Crisis Point

by Legend Maker

There can be no better way of knowing, in a world beyond controlling...are you going to deny the savior right in front of your eyes? Are you, heroes? Titans? Alien? THEN YOU WILL ALL FALL.

12. Titans: That Hideous Strength

Titans: That Hideous Strength

Once upon a time, there was a Crisis.

Despite considerable efforts to the contrary, the world survived…so to speak. For at the time, there was more than one world, far more. Many died in the Crisis. Those that survived were never the same. But life, in its new forms, moved on.

There were three who proved vital in the world's survival, even amongst all the others. Alexander Luthor, avenging his lost universe. Superboy-Prime, doing the same. And Superman, Kal-L, the elder champion, who fought the good fight like so many of his stripe, including his…more enduring self. In the final moments of the last battle, faced with certain death…the three instead retreated to a paradise dimension, to live the rest of their lives in peace.

But peace is not a matter of place. It is a matter of mind.

I know that…far too well.

Kal-L remained who he always was…Alexander Luthor and Superboy-Prime did not. Denied any chance of a normal life, and allowed to see into the world they'd saved, their anger grew at how it moved on, how many poor choices and failings there were. In their anger, they found their viewpoint was not just a mirror. It was a pond, whose ripples could alter reality itself.

In their fury, they wrought many changes. But they were changes without control, without design. And seeing what could be, Alexander Luthor made a choice.

He broke free of the paradise dimension. He came to the world whose survival he ensured. Not to show it where it had gone wrong, but to change it until he deemed it was right.

And where his mind could not succeed, the strength of his champion, Superboy-Prime, served, the once noble teenager warped by the failings of the so-called paradise he had entered, and under the light of yellow stars possessing powers perhaps beyond anything the world had ever seen, past or present.

Alexander's plans came to fruition. Reality splintered. The lone world became many once more. And Alexander had all elements of existence at his command, as he sought to make a perfect world.

But…like all before him, Alexander failed. Many united against him, just like he had once stood united with them against a destructive force. Strangely, one of the primary lynchpins were children I knew well…the heroes who called themselves the Teen Titans.

Superboy, Conner Kent, was a honorary member. It was he who shattered Alexander's control over reality, at the cost of his life.

Alexander regrouped, as best he could, uniting an army of villains in an attempt to claim the world: if he could not have his ideal, he would settle for control over what was. But the heroes marshaled once more to fight him. Including the Teen Titans.

And I…I seek what is mine.

Alexander Luthor has tried to usurp me. Perhaps many would say he has.

But the battle has not ended yet.

And Alexander Luthor is about to realize that darkness is but a word.

The reality is something else…

I am The Lord.

This is MY world.

---

There was more to the story…

Once, there had been a being called the Anti-Monitor. Born of pure malice in a dimension of anti-matter, he had done what his nature compelled him to do, and tried to destroy everything in existence save what he desired.

He was stopped, at great cost. A bitter irony was, due to the manner of his defeat, most couldn't even recall it.

But some remembered, and in the files and memories of those who kept such things, he was considered the greatest threat to life and the nature of existence it was a part of that had ever existed, capable of wiping out universes and all that lay within them, a being of incalculable strength and durability. Supposedly invincible.

But the factors that were the Anti-Monitor's strengths also proved to be his weaknesses, for his existence and the power that came from it was due to his dual creation with his brother the Monitor, who had driven the Anti-Monitor to stalemate in the past and kept him from originally accomplishing anything. Even when the Anti-Monitor had discovered the means to increase his already staggering power by destroying positive matter universes, ending the deadlock and seemingly signaling victory, the Monitor had responded with a series of plans and countermeasures designed to thwart the Anti-Monitor's supposedly assured triumph. In the end, those plans had included joining together the heroes of five worlds, plans that had been so carefully crafted they continued on even after the Monitor's death (a death he had foreseen, at that). Plans that had ultimately ensured that every attempt the Anti-Monitor made to annihilate the last of the multiverse failed, including his last stand, where every hero on the planet united to finally destroy him.

Despite his loss, the danger the Anti-Monitor represented had never diminished.

The greatest threat?

Perhaps...

But in the end it had been stopped…and why not?

For two of the key elements in that battle against the Anti-Monitor had been Alexander Luthor Jr and Superboy-Prime.

Now a new crisis had come…and things were drastically different.

There had been no Monitor to see it coming and make plans, no force to unify the heroes, even as said heroes fractured and fell to personal bickering. Bickering that had been used to maximum effect by a brilliant mind, a mind corrupted by isolation, human failing and resentment, a mind that had built an incredible framework, and exploited many events both created and molded on and by its design to bring about the return of the multiverse. A masterful manipulation that almost saw victory, much like the Anti-Monitor's own efforts. A victory that might yet emerge.

Except that one of the elements, perhaps the primary one, of his possible conquest had gone beyond anything Alexander Luthor could have expected.

In a way, it oddly mirrored Barry Allen's great sacrifice in the original Crisis. The Anti-Monitor had had no idea that Allen could have done what he did on his final race, and that perhaps, more then anything, had cost him.

And now it had happened again, except the scales had swung the other way in the descent of Superboy-Prime.

Who now, perhaps, was more dangerous then the Anti-Monitor. For all his power, the Anti-Monitor had an organized resistance, backed around a sole, knowable goal that the heroes could thwart, all controlled by a benevolent other who had died so that worlds could live.

There was nothing like that opposing Superboy-Prime: all that faced him were ragtag groups that had tried their hardest and yet could not harm the insane child, whose powers had hit levels never expected. The sole hero of a gone universe, granted enough might to protect it all, might he never got to use…might now used in the service of a poisoned mind, lacking any kind of restraint or stability.

The DC Universe had seen many godlike threats, but as Batman could tell you, the most dangerous factor of a villain was unpredictability.

And nowhere greater does chaos thrive in righteous, misunderstood madness.

And unlike last time, there was only one universe to destroy. And Superboy-Prime definitely had the power to do it.

More dangerous then the Anti-Monitor?

…perhaps.

Let the heavens tremble…

---

And perhaps…

More then anything mentioned before that signaled how dangerous a threat Superboy-Prime was…

The Anti-Monitor may have had incalculable power…but he had limits. It had been shown he was capable of being worn down and wounded, even if such successes were only capable due to extreme measures like Dr. Light II (granted her powers during the original Crisis by the Monitor) absorbing the entire power of a star and then hitting the Anti-Monitor with it. In the end, he had proven not to be invincible after all.

Nothing like that had shown in the face of Superboy-Prime. He had been confronted with the mightiest forces that the planet Earth could muster and he hadn't slowed down an iota. His strength remained at maximum power. He had broken free of the Phantom Zone and his Speed Force imprisonment. He had shrugged off everything and anything people could bring against him.

The Titans knew that.

And perhaps…the saddest thing…was that Superboy-Prime couldn't fathom why they STILL continued to fight despite that understanding. Never mind they couldn't even touch him, how could any false heroes of this dark world muster this kind of willpower?

So to speak.

"Please. This is the worst try yet." Superboy-Prime said, as he floated near the ground, his face alight in the wicked sadism that had so recently become his driving force.

Every bit of explosive weaponry that Robin, the Uberton hero Bio-Weapon, and an obscure beast mutate superhero called Fuzzball could bring to bear was promptly dropped on Superboy-Prime, the blast rocking the street.

Gauntlet wasn't expecting much, and he got nothing, as the smoke cleared to reveal the Kryptonian unharmed.

"God, I'm starting to think Einstein was on to something with that time is relative thing. I feel like we've been fighting this guy for YEARS." Gauntlet complained, as Starfire, Scalpel, and Legend went charging in again. Starfire attacked with Starbolts, even as Scalpel and Legend brought their claws to bear, slashing at the teenager.

Superboy-Prime barely seemed to notice, as he grabbed Scalpel and hurled him into Starfire, both of them crashing violently into a building which promptly collapsed on them, even as Superboy-Prime kicked Legend so hard it sounded like another bomb going off, the alien flying down the street and crashing violently into a car, where she fell to rest among other fallen teenage heroes.

Burning energy slammed into Superboy-Prime, and he turned to look at Kurai as the Japanese teen poured it into him, the destructive blast exploding against Prime but not even scorching him. Superboy-Prime looked on with bemused annoyance as Kurai opened up the throttle even more, the skin on his hands and arms sizzling into terrible blisters as he unleashed all his power, refusing to believe that his might couldn't at least do some damage, ANY damage, but even as the force being exerted against Prime began to tear the streets and buildings around him apart, the insane Kryptonian continued to float there…

And then the energy cut out as Kurai collapsed, nearly passing out as he gasped for air. He didn't have any more to give. And everything he'd exerted had been for naught, as he looked at the armor-clad teen, who grinned.

"That was nothing." Superboy-Prime said, his eyes going red with his own crackling power.

Kurai's eyes narrowed.

And the heat vision tore at him.

"MY ONE REGRET IS THAT I NEVER TOOK YOUR HEAD, ROBERT YOU DOG!" Kurai yelled.

And then a green St. Bernard was slamming into him, just pushing him out of the way before the blast hit, the two teenagers hurled through the air as rocky shrapnel sliced across their bodies, Beast Boy turning back into human form as he and Kurai came to a rest from their tumble.

"…What…why did you…" Kurai said.

"No more death." Robin said, as Terra flew overhead, a ten-ton piece of the densest bedrock she could find with her as she hurled it at Superboy-Prime.

Superboy-Prime punched it so hard it literally exploded into DUST, the backlash hurling Terra backwards as she crashed to the ground.

Super-intense beams of fire and water then slammed into Superboy-Prime, but they bothered him about as much as Kurai's attack, as he turned and fired heat vision at Scorcher and H-Duo in turn: the only thing that saved them from death was a last second rock platform courtesy of Rocko rising up before them, and even then the shockwave of the impact the ocular attack made against the shield drove them both back and out into the open for a follow-up shot.

It never came, as in the next second, an angry and vicious Red Star came crashing down on Superboy-Prime, screaming vengeance.

Two seconds after that, Red Star went crashing into the concrete, his right arm and ribcage a shattered mess. And that had been a GLANCING blow.

Savior landed nearby, trying to spot an opening, even as Bumblebee, Argent, Killowat, Prysm, and two teenage metahumans with blaster powers whose name Savior couldn't remember all opened fire on Superboy-Prime, another hellstorm of destructive energy exploding against him. And it still didn't do anything; hell even Superboy-Prime's cape remained mostly intact…

As Superboy-Prime blew all the blasters away, literally, the wind coming from his mouth hitting hurricane speeds in seconds, and even though it wasn't of the freezing variety it still tore through Superboy-Prime's attackers…

As Savior jumped on his back and rammed the Shimmer home.

"ARGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Superboy-Prime yelled, as Savior desperately tried to hold on, to keep away from his fists, even as he tried to jack in and tear apart Superboy-Prime's brain…

Superboy-Prime began to spin, and Savior found he couldn't hold his grip as he was hurled off, the Shimmer trailing out as Savior tried to keep it inside Superboy-Prime's head…

Superboy-Prime seized it, and with one quick jerk yanked it out of his ear.

And then he seized it with his other hand and yanked as hard as he could, ripping the energy talent in half.

A whole new pain hit Savior so hard and fast it knocked him cold, as he crashed through the lower levels of a building and came to a rest in the sewers below the basement, unconscious.

Though he didn't technically go through any windows: they were already broken.

Robin was getting a sick feeling in his gut as he saw all this happening, even as he hopped over some rubble to where two more of Gauntlet's friends/acquaintances from Uberton were doing…something. One was a hero called Gauss Lad, with magnetic powers: he was pulling metal towards a central sphere and…crushing it into said sphere? The other Robin didn't recognize, though his armor suit looked somewhat familiar. He was helping bring any metal they could find to the sphere and holding it up…

Wait…

"Peregrine?" Robin asked Armored Suit Teen, who looked at him.

"Yes?"

"…Wait, what happened to the other Peregrine?" Robin found himself asking.

"You got me! I just found this suit in the trash!" 'Peregrine II' said, as he directed another car towards the sphere and Gauss Lad crushed it into the central mass…and Robin finally realized what they were doing.

And then Raven appeared from the shadows, greatly startling the two Uberton teenagers.

"Robin!" She gasped, and at first Robin thought she was exhausted, another swing in the state of magic at the moment. Then he realized it wasn't exhaustion. It was terror. And Raven didn't scare easily. The sick feeling within him increased.

"What is it Raven?"

"It's him…he's here…"

"Who?"

"Hey we're done! Move!" Gauss Lad yelled, even as Gauntlet and Paragon made another dual effort at their enemy, backed up by Beast Boy as an ankylosaurus: the pair hurled him at Superboy-Prime, as he curled into a ball in mid-trip.

Superboy-Prime slapped him aside, and even THAT nearly broke every bone in Beast Boy's dinosaur body, as Gauntlet and Paragon jumped the armored teenager themselves, their fists and artifact pounding on him.

Another glancing blow sent Gauntlet into Paragon before they both went crashing into the street, smashing another crater into the battered landscape. A crazy thought occurred to Robin: if he survived this he was never going to complain about potholes again.

Gauss Lad and Peregrine II were floating past him, holding up their makeshift weapon…and Robin saw Raven was helping them, immense strain on her face, as they hurled the sphere at Superboy-Prime, their respective talents slamming it across his face.

His head snapped back violently.

The orb was let go, crashing into the street and vanishing into it, a small hole the only indication it had been there in the first place.

And then Superboy-Prime swiveled his head back around, murder in his eyes.

"…That was 10,000 tons of hyper-compressed metal and he just shook it off like it was a tennis ball." Gauss Lad said in utter shock.

A low animal noise came from Superboy-Prime's throat, a snarling sound of rage.

"Robin…" Raven said, even as Robin stared at the teenager.

He started forward, perhaps even began yelling an order.

And then all noise was consumed by the sonic boom as Superboy-Prime once again slammed his forearms together and obliterated everything around him with the mother of all force shockwaves. All the buildings around Prime collapsed, and dust and smoke exploded into the air.

When it cleared, Superboy-Prime floated there, the anger having not faded, looking at the fallen and broken Titans around him. He'd had it. That white-haired one had said something about them joining the fake Superboy, Superboy-Prime was all for that, as his eyes glowed red…

---

And a few minutes before these events, Alexander Luthor did himself credit and only managed to be stunned for about a second.

"…So, some third-rate lunatic rears their ugly head with the thought that he can just walk in and take over. Or am I assuming wrong?" Alexander said.

"Don't bother with the supposed confidence, Alexander Luthor. I can read you like a book." The Lord said, his cloaks of black flapping around him, one around his shoulders and one around in his waist, the rest of his body clad in black metallic armor, one arm seemingly human and the other composed of black shadow, minutely shifting in time with his velvet black irises, his ebony hair drifting in the breeze. "Though I will pay you the compliments you deserve. This was truly a masterful plan."

"And one that fully took your breed into account. Or did you really think I didn't expect creatures like YOU returning from death?" Alexander said.

"Please Alexander, I…"

And then the Lord jerked backwards as a laser beam sliced over his left shoulder, and snapped his arm up and returned fire with a blast of destructive energy, the attack flying past Alexander Luthor and striking the superhero Technocrat, who exploded in a dark eruption of fire.

"Do hate when I'm interrupted." The Lord said, lowering his arm as Luthor glanced at the remains of the hero, and then back at the Lord, who continued without missing a beat. "The Spectre could have found me. He didn't. You thought I WAS gone, and not a factor. You were wrong. I am because this is not your world to claim. It's MINE, and I'll be damned if you try and usurp me."

"Don't make me laugh." Alexander replied. "You're already damned. You're everything that's wrong with this world. All the delusion, the greed, the sickness. The futility of the sacrifices I made."

"What were you expecting, choosing the side of the human race all those years ago? And you've come back to the dance too late to switch sides and lead, Alexander." The Lord said, as he made a circular gesture, indicating the city around them. " But all these heroes and competition in one place, tearing themselves apart, very…practical. You could always get a hint and switch to the winning side."

Alexander snorted in laughter. The Lord's eyes narrowed a touch.

"Or you could laugh at me." The Lord said, sounding resigned. "I should expect nothing less from a Luthor."

"And I should expect nothing more then someone as unoriginal and worn out as your kind, 'Lord'. You speak words that have come forth a thousand times from a thousand voices, and all of them are united in their failure. Your voice included, bested repeatedly by those Titans."

"Those Titans will yet best you, Alexander. I watched your great Tower fall personally."

"Then you should know you're irrelevant. By showing your face, you've already lost. I know everything about you, 'Lord'.."

"Then you should know that the darkness of this world, the darkness you so despise, is overflowing on this battlefield. And you should know that such a fact is like standing on a giant battery for me, on top of all I already command." The Lord said, holding up a hand again, his tone momentarily growing wistful. "I hear it…I feel it…so powerful, in my veins. The pulse, the beat, sounding out the last battle. The drums of war march in my head. Can you hear it Luthor? Can you hear the drums?"

"It doesn't matter WHAT instrument you hear. I know what harms you. And I have the means to bring it to bear like you've never seen before."

"Oh, you mean the Superboy? That whining emo bastard? You think he poses any kind of a concern for me?" The Lord said.

"Now who's putting up a false front?" Alexander replied. "You know what he is, what he can do. He'll send you after the other 'lords of shadows' that have walked this earth. You, just the latest in a long line of pitiable minds and forth-rate abilities."

"Oh, and you speak as if YOU are so original! A hero, fallen to the dark side, I've NEVER seen THAT before!" The Lord snarked. "I could go into any movie store, find any James Bond movie, rip the villain out and stick him in your place, and I doubt I'd see more then a few iotas of difference between them and you."

"At least I know my goals. What do you really have? Destruction and creation from a man so flawed that he hates himself and cannot comprehend a world with him or without him."

"Ah, so you once again show your supposed sagacity, thinking yourself so great because of a well executed plan." The Lord said. "It can't hide how strained your fingernails are, Luthor. You set it up and started it, but you no longer control it or how it will end. This is no longer a chess game: it's a game of Mouse-Trap. Full of sound and fury, signifying NOTHING."

"You dare call ME uncreative? A zealot of shadow, unsatisfied with the world. Echoes of Batman without a real quest or the restrictions to be interesting."

"What…"

"RAAAAAAAUUGGHHHHH!!!" Evil Star bellowed, as he crashed into the Lord from the side, knocking him from his perch…

The Lord's body broke apart, shadow tendrils seizing the alien warlord and pulling him into the shifting darkness his form had become. There was a terrified scream, and then a giant eruption of blood flew from the shadowy morass, a mangled mess falling to the ground as the darkness flowed back up and reformed into the Lord.

Though not even shaking the blood off his hand could hide how aggravated the Lord was to have been interrupted. Again.

"…perhaps I should let that speak for itself." The Lord said, trying to recover.

"Oh, you mean your power? Feh." Alexander said. "What you have is nothing."

"And what YOU have is a mad child throwing a temper tantrum, the last vestiges of your control soon to be shaken off. He bleats about how he's going to be Superman…shuh, what a joke. Superman is at least something to be noticed. Despite all his power, all I can do is laugh at him and his little crybaby antics. He's pathetic. Just like you." The Lord said. "No matter what the world, neither you nor your father can win. At least this world's Lex Luthor has the common sense to apply his genius to self-gratification. When the wave of white consumed him, what did your father have to show for his efforts? A WEAK LITTLE NOTHING LIKE YOU. Fighting the good fight leads to a false heaven, switching sides the same psychasthenia that so many have found before. He would have been better off putting a toy poodle in that rocket for all the good you've done." The Lord said.

Alexander's eyes narrowed as intense rage flashed across his face…but only for a moment.

As it was followed by…amused satisfaction. The Lord's eyes narrowed: he'd thought he'd had the last word there.

"…Well, I suppose you'd know first-hand what it's like to be a weak little nothing." Alexander said. "Wouldn't you…Richard."

And Alexander Luthor accomplished something that very few had ever did: he, as the Lord himself had, made the Lord of the Night looked absolutely and utterly stunned.

Golden power exploded on Alexander's hand.

The Lord knocked his arm aside before he could strike, his fist slamming into Alexander's face and briefly staggering him, as strong fingers seized the front of Alexander's outfit and yanked him up. Alexander cleared the cobwebs and looked down at the simmering fury he'd awakened in the Lord through one simple word.

"…I underestimated you, Alexander Luthor. You have learned more, and know more, then I ever would have expected. But NOW YOU KNOW TOO MUCH." The Lord said, as terrible claws appeared on his free hand. "But don't worry Luthor. You won't be alone. As soon as I'm done with you, that stupid wannabe joke of a Superboy is following right after…"

The blow was so titanic in its impact that it actually bruised Alexander's sternum, as Superboy-Prime flew in and slammed his fist across the Lord's face, nearly tearing his head off before he crashed into the ground with a thunderous explosion of noise.

Stunned, Alexander dropped back down onto his World View. That had been far too close, as he looked up at Superboy-Prime, the armored teen's eyes awash in fury.

"Thank you for your assistance, Superboy, though I must say…"

"Shut up Alex. I didn't do this for you. I heard him. NO ONE CALLS ME STUPID." Superboy-Prime said, clenching his fists.

Alexander looked at Superboy-Prime, and the worry bloomed in him again, as he remembered the Lord's words; that Superboy-Prime had almost fully slipped his bonds…and Alexander realized he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

The shadow flowed back up, once again forming back into the Lord. He did not look happy.

"Well, I'm amazed your peanut of a brain could comprehend something like a sneak attack." The Lord snarked.

Beams of terrible heat flew at the Lord, and he dodged aside…right into Superboy-Prime's second punch. It proved even more devastating then the first one, as the Lord flew across the entire street and crashed into a building, which promptly collapsed on him.

"You're dead." Superboy-Prime hissed, and gave chase.

Alexander watched, and he wondered: the Lord had acted like he wasn't worried about Superboy-Prime, but Alexander had gathered from his words that he'd been waiting for a bit to try and jump into the race, gathering information while he waited. And if that was the case, surely he knew the source of Superboy-Prime's power…

And whether that would be a factor, as a hand of black suddenly exploded from the ground and seized Superboy-Prime, stopping him dead, and moments later a gigantic eruption of black power exploded from the rubble of the building as the Lord floated out.

"That…HURT." The Lord hissed, his chest smoking. "So, you would stand in the way of my destiny. I knew you would. I am still EXTRAORDINARILY pissed off."

The Lord held out his hand. A five-foot double-bladed katana appeared in it, even as he once again snapped out his claws, his cloaks billowing around him.

"NOW THERE WILL BE VIOLENCE."

And with a scream, Superboy-Prime broke free of his bonds and lanced at the Lord.

Their impact was so violent it knocked Alexander Luthor off his World View. As he sprawled on the ground, staring at the holocaust that had been unleashed, he realized that he'd been bluffing too much in his words with the Lord. He didn't like the variables for this, not at all.

But that didn't mean he was helpless. Hell no, as Alexander got up and got back on his World View. The Lord dismissed him as a joke? Alexander would show that second-rate Shade who the REAL laughingstock was.

He wasn't going to lose.

---

In a battle of gods and monsters, he somehow managed to stand out, perhaps due to his odd clothing. Then again, perhaps 'odd clothing' should not be a description of beings who regularly wear their underwear outside of their pants, but despite this fact, he stood out.

Possibly because instead of any kind of costume he was wearing black and white puritan clothing, right down to the long white socks and buckled shoes.

If that wasn't strange enough, his skin was a blueish-white color, and his black hair was done up in a way so that each side pointed up like a horn. Definitely someone who caught the eye.

He was also young, and carrying a large orange cat, who hissed and clawed at the creature before him. It was called Shrapnel, a living mass of sharp metal with a very poor sense of humor.

"Oh my Teekl, we may be in a spot of trouble." The blue boy said: dealing with mortal flesh was one thing but a creature made entirely of metal, he couldn't recall any instructions for that, after all, he'd seen what one great beast of iron had done to the mighty Horigal, yet he couldn't just stand there while the unpleasant creature moved to crush him…

In the end, he didn't have to do anything, as lines of white suddenly erupted from the ground, and with a bellowing snarl Shrapnel tumbled into the pit among a storm of rock, as the blue boy's eyes widened in surprise.

Savior pulled himself free even as he yanked more debris down on the metahuman that he'd caused to fall into the ground: he hoped he hadn't taken out one of his teammates…

"Bravo! Bravo! That was so abrupt and exciting, white stranger!" Came the voice, and Savior turned his battered face to look at the blue boy, who was clapping excitedly at Savior's gamble. Well, he wasn't attacking Savior, so he guessed he'd picked right in who was the villain.

"Uh, thanks." Savior said. "…Do I know you?"

"I am Klarion sir, of Bleak Villa, Shackle Streets, Limbo Town, come to your world of Blue Rafters…"

"Wait wait wait…Klarion?" Savior asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"The Witch-Boy?"

"Hopefully forever!" Klarion the Witch-Boy said, grinning a grin of pure delight, as if being reminded of his youth was the best thing in the world.

Savior stared, as he tried to match up scraps of info in the back of his head with what he was seeing. Klarion the Witch-Boy was supposed to be a very powerful extra-dimensional child-creature…and that didn't fit with the elated child before him, who had seemingly enjoyed Savior's emergence so much, as if everything he saw was new and wondrous…wait…

"Do you know who I am?" Savior asked.

"Sorrowfully not sir, I have only begun to glimpse some of your world, despite the great things I have seen and done…"

"…Are you on my side then?"

"Alliances in this chaos are quite questionable, but I find one side's violence to be far more feckless then I have a taste for. But Teekl here seems to have no reason to try and claw your eyes to bloody sockets, so I will assume you are of a sort decent enough for me to abide by."

"…Great." Savior said…and then the voice slammed into his head.

"…avior!"

"Raven?" Savior asked.

"Raven? I know no raven. Have you forgotten my name already? For shame white stranger…and if you refer to the bird I am afraid now is not the time for my familiar to seek prey, as much as he may disagree with me…" Klarion said, before Savior held up his hand. "Ah, you offer me someth…stranger your hand is empty, it is rude to act in such a deceitful manner…"

"No no no, just…be quiet please. I'm…busy." Savior said. "What is it Raven?"

"What strangeness is this, that…ah I see. You speak to another within your own head. It is understandable now." Klarion said: Savior didn't know how the Witch-Boy had figured that out but he'd live with it, as he tried to tune into Raven's head again.

"We need you to get back as soon as you can! Are you hurt?"

"I'll live."

"Then get here! This situation just somehow got even worse!"

"Oh god, how could…"

A gigantic explosion of noise blasted through the city, as Savior and Klarion recoiled. A few seconds later, Savior realized something chilling: that hadn't been a detonation noise. It had been an impact noise.

The sound of a blow.

The loudest one he'd heard yet, and he'd heard some potent ones over the past several battles.

But what could make such an intense…

"Oh my! What a magnificently expressed sound, to be heard so well over this cacophony! Do you know what it was, white stranger?" Klarion asked.

Savior knew. Raven had just told him, and for a moment Savior suddenly felt weak in the knees.

"…I'll be there as soon as I can. Raven, make sure you tell J'onn this."

"I'm trying, he's still engaged in a deadlock with Dr. Psycho, but he needs to warn the heroes, they have to get out of the way of this…!"

Another thunderous crack of noise exploded over the city, and Klarion laughed again, while Teekl folded his ears and let loose with a low moaning hiss, not liking the racket as much as his master did.

"I don't see how we can't." Savior said, and looked at Klarion. "Look, Klarion was it…you may want to take cover."

"You wish for me to steal blankets?"

"NO! I mean…just be careful."

"Why do you give me such a warning? Is it because of that noise? What is that noise anyway?"

"Nothing good." Savior said, as he threw out a Shimmer strand.

"White stranger, if I do not see the noise for myself, how can I tell if I should consider it good or…" Klarion trailed off as Savior swooped away. "Well, how rude to leave in the middle of a conversation…then again he did seem quite preoccupied to begin with…"

Teekl suddenly hissed again.

"Brother Klarion." The cat suddenly spoke, his ears pulled down again. "Someone else approaches, and I have severe doubts that they will prove as entertaining. They reek of blood."

"Do they now…" Klarion said. "Well then, perhaps the scent of blood calls for a certain response…"

"Be wary Brother Klarion. Forget not the troubles of last time…"

"I remember them quite well, Teekl. And you need not worry this time. The witch-women may learn secrets the men never do…but I was always quite good at learning what I should not…" Klarion replied, turning his head to see what his cat-familiar had sniffed out…as Mr. Zsasz emerged from the shadows of some wreckage, blade gripped in his hand, eyes almost concealed behind shades or a mask, it wasn't exactly clear which. He was shirtless, and his skin was absolutely covered in scars, all in the four and one diagonal mark across that served as a universal signal for a tally. Klarion thought he might have seen him earlier, when he'd been assisting other heroes in a group battle before he'd broken away and wandered over here.

"Well…what a strange one…but strangeness does not change the worthlessness behind it all…come then…" Zsasz said. Klarion's eyes narrowed.

"I pity you if your eyes are so blind that they classify all they see as worthless, but if you wish to do me harm, you will find I am not as frail as I appear to be…COME HORIGAL COME! HORIGAL HUNT!" Klarion loudly chanted.

Zsasz was never sure what had happened: one moment he had been looking at a small boy and an orange cat, and then…they were something else, a monster, of blue flesh and orange fur, one that had seized him before he could retreat, a monster that had as little mercy as he did, and less.

Such was the power of some of Limbo Town, as Zsasz found in his last moments that the final cut was indeed the deepest.

---

Savior would have frowned on such extreme tactics, but he wasn't there, as he swiftly made his way back to where the Titans had attempted to battle Superboy-Prime. His heart sank at the sight, of all his teammates and those who had come to help him lying on the ground, some unconscious, some injured, some in pain, and some in deep shock. Robin was still on his feet, trying to put on a strong face for the others. Admirable, but now was not the time to respect such things, as Savior dropped down next to him.

"What's the situation Tim?"

"The good news is, no apparent losses. The bad news is that we can probably muster 60 percent of our ranks again at most, and it wouldn't be much of an offense. And considering the situation…even if it was a hundred percent, such a choice would probably be suicidal."

Another tremendous explosion sounded over the teenager's heads, making both the teens recoil; they both looked up into the sky, at a sight Savior would have never guessed he would see.

Superboy-Prime…and the Lord of the Night, trading blows…well, trading was generous. Superboy-Prime was just furiously punching, trying to hit the Lord, and not having much luck at it. The Lord was having more luck with his attacks. The massive impacts were when the two of them caught each other with respective strikes, hitting each other simultaneously…something the Lord seemed to get the worse of, as he tumbled away from Superboy-Prime.

And Prime's lack of certain aspects immediately became apparent, as he didn't immediately go after the Lord but floated there for at least three seconds, no doubt gloating before he actually gave chase…and it cost him as he missed the Lord completely with his diving punch, as the Lord dodged behind him, and as Superboy-Prime whirled back around the Lord snapped up his foot, violently kicking Superboy-Prime under the chin. It didn't seem to floor him as much as Prime's blows to the Lord did, but it clearly wasn't ignored either.

"…How did this happen…" Savior found himself thinking out loud.

"Why wouldn't it?" Raven said, as she floated down near the two teenagers. "It's perfect. A backup plan that's slapdash in a sense, commanding holes the original plan didn't have, heroes and villains wearing themselves out, a mastermind seemingly ripe for the plucking…how could the Lord not pass this up?"

"BECAUSE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD." Scalpel hissed, making Savior jump: he really was distracted if he couldn't have sensed the badly battered alien approaching him.

"He's been dead before." Robin said.

"…do you think he can win?" Savior said.

"All I know is I doubt my neurotoxin will work on the Lord." Scalpel said, as he produced a strange-looking syringe from inside his coat.

"…where did…"

"I procured it at the STAR Labs, when things started going all to gyuveh. I believed it could be useful…even though I did not get a chance to use it. Maybe for the best…even with it in the strongest hypodermic I have, I suspect it would have broken on Prime anyway."

"We ALL broke on Prime." Savior said grimly. Other teenagers were joining the Titans, some familiar faces and some not. Savior looked at them, and marveled that they were still willing to fight. If he'd been placing bets he would have laid odds on desertions having started by now. Then again, he'd never had the greatest faith in his own species.

Yet these teenagers still had faith in them…in the T the nine Titans wore. They were looking to them for guidance.

In the end Robin picked that up as well.

"Raven…well, any idea?" Robin asked. To her credit, Raven didn't ask for clarification.

"I don't know. It's true that considering Superboy-Prime's powers, the Lord would seem to be at a disadvantage…not even considering the level of those powers…but if WE know that, the Lord surely does as well, and he surely has a plan…whether or not it has holes in it that will prove its undoing this time, I don't know. But I almost hope he wins. At least he has a known weakness to exploit."

"Yeah. Can't say that for Emoboy Von Doom though!" Gauntlet said as he walked up, his Ubertron fellows with him. "Didn't he read his contract? EVERY villain is supposed to have some kind of weakness! Something we can use! Otherwise how are we supposed to win?"

"Maybe this is the time where that doesn't happen. Maybe this is the first villain without something to exploit." Savior said. "Maybe the only way to win this is sheer attrition…and we all see how that's going…in this case if at first we don't succeed, maybe someone else should do it."

"I'm not getting anything clear from J'onn, though I think he said he'd try and make sure to tell every hero about this sudden change, and for people to get out of the way. Anyone who gets in the way of THAT is going to regret it…that's the only clear thing though." Raven said. "The rest…well, someone MIGHT have finally gone to try and tell the heroes in that dead zone in the Arctic what's going on, but we can't count on that. Rob, what about your dad?"

"In theory, he should be here any minute. In reality…might be two minutes, might be ten."

"He'll help anyway. The heroes are getting some reinforcements, but they're a trickle compared to the flood that the Justice League heads would be." Robin said. "Don't forget all the other villains that are attacking this city; battling with Prime makes it too easy to get…"

A cataclysmic explosion sounded over the Titans' heads once more, and as they all recoiled again, a figure plummeted down into the ground, followed swiftly by another, but with all the smoke and dust they moved too fast to tell who between the Lord and Prime had gone first.

"…Tunnel vision." Robin said.

"If we're going by the tactic that getting between the Lord and Prime is suicidal, maybe we should back up some other heroes. Deal with something more our speed." Savior said.
"Has anyone seen the Joker? I wouldn't mind…"

"Dude, didn't you hear? Joker's not here." Gauntlet said.

"What? How did you…why?"

"Hey, from what I heard, he was the only big name who was specifically REFUSED membership. No one else, just him." Gauntlet said.

"…I'm really not surprised." Savior said. "Joker's too crazy for Alexander to manipulate…that probably stuck in the Joker's craw though."

"We can worry about the Joker's wounded pride later. We need to think of a…" Robin said.

"Uh guys?" Terra said, as she looked up into the sky: something had caught her eye, some kind of movement. "What's that?"

Robin looked up…even as the figure plummeted down towards them, coming down from a jump. His eyes went so wide it was a wonder his mask didn't tear.

"SCATTER! MOVE!"

The gigantic form crashed down among the teenagers, as some dashed and dove out of the way and some were hurled by the shockwave. Savior didn't land well, the wind knocked out of him before he inhaled a lungful of dry dust, causing him to cough violently as he looked at the mammoth form…

He didn't think anything else could make his blood run cold again. He was wrong, as once more, ice filled his veins.

As Doomsday stood up from his semi-crouch, more dust falling from his massive shoulders, as Savior stared at him, the creature that had killed Superman. Doomsday had wrecked merry havoc across Metropolis, and then on a whim leapt into the air. And he'd come down back near where Alexander and Superboy-Prime had seen him…right in the midst of the Titans.

New blood to spill.

For a moment, Savior considered that maybe he should just retreat. There was honorable death on the battlefield and then there was pointless suicide, and if they tried to fight Doomsday…

Ironically, Doomsday didn't strike first, as beams of green energy exploded against the side of the monster's head, and he growled at the sudden sensation, even as he turned into four other blasts.

Savior stared.

And then Raven appeared next to him, stepping forth from the shadows.

"Keep with distance attacks! DON'T LET HIM GET CLOSE!" Raven yelled, as she scooped up every bit of wreckage and rubble she could and hurled it at Doomsday, who was being assaulted from all sides now and was completely confused at which way to go and who to kill first. Savior, in turn, stared at Raven.

"Snap out of it Noel! If we can keep him busy, then he can't go tear through other heroes, give them time to get some ground back, let reinforcements arrive, DON'T JUST STAND THERE!" Raven yelled, and actually punched Savior on the shoulder.

That snapped him out of it, as his eyes narrowed. Ok, so they WERE going to fight Doomsday? Then no one was dying on HIS watch!

And Doomsday found, to his ever-growing aggravation, that he suddenly had another annoying bug stinging at him.

---

The rubble moved away from the crater, and a few seconds later the Lord pushed himself back up, glowering at Prime's distant form before he glanced down at his chest and torso, thin wafts of smoke still drifting up from where he'd been struck. It figured. If it weren't a group of teenagers with nine lives, it was one with so much power that he could go toe to toe with the Lord and come out smiling…so much solar power his very touch burned the Lord's form.

Unfortunately for him, this wasn't a situation where sheer power would win. Prime thought he had this in the bag?

Hardly…

The armored teen slashed down from the sky…

The Lord was just letting him trail out enough rope to hang himself.

And the whole city shook as Superboy-Prime punched the empty crater where the Lord had been, his fist nearly going all the way up to the shoulder into the ground, his eyes widening in surprise.

The shadows flowed up from the ground nearby and reformed back into the Lord, and as a few stunned superheroes and considerably more supervillains recovered from the power of the shockwave, Superboy-Prime ripped his arm from the ground and glared daggers at the Lord.

"Playtime is over." The Lord said.

"RARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Superboy-Prime yelled, tearing towards the Lord and swinging his fist out.

The Lord dearly wished he could catch the blow, but that was beyond even him.

He settled for snapping his head to the side, the punch whistling past his cheek, his eyes narrowing as he felt the sheer energy pumping through the child's cells…solar energy. The accused sun.

But that didn't keep him from dodging the punch. And the next punch. And the next. There was no technique in the blows, nothing but blind rage, and even when Superboy-Prime sped up, not needing the gone Speed Force to accelerate his own body past human limits, the Lord was able to dodge it, the blows glancing off him at best. Superboy-Prime grew red in the face…yet he didn't run short of breath, the Lord noticed. Damn. Well, he'd take that into account, just like he'd done already. The direct blows he had taken in the sky (which had produced the impact noises heard earlier) were about 40 percent due to Prime's power and speed. The rest was the Lord taking his measure.

And he was just about getting sick of playing on the defense, as he reared away from a blow, his sword reforming in his hand.

"School is in session. Lesson 1: It's not the blows you see coming…" The Lord said, as he slashed his sword at Superboy-Prime.

The sword broke on the teenager's armor, and Prime grinned viciously…

As the Lord lunged forward, going with the broken blade, exactly as he had planned, as he used Prime's overconfidence against him and stabbed his dark claws straight into the mad teenager's eyes.

Had he done that to anyone else, it would have resulted in a very messy death. Such was Prime's strength that it didn't even draw blood, but the Lord had yet to find someone who could ignore super-sharp blades being shoved into their eyeballs, and Superboy-Prime wasn't one either as he recoiled and screamed, clutching his face. No injury, but brief but intense pain. For someone as strong as Prime, it was a start.

"It's the ones you don't." The Lord finished.

"I'LL KILL YOUUUUUUU!" Superboy-Prime bellowed, as he cut loose with blistering blasts of his heat vision. The Lord did a deep backwards lean to avoid it, the blast shooting over him…and striking the villains Leather and Calendar Man, who were vaporized to ash before they could even scream. The Lord snapped back up as black fire erupted on his hand, and he fired his own blast at Superboy-Prime.

Prime didn't dodge: he just thrust out his hand and punched the blast.

It exploded, blasting intense waves of force outward, shattering the street underneath and the building fronts around the two, as well as sending various heroes and villains flying once more.

Fortunately, the heroes, by now, had heard J'onn's warning and mostly backed off. Unfortunately for the villains, while J'onn would have warned them away as well, his mental war with Dr. Psycho kept him from doing it.

And the villains paid for it, as they hit the ground and barriers, debris flying through the air and slicing/smashing it's way through their ranks. Shellshock hit a car at the wrong angle and was nearly broken in half, while a piece of flying stone flew straight through Spellbinder's throat, leaving her to choke to death on her own blood. The Electrocutioner survived his body-pulping toss and roll, but suffered a broken kneecap…which left him helpless as a nearby brownstone building collapsed on him, crushing him to death under its tons of weight.

Even as Superboy-Prime flew back into battle, yelling his anger as he punched at the Lord. The Lord half dodged the blow and half deflected it off his sword.

"Lesson 2." The Lord said, as he sidestepped another punch. "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

His anger flaring even higher at being called stupid again, Superboy-Prime screamed and punched at the Lord again…as the Lord sidestepped once more, and as Prime was thrown off-balance the Lord swung his foot around and down, kicking Superboy-Prime in the back of the head and knocking him to the ground.

Not even a scratch, the Lord knew, but he was tearing the hell out of the teenager's insane ego, as Superboy-Prime was back up and blasting, this time trying for a wide-range heat-vision shot. The Lord's form vanished into the ground even as Prime fired, and the Flash rogue Plunder found he should have stolen away as the heat vision blasted him into blackened bones.

"YOU THINK I'M STUPID!?" Superboy-Prime roared, as he whirled and slashed his fist behind him.

He only hit air, but even that was terrible, as the sheer strength and speed of his blow send out a cutting shockwave, catching the villain team Dark Nemesis and slicing them to ribbons.

"I think that's been well established."

And the Lord dropped out of the sky, Prime turning around just in time to catch both the Lord's feet in his chest as the Lord buried him in the pavement and leapt off, black power erupting on his hands as he fired twin-blasts into Prime, the shot blasting him further into the street before it exploded, as the whole street and its buildings completely shattered under the attack and collapsed, as the Lord flew back up.

"Lesson 3. When you assume, you…"

Stone exploded off the ground as Superboy-Prime erupted from the rubble at the Lord. His charge nearly hit light speed.

Yet somehow…the Lord dodged.

"Oh forget it, you can't be taught." The Lord said, and stabbed out an arm, as darkness erupted off the limb and into a gigantic blade that slammed into Superboy-Prime and speared him into another building, as the Lord sent an explosive charge after the godly teenage and blew up the structure, it also collapsing on Prime in a shower of countless tons of debris.

There was a moment's pause.

"YOU CAN'T HURT ME YOU…!" Superboy-Prime screamed as he ripped himself free once more…

The Lord met him at his emergence point, seizing him by his armor.

"Thought I'd cut to the chase."

And the Lord wrenched Prime into the air and over him, smashing him head-first into the ground before yanking him back up, throwing him into the air, and spinning to kick him in the back, Prime crashing through several more buildings before he stopped himself.

"…argh." The Lord said, shaking his hand. Damn it, just touching the stupid brat hurt.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRARRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

And from the sound of it, it was just making him madder.

As Superboy-Prime smashed back through the buildings, and through the unfortunate forms of the villains Black Mass and Stalnoivolk, leaving them shattered wrecks in his wake as he slashed out a fist.

The Lord slashed out with his own sword, and another gigantic eruption of force shook the foundations of Metropolis.

---

If there was one thing that came with the territory of being a superhero, Tara Markov had realized, it was the fact that you kept surprising yourself.

Tara had never suspected she'd find a place where her ability to shake the world would not only be accepted but admired.

Or that she would one day defeat four metahumans with her 'bare hands' (well, that and a talking car, but that was another story).

Or that she'd get shot and discover it wasn't as bad as some of the things that had already happened to her in combat (though the caliber might have played a role, she suspected).

And here she was, after another long series of firsts. Her first crisis. Her role in the final battle of Slade Wilson.

And now staring down the creature known as Doomsday, the monster who had killed Superman…and actually considering it a step down.

What a world she lived in.

And once again, it was calling for her to step up.

She did, as she thrust out her arms, and the shattered street beneath Doomsday's gigantic legs went crazy as she yanked and uprooted the ground beneath him in as chaotic a pattern as she could, trying everything she could to keep the monster off balance and unable to bring his insane strength to bear. That was one place where fighting Doomsday beat Prime: such a tactic would be useless against the insane teenager, who could fly…

Then Doomsday did what he did well as well, smashing his fist into the shifting ground and initiating an abrupt shift in the street from the impact, as multiple spires of rock erupted from the pavement and knocked Terra from her rock platform with a surprised cry…

And then the 10,000-ton metal orb made its return, as Gauss Lad, Peregrine II, Raven, Gauntlet, Argent, Savior, and an obscure super heroine called Lost swung out with it and smashed it down on Doomsday's head like the world's greatest morning star. Even the alien beast felt its impact, as he turned around…and the group bashed the orb across his face. And back again. And again.

"Should I be discouraged we don't seem to even be chipping his bones?" Argent said.

"Keep swinging or WE'RE boned!" Peregrine II yelled, as the seven swung the orb back in via their combined talents and smashed Doomsday across the face again…

Before he bellowed and swung out with his own fist.

The seven teenage heroes recoiled as he punched the orb and knocked it straight out of their talent 'fusion matrix', all of them feeling the backlash even as the orb flew through the air for nearly half a mile before crashing down into the ground, digging a deep channel in the process.

But the seven teenage heroes had bigger problems then the loss of their weapon, as Doomsday charged at them like a thundering bull from the deepest abyss, the Titans scattering away from his terrible power, lest one touch from him rip them apart.

"Damn it! Didn't he evolve to feel pain or something?!" Gauntlet cursed.

"Apparently he de-evolved. Or re-evolved. Or re-de-evolved or…maybe he just forgot!" Savior cursed.

"Well at least this guy can die…sort of!" Gauntlet replied…as Doomsday charged in again.

"So can we!" Savior yelled.

And then a pair of flash bang arrows flew out and exploded, momentarily blinding Doomsday…as Paragon and Legend leapt forward, each grabbing onto one of Doomsday's massive arms as they flipped over the monster in perfect sync and hurled his half-ton frame over them, Doomsday flying through the air…as Rocko and Platinum Blonde dropped themselves down on him as hard as they could, an extra boost provided Peregrine II and Lost's gravity powers as they smashed the alien monster into another crater in the street…

And Doomsday shattered Rocko's stone body to pebbles with one swiping blow: only some grabbing plant vines from Floral pulling Platinum Blonde away and saved her from a similar fate. Within seconds, Doomsday was back on his feet…

As Gauntlet and Kole stepped up, the female Titan holding up her arms and standing up straight, her body transforming into crystal as Gauntlet seized it with his power and held it out, his yellow energy transforming into a gun shape.

"FIRE!" Robin yelled.

Ten separate blasts of power flew from twice as many hands, as all of them struck Kole's prism form and refracted together into one supreme blast that lanced out and slammed into Doomsday, the sheer power of the combined attack actually pushing him backwards several steps…before stopping dead.

"POUR IT ON!" One of the Uberton heroes, a female in a vaguely patriotic outfit who Robin believed was called Halo, yelled.

Too late, as Doomsday roared and charged, the combined shot no longer stopping him, as he fought back against it…

And Kole's body abruptly turned back to normal, the girl utterly overwhelmed by the energies being forced through her, Gauntlet quickly jerking her out of the line of fire while a quick hand signal from him provided the instruction for the blasters to cut off their attack before they blew him and Kole up.

They did…and in the process, left them open to Doomsday's attack.

Had not Starfire flown over their heads and planted her fist in Doomsday's face, buying her friends time to regroup at the cost of most of her fingers, which broke from the impact. Doomsday shrugged the blow off and returned it…as Raven yanked Starfire away, barely saving her from being cut in half as the alien hybrid Fringe attacked in turn…and found his superhuman strength was nothing compared to Doomsday's as Doomsday seized him and hurled him through the nearest building.

"We can't keep doing this…" Savior rasped, emerging from a dust cloud spawned from the battle. "We're not doing any damage…we need a new tact, a distraction, something…"

"How about a magic word?" Gauntlet said.

"What…?"

And then in a flash of blue, Captain Marvel Jr slashed down from the sky and slammed his hands down on Doomsday's head, burying the alien up to his waist in shattered concrete before Captain Marvel Jr lashed out with a foot and kicked Doomsday out of his implanted position and through another building.

"Shazam." Gauntlet said.

He was mildly disappointed when lightning failed to transform him into Captain Emergency Backup Marvel.

---

In retrospect, the villainous druid turned wood elemental Blackbriar Thorn should have waited a bit longer to generate himself a new body and return to the world.

Or maybe he shouldn't have joined up in the attack on Metropolis due to an old grudge against its protector.

Or maybe he shouldn't have grown to giant size to deal with a cluster of heroes who strangely were retreating instead of holding their ground like they'd been beforehand.

Or maybe he just was unlucky in where he was standing.

As the building next to him exploded, and the Lord's form smashed into him, shattering the wood giant to pieces as the Lord flipped, planted his feet on the building beyond Thorn, and ricocheted down to the street, even as another building shattered in the distance and Superboy-Prime emerged, a cloud of dust flowing around him as he stopped, grinning manically.

"Is that the best you can do? That's NOTHING!" Superboy-Prime yelled, and flew at the Lord. "I DON'T FEEL ANY OF IT!"

"Keep thinking that." The Lord said, as he slashed out with his sword.

Prime caught the giant dual-blade, the weapon shattering in his grip as he squeezed…as the Lord sprayed a virulent black smoke from his mouth into Prime's face, causing him to recoil with a scream as the Lord slashed out with his claws, slicing repeated cuts across Superboy-Prime's face and armor plating.

Prime's response was to abruptly stop screaming and giggle.

"Stupid magic. Doesn't work on me."

Superboy-Prime's punch barely missed the Lord as he zapped backwards, his hands arcing up and firing a crackling black ball of power that exploded on Superboy-Prime, with no effect. The Lord threw another, and then slammed his hands together and fired a third, all of them impacting and exploding on the teenager's form and not budging him an inch.

"See?" Superboy-Prime said, and cut loose with his heat vision.

This time, the Lord stood his ground and thrust out a hand.

And promptly lost it, as the heat vision impacted and blew his entire lower arm off, as he staggered back with a hiss, acrid smoke wafting from his stump.

"You're nothing! NOTHING! I'M GOING TO BE SUPERMAN!" Superboy-Prime screamed, and hurled himself at the Lord, who glared at his enemy, as another black energy ball manifested in his remaining hand.

"Not very original, are we."

And the Lord hurled the ball…at the ground, a massive eruption of dust and smoke blasting up and consuming him. A moment later Superboy-Prime punched the air where the Lord had been.

"What…hey! Stop hiding!" Superboy-Prime yelled, twisting his head to and fro as he tried to find his enemy…

The Lord slashed him across the back.

"YOU…!" Prime yelled, whirling around with a punch, but the Lord was already gone…as he slashed Superboy-Prime from the side. Prime once again counter-attacked empty air, as the Lord darted in and out of the dust, slicing and stabbing at Prime's exposed spots.

If he did any damage, it didn't show, but with every attack Prime got angrier and angrier, constantly missing with his attempted return blows. If the universe-lost Kryptonian had had anything resembling logical sense, he would have utilized his incredible vision to easily pinpoint the Lord, or perhaps better, used his super-breath to blow the Lord's cover away. But logic had long fled the teenager, and so he continued to flail around punching the air.

"Pathetic joke. No wonder your universe was eaten. It probably destroyed itself to get away from your unfathomable hebetude."

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!" Superboy-Prime screamed, terrible heat lancing from his eyes and slashing through the dust and buildings beyond it, as Prime blazed his rage everywhere in a furious attempt to stop the Lord's taunts. All he did was cause more dust and smoke to blow across the battlefield, further obscuring the street.

"Deplorable."

Prime fired a heat vision blast in the direction of the voice: he hit nothing once again. A low, dark chuckle emerged from the drifting dust, as Prime jerked his head around, and then with a scream he finally remembered he had super-breath and cut loose, the dust and smoke vanishing within seconds as a storm of debris was blown down the street, slicing apart the villain called Crowbar, who hadn't gotten far away enough.

Even with the obscuring smoke gone, the Lord did not re-appear, as Prime jerked his head about furiously once more, trying to find his enemy…

…as the shadows began to surge up behind him.

"WHERE ARE YOU!" Prime screamed.

"Here." The Lord whispered in his ear.

Prime's whirling punch hit nothing once more, as the Lord again bent backward and away from the blow in a manner impossible for organic muscles to accomplish, as another shockwave of air shattered the street behind the Lord before he swung back up and glared into Prime's eyes.

"Wretched."

And placed his hand on Prime's chest armor, as black beams of power exploded between his fingers, moments before Prime and the whole street behind him was consumed with a massive black energy blast.

"You gravely overestimate yourself, child. You might command unimaginable power, but at the same time you lack the imagination to properly use any of it. You just try to bludgeon your way through whatever confronts you, certain they'll break long before you do. So tell me, why am I inaccurate when I call…you…" The Lord trailed off as the smoke cleared.

Prime hadn't budged from where the Lord had blasted him. Hell, the attack hadn't even seemed to muss up his hair.

"Heh." Superboy-Prime said. "You're stupid."

The impact of the blow across the Lord's chest shattered the street beneath both the villains, the Lord lifted off his feet as Prime punched him across the face, and then swung his arm back and backhanded the Lord, who went flying backwards in a spinning tumble…and crashed back down to the ground on his feet, falling to his knees as he was dragged along the ground, the impact pushing him another thirty or so feet before he stopped, smoke once more wafting from the places Prime had hit him.

"See! All your talk is nothing! NOTHING!" Prime yelled. "I'M GOING TO BE SUPERMAN AND YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!"

And Prime took to the air, lancing at a still-crouching Lord.

"WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT?!"

"ZA WARUDO!" The Lord yelled.

And the time dilution magic that the Lord had been utilizing to keep ahead of Prime threw itself into maximum overdrive, and Prime found his sonic boom producing dash abruptly slowed to a snail's crawl, his eyes going wide as saucers in surprise and fear.

"Toki wo tomare." The Lord said as he stood up, even as Prime furiously tried to break free of the 'static pace' he'd found himself trapped in and found he couldn't. "Like I said, child. You lack any imagination. You think because magic can't circumnavigate your invulnerability, that it can't affect you at all?"

And the Lord curled up his hand into a fist…as he called on the kinetic force he'd absorbed from letting Superboy-Prime hit him, despite the terrible pain it's solar-derived origins had caused him. He didn't think he could pull the complete time-stop off again, so he was damn sure going to make it count.

"YARE YARE DAZE!"

And the Lord gave Superboy-Prime back his three blows…in one shot. With all of his own strength behind it.

The impact actually smashed a crater into the ground beneath the pair, as Prime flew backwards, doing one flip before he hit the ground on his rear end, carving another line across the ruins of the street before he came to a stop. Amazingly, the Lord seemed to have actually stunned the boy into silence.

"You're GOING to be Superman?" The Lord said, as he reformed his sword and claws. "I am The Lord of the Night! Master of this world! Emperor of war!"

And his cloak reformed into several new swords.

"AND A KING OF BLADES!" The Lord said, as he flew at Superboy-Prime; the insane teenager finally got his head screwed back on straight as the Lord attacked and pulled himself off the ground, as the two slammed into each other once more and shook the world with their blows.

---

Or maybe that was Doomsday, as his fist smashed into the ground, even as Captain Marvel Jr flew back from his dodge and smashed another blow across Doomsday's face.

"…are we getting anywhere?" Beast Boy groaned from where he lay, the Titans reduced to a few sniping attacks while Captain Marvel Jr did the work. "I thought the Marvels were supposed to be badasses!"

"They are. They also share their power." Robin said. "If one of the other Marvels is around, Junior's fighting at half strength…"

And with a roar Doomsday caught Captain Marvel Jr with a kick, sending him flying through the air past the two Titans.

"Which means we have to pick up the slack?" Beast Boy said.

A sonic boom slammed into the ears of the Titans as Captain Marvel Jr flew right back at Doomsday, smashing both fists into his face and actually knocking him back a step as Captain Marvel Jr spun upward and over from the blow , spinning over Doomsday and lancing backwards, slamming a leg into the back of Doomsday's head.

"If he has any slack left over, I don't know that we can handle it." Gauntlet said, as Captain Marvel Jr spun off that blow, flipped down in front of Doomsday, and hammered him with another punch…

And then Doomsday smashed Captain Marvel Jr into the ground with a shuddering downward blow, Marvel Jr laying prone as Doomsday raised a foot to stomp on him.

"Find a way! Come on Gauntlet!" Savior yelled as he dashed past the blonde haired teenager.

"Right, who wants to live forever?" Gauntlet said, and charged in as well, Savior lashing out with slicing blade Shimmer lines even as Gauntlet thrust out his namesake in a powerful bludgeon.

Doomsday…didn't feel any of it, as he charged at the pair. Gauntlet dove out of the way, as Savior leapt up into the air…and grabbed Doomsday's head, as he furiously tried to jam his Shimmer into his brain: when all you had was a hammer…!

Doomsday nailed Gauntlet instead, as he grabbed the Shimmer lines and yanked down on them so hard that Savior went into the ground like a meteor, Gauntlet throwing himself under his teammate and barely preventing him from pulping them both via a Gauntlet shield.

"Cut down…on…the steak…" Gauntlet wheezed.

"I'll take it…under advisement…" Savior replied, as Doomsday thundered over…

And a gigantic bolt of electricity slammed into him, actually managing to stop him before a purple form lanced at the monster alien and slammed into his chest, briefly staggering him as the lightning and purple shape flew up.

"He did not seem to be much affected brother!" Thunder said.

"Then let us present something more TANGIBLE for his consideration!" Lightning replied, and as Doomsday looked up the twin brothers thrust out their hands and bombarded Doomsday with potent electrical and kinetic force blasts, as the monster vanished in a series of explosions.

"Hah! That will teach him to…!" Lightning said.

Doomsday erupted from the smoke cloud with a roar, plowing into the brothers and sending them both smashing through a nearby skyscraper with one swipe of his arm.

And Captain Marvel Jr flew up after him, meeting Doomsday as he began to descend with a cracking uppercut that snapped Doomsday's head back, as Captain Marvel Jr reached down, seized Doomsday's leg, and spun him around several times before throwing him down into the ground. Doomsday smashed another crater in the streets of Metropolis, Captain Marvel Jr flying down after him and ramming his knees into Doomsday's face before following it up with a rain of punches.

Doomsday just threw one punch up, this time sending Captain Marvel Jr shooting up into the sky like a rocket.

"Raarrrgghhh…" Doomsday rumbled as he got up: he couldn't seem to stop the stinging insects…

And they hadn't stopped stinging, as a pillar of rock slammed out of the ground, smashing into Doomsday and pushing him up even as the sides of the crater he was in deformed and transformed into other pillars that lanced out, smashing into him from all sides. Doomsday bellowed and broke free with one mighty blow…as Terra flew up and cut loose with a rapid-fire barrage of rock, Doomsday finding himself under assault from dozens of hundred-pound shards of stone. He staggered briefly, before roaring and charging at Terra's floating form…

As a foot of a Spinosaurus crashed down on him.

"Eat dirt you…!" Beast Boy yelled.

He really should have transformed back and fled immediately, as Doomsday hurled Beast Boy's gigantic dinosaur form off of himself like he weighed nothing, Beast Boy barely turning back to normal before his weight crushed Terra, who broke off her attack to fly down and pull the changeling away.

Starfire flew in, firing a Starbolt right into Doomsday's face, and a moment later H-Duo and Killowatt combined their powers to hit the alien with a electrical charged water ram, as Bumblebee then flew down, linked her stingers together, and hurled them at Doomsday like a shuriken as they struck him and triggered their overload function, exploding in a blast of yellow energy as a rain of explosive arrows blasted against Doomsday from another angle. A moment after that, Captain Marvel Jr returned with Paragon, as the two bashed Doomsday with another ferocious combined punch that once again staggered the massive alien.

"So tell me, what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" Captain Marvel Jr said as he dodged Doomsday's counter punch and retaliated with one of his own.

"Uh, a friend of mine said he needed help." Paragon replied, as Doomsday, already off balance from the earlier blow, stumbled backwards as Paragon kicked him in the chest.

"A lot of people seem to need help these days." Captain Marvel Jr replied, and even as the two hammered away, a car flew through the air and smashed itself against Doomsday's back, sending him forward into more attacks from the pair of flying bricks…

Before Doomsday reached behind himself, seized the wreckage of the car, and swung it out, smashing the two heroes out of the air.

"OH NO!" Savior cried as his attack backfired horribly, as Doomsday smashed the car down on Paragon, nearly crushing the vehicle as flat as a pancake on top of the girl.
"Amy? AMY!" Gauntlet yelled, running where the girl had been squashed, as Captain Marvel Jr returned and smashed more furious punches across Doomsday bone-covered face.

"AMY!" Gauntlet yelled as he ripped the flattened car out of the ground, as Paragon lay there, her outfit torn and blood leaking from her forehead, as she blinked at the returning light.

"Amy? You okay?"

And Amy Erikson realized that had things shifted another inch the wrong way, she might have been dead. She might yet be dead.

…maybe it was time to finally tell Rob a truth she'd held close to her chest for far too long.

"……………Uh huh." Paragon said.

Damn it all. Even facing doomsday, the monster and the concept, she just couldn't spit it out, as she coughed and groaned.

As Doomsday grabbed Captain Marvel Jr's left arm in one massive gray fist. But even as Doomsday's horrendous grip seized on Marvel Jr's arm, he continued on his attack, as he swung up and lashed out with his knee, smashing it into the side of Doomsday's face.

Mistake, as Doomsday grabbed Captain Marvel Jr's leg in turn, and with a vicious snarl he slammed Captain Marvel Jr down on his knee, nearly bending the champion of the deceased wizard Shazam in half as Captain Marvel Jr screamed in agony.

The sound caught Gauntlet's ears, as his head jerked up and looked at Doomsday trying to break Captain Marvel Jr in half, and back at Paragon groaning on the ground, and all his injured fellows around him…

"NO MORE OF THIS GARBAGE!" Gauntlet yelled, as he leapt to the attack…as golden sparks shot off his Gauntlet arm, as he reared back and lashed out with every bit of force he could muster.

Doomsday's head snapped back like it was on a spring, his grip on Captain Marvel Jr lost…

Before he recovered in a second, roaring and lashing out with a punch.

Gauntlet met it with his own energy blow.

And was sent flying backwards and crashing into the wreckage of the building behind him. It seemed even his rage couldn't match the Doomsday juggernaut.

"Oh god, it's Prime all over again…" Savior said, as Doomsday turned his attention to Captain Marvel Jr and began stomping repeatedly on the teenage avatar, who could barely defend himself. "Nothing WORKS…we hit him and hit him and he just won't STOP…"

"Quite understandable." Scalpel said, as he reached inside his coat. "Perhaps it's time to change, as you humans call it, the status quo."

"…of course. The neurotoxin. His system might…" Savior began.

And then Scalpel charged at Doomsday.

"AH SCALPEL WAIT! DON'T JUST…!"

And leapt into the air.

As Doomsday raised his foot once more, Scalpel landed, his clawed feet coming down on Doomsday's left shoulder as Doomsday jerked his head to look at him.

And Scalpel put all of his strength behind his sole shot and rammed his syringe in, the needle piercing right into the corner of Doomsday's eye and injecting the neurotoxin directly into his skull.

The only reason Scalpel wasn't left a smear on the ground from Doomsday's counter-punch was because he'd already started leaping away.

But as the alien crashed through some more wreckage, Doomsday lowered his arm sluggishly and began shaking his head. Never mind that for a normal creature, the poison would have killed him before he felt the prick: it actually seemed to be having SOME effect on Doomsday.

And Robin knew it, as he leapt down from his perch.

"ATTACK!"

And the Titans did, as every single one who could stand and attack did so, as a myriad of projectiles slammed against Doomsday's body before half a dozen attackers ran in and hammered on his massive form. Doomsday lurched around, lethargic and unable to respond…as Raven emerged from the shadows, bringing Gauntlet and Savior with her, as the three combined their talents and hit Doomsday as hard as they could, repeatedly, as the monster staggered back…

And bellowed; Scalpel had done well, but Doomsday had evolved far beyond where a simple poison would fell him, or even slow him down for long, as he smashed away the trio's combined powers and thrust up his arms.

"LOOK OUT!" Robin yelled.

Doomsday's double-handed ground blow cause the whole surrounding block to shatter and fall apart, the Titans falling amidst a rain of rubble and debris. A massive smoke cloud plumed up, as the fliers surged into the dust, trying to pull their friends to safety.

Scalpel groaned where he lay, as he tried to stand up, pushing some wreckage off of himself and wondering if he shouldn't have tried ramming it into the roof of Doomsday's mouth, god damn the consequences…

And it seemed like God did indeed wish to damn Scalpel, as he heard the thunderous footsteps moments before Doomsday's gigantic form appeared from the smoke, closing in on Scalpel like he could smell the alien who had wounded him.

Scalpel watched him approach.

"…how would…the humans possibly put it…" Scalpel said…and then raised a finger. "SIT ON IT AND SWIVEL."

Doomsday bellowed in return…

And the form leapt out of the smoke behind him, swinging her mace down onto Doomsday's head so hard the impact noise hurt Scalpel's ears. Doomsday staggered, and then whirled around to attack his ambusher…

The White Hole seized his attempted punch and hurled the massive alien over her, throwing him into another pile of wreckage that collapsed on the monster.

Scalpel stared, wondering if he was hallucinating or if he was already in hell.

"…perhaps you have more of the Blacktrinian fire in you than I was willing to understand." The White Hole said quietly as she looked at Scalpel. "But still far from enough Hastionfarlock. Far from enough."

And the White Hole turned and leapt towards the wreckage she'd hurled Doomsday towards, as the alien burst free and the White Hole met him with her mace.

"…did I miss something?" Beast Boy said, as he supported Terra over his shoulder. "When did we get to the parallel universe where the White Hole ISN'T trying to kill us?"

---

"ALEXANDER LUTHOR!"

Alexander jerked his head up, thinking for a moment that Talia had somehow found him, and that she was greatly aggrieved how 'Lex' had turned the Society into his own personal army.

But it wasn't Talia Al' Ghul. It was another female, in a black armored costume reminiscent of Batman and with long flowing red hair, a katana clutched in one hand as she approached the mastermind of the crisis. Alexander blinked, her name taking a moment to come to him.

"…Nightwalker, wasn't it? I don't suppose you want to help." Alexander said, as he looked back at his World View computer; he'd spent every second since Prime and the Lord had battled off trying to re-calculate his attack plan and keep his 'troops' in marching order, even as the city shook and shuddered all around him. Alexander didn't know how much Prime and the Lord had already wrecked, but at the rate they were going there'd be nothing left of Metropolis except a great big hole.

"You shouldn't have used us." Nightwalker said. "We really don't appreciate it."

"You don't? My work is the only reason your breed might claim a foothold on this world, rather than be thrown back into prison for the 8,000th time."

"My breed…" Nightwalker said. "You're right Luthor. I did agree with you. But you couldn't stop there. You just had to make sure we were all your pawns. Pawns in a game we didn't even know the rules to. What happened to mind wiping the superheroes? Was it all a lie?"

"My, aren't we intelligent." Alexander Luthor said, his fingers playing out over his holographic keypads as he watched the girl, still not sure which way she was going to jump.

"Maybe not as much as I'd like. But I'd like to think any plans I might have wouldn't end in a bloodbath like this. And I'd like to think if I really in control, I'd sound considerably less smarmy and flippant than you do." Nightwalker said. "But no one has any control any more. You've created nothing but chaos. And I don't want to see the world it creates."

"So, you think you can just pick up the other side's banner and think all will be forgiven…idiot." Alexander said. "If you'd only seen the things I've seen, the truths I've been forced to learn…all I gave up, for so little…what do you have that compares? What makes you think you have the right to choose what you are?"

"…maybe nothing except my pride." Nightwalker said, as she aimed her sword at the megalomaniac. "But you should know…that's enough."

"And so it shall go before you fall?" Alexander said, as he took one hand off his keypad and ignited his golden positive energy power.

"You or I." Nightwalker said. Alexander chuckled.

"You really think you can stop me?"

"It's funny what can sneak up on you." Nightwalker said.

And she snapped her sword down as she raised her right arm and fired an explosive orb at Alexander. He blew it out of the air, smoke and fire erupting between the pair…and obscuring Nightwalker from view.

If Alexander had had the time to curse, he would have.

"HERE COMES YOUR NOGHRI, 'THRAWN'!" Nightwalker yelled as she leapt through the smoke, slashing out with her sword. "IT'S A REAL WORK OF ART!"

"…what?" Alexander yelled, as he blew Nightwalker out of the air with another positive energy blast. She crashed to the ground, but Alexander knew it wouldn't last long: he wasn't skilled at rapid fire attacks and his deflecting blow lacked the power his first shot had…

Even more than he realized, as Nightwalker pulled herself up with a snarl and charged, Alexander barely dodging her second slash as she attempted to gut him.

She was such a pretty girl, Alexander oddly found himself pondering. And she'd been polite and respectful amongst the Society members, watching over the wild card White Hole with no complaint. Alexander couldn't tell if she'd been scared or just knew 'her place'.

Yet here she was now, a snarling animal wanting to rip his throat out.

Damn this world. Damn it all.

"This is Luthor! Hold the lines! And someone, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE CLOUDS!" Alexander Luthor yelled into his World View before he turned back to Nightwalker. Another victim of this world. Much like him.

He'd kill her just to save her from it, as the golden radiance of his positive matter abilities darkened to the deep purple of his anti-matter ones, as he thrust out his hands and fired at Nightwalker, aiming for her heart.

Unlike this world, he would be merciful and just.

And when he was done, the world would be likewise.

No matter how many people had to die for it.