled warmly at him.
"So," Flash said at last after a few minutes of awkward silence. "What are we going to do with him?"
"Where do you live?" Batman asked.
"Nowhere," Billy replied with a shrug.
"Maybe we should take him back to the Watchtower with us," Wonder Woman suggested. "I mean, he already knows where it is."
"Only if we can figure out a way to combat his programming," Superman said firmly.
"All in favor of bringing Billy back to the Watchtower with us raise your right hand," Flash cried, raising his hand.
Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and J'onn all raised their right hands immediately. After a few seconds Batman reluctantly raised his as did Green Lantern and Superman.
"It's official," J'onn said. "Billy will be coming to live with us. I hope you will enjoy your new home," he directed the last statement towards Billy who was grinning and nodding eagerly.
"I hope so to," he said even as Hawkgirl held his right hand and led him back towards the others so J'onn could beam them to the watchtower. "I really, really hope so."
"What about them?" Superman inclined his head towards Savage and Sivana who were still handcuffed.
Billy turned to face the two villains, his eyes glowing white before they disappeared in a flash of light. "They're at Belle Reve Penitentiary right now," he said calmly.
"And on that note let's go home," Green Lantern said with a heavy sigh.
Batmen nodded but as the eight of them were beamed back to the Watchtower, a small frown appeared on his face, one that did not disappearā¦
A/N: Yeah it's finally finished! Um, Batman's frowning at the end of this chapter because he's a little worried about Billy's powers. If you want a sequel let me know and I'll start working on it immediately. Sorry if there wasn't a bigger/better fight scene but I did my best. Hope you guys liked it. Please read and review! Thanks for all your support!
