I do not own the rights to the Justice League.

It Goes Both Ways

Gardner's POV

Despite their best efforts, Stuart was slowly winning, since most of that so-called old technology had either been scrapped for parts or upgraded with technology that was now useless. While Stuart may have not through his plan of how to get to the Hall, he did think through his plan regarding his weapons. When it came down to it, his arsenal of tanks, guns, grenades, and even armor were too low-tech for Suzy's stuff to compete with, and outnumbered the few materials they did have that could compete with him. Annie had even sent her army of Sues after him, and while Sues could warp reality, the Reality Effect was even too much for them to deal with. Coming into direct contact with weapons from my world seemed to turn them into a gooey like puddle substance; it was pretty much a Sue Slaughter.

Sues were strewn all over like broken China dolls or goopey soup depending on what took them out. Paramedics were tending to the better off ones, but it was more common to see weird half-human, half-sludge hybrids walking around with perfectly looking hair. Raven though, wasn't even bothered by them. According to her, the ones that were most affected were fresh Sues and shouldn't be missed. Suzy accepted that explanation while I couldn't quite shake the feeling that I was in a zombie movie, but with less gore and better looking actors.

Actually, more like a League Slaughter. Remember that trail of destruction? At one point we had to get to out of the car and continue on foot because the road was torn up so badly, and was covered with debris from Stuart's fight with the League. We did run into some police, government people, and a couple Leaguers warning us to stay away from the area, but Raven managed to distract them so Suzy and I could sneak by. Suzy could say all she wants about how annoying Sues are, but she couldn't deny that they make good distractions.

"His timing sucks," I commented while climbing over a chunk of what used to be road.

Suzy stumbled a couple times, but eventually made it over, despite refusing my help. "Huh?"

"Stuart. He decided to tear up the roads right before Thanksgiving. Not good considering everybody who'll be traveling."

She stopped and rolled her eyes at me in disgust before continuing on.

"What," I yelled. "Just trying to make some conversation; just because we're walking to our doom doesn't mean we have to act like it."

Suzy just shouted back, "And just because you've accepted your doom, doesn't mean the rest of us have."

Alrighty then. I opened my mouth to respond, but stopped. Looking down I saw that I was standing in huge track marks, and a short distance ahead was the tank that caused the marks. Perched on top like a general on his horse was Stuart. He was wearing a helmet, a Kevlar vest, and other protective gear that were all probably from my world, in case some League sniper tried to take him out. In his hands he had some kind of big gun bazooka thingy (by the way, I have no experience with weapons at all. Angela would probably know though).

Suzy yelled something at him and he responded by turning around and looking at her. That's when I realized I had my chance to grab the device and get home. Making sure that Suzy was distracting him, I hid behind debris and slowly made my way closer. In the distance I could see a miltary blockade attempting to fight back Stuart's gradual advance. Stuart's goons were in front of him, pelting the military with bullets, the remaining Sues, and whatever Leaguers were there. Since bullets were the only weapons the army had at this point, they were firing back and I made a note to keep low to the ground to avoid friendly fire which would be my luck.

Stuart had his back turned to the front, and was facing Suzy in the back. I had managed to make my way around on his right side, just out of his line of sight so I could attack from the back. It was a stupid and risky move, but I was hoping that the goons in front would take most of the bullets, and the army would stop shooting once they saw me. Hopefully.

Except I never got a chance to make my move since I had underestimated Suzy's moronic plan, it had gone faster than I thought. One moment they were arguing, the next he was chucking the device at the ground causing it to break into a dozen little pieces.

Just like that, my way home was gone. Sure, Batman probably had his own thing in the Batcave, but that was assuming we'd make it out of the battle unscathed. And giving the angry look that was plastered across Stuart's face, and directed toward Suzy and me, that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon.

"Did somebody decide to join and play hero?" he said snidely.

"You're insane."

Not the best thing to say, but at this point there really wasn't anything I could say that could change his mind. It seemed to be the one comment that fit the situation the best.

Stuart raised his weapon thingy (yeah, that's what I'm calling it from now on) and pointed it at me. "You're dead."

Then, to my surprise and his, Suzy jumped on him. That alone couldn't have been easier to all the bulky equipment he was wearing. But then she held on for dear life while he started bucking like a bull to get her off. He finally succeeded and threw her to the ground. Hard. Hard enough that I was worried she was dead until she finally moved.

Grinning, Stuart said, "Ladies first then," and pointed his weapon thingy directly at her head.

I was frozen to the spot. Get up Suzy, I thought. Get up, insult him and fight back.

She didn't. She just laid there, trying to catch her breath. Deciding to play with her, he started firing rounds close to her body, watching her squirm to avoid being hit.

I was still unable to move, or even speak at that point. I looked around for a hero, somebody. After all, wasn't this what they did? Wasn't the point of this world, that the good guy always swoop in at the last minute and save the day?

But there were no heroes; the weapons from my world had taken their toll. The few heroes I could see were too busy fighting Stuart's goon to come help. I was at the side of the tank, and Stuart and Suzy were behind it. I could hear a helicopter whirring away above me, but there was nothing they could do to help either.

I wasn't the hero type. I was the stay-home-and-avoid-getting-hurt-type. But so was Suzy, and yet there she was having tried to fight back like a moron. Didn't she get it? That fighting back against criminals never ends well, just ask my dad. He tried, and was killed in the process, and now Suzy was about to end up like him. And I was just standing there like a moron not being able to do anything.

It wasn't fair. Why did Eugene have to go and create the device? Why did Suzy have to pull me into her crazy world, only for me to never see my family again? And why did Stuart have to have the Reality Effect on his side?

Wait a sec.

It goes both ways, said a voice in my head slowly. It. Goes. Both. Ways.

If Stuart could use the Reality Effect as a weapon, why couldn't I use it against him?

Suzy's POV

So Gardner was right, ambushing Stuart was a rather moronic plan on my part. I had hoped to come up with a better one as we made our way toward him, but my mind was occupied with other thoughts. Like, I bet Nikki and Gary will have to work Thanksgiving day to clean up all this mess. Or trying to ignore the Sue Slaughter around me (Gardner's words, not mine), and secretly hoping that Annie wasn't among them. She saved the day the last time Stuart had a crazy idea, and a small part of me was hoping she'd come along and do it again. Maybe her back story wasn't any use this time, but surely she had something else she could do.

I also wondered where the hell the League was. When we left the hotel and T.V., we turned on the radio to listen about how badly the League was getting their butt kicked. It could have been worse if Annie hadn't warned them that their powers would be useless against Stuart's weapons. But there were other things they could do, besides setting up a simple road block ahead.

They were still a bit far away, but I could make out a look on their faces. Defeat. The Rules weren't going to come through for them this time; there was no guarantee that the good guys would win. The Rules didn't apply to these foreign weapons; what did apply was the Reality Effect.

Well just because they had given up, didn't mean I had. If I managed to distract Stuart, perhaps Gardner could sneak behind him and do something. Hopefully he'd be smart enough to think of something besides going home (I really should have known better than to hope for such a thing).

So I yelled at Stuart, and he turned his attention from the army ahead to me. He yelled back. I asked him to at least send Gardner back home since he didn't belong here. His answer was chucking the device at my head. He missed, but the device was then scattered in pieces around me.

Gardner looked a little lost after that, but then Stuart realized he was there and threatened to kill him. I jumped Stuart, and he tossed me to the ground like I was nothing.

Sorry for being so vague, but I really don't remember a whole lot before and after Stuart tossed me to the ground like a bag of potatoes. Having the wind knocked out of you so hard you can't breathe does that to you. Even more so when you have to avoid been a big fat bulls-eye while lying on asphalt.

I kept willing myself to move out of the way, or jump to my feet, but my body wasn't responding. What was worse was that I could see Gardner looking on with a caught-in-the-headlights-look. Do something, don't just stand there, I thought. Don't let me die.

But then he got a smile on his face that could rival the Joker's.

"You don't exist," he said. "I don't believe in you."

Of course, the Tinkerbell Effect, or as Stuart called it, the Reality Effect. Why didn't I think of it, before? Actually, why did Stuart have to be the one to have the brilliant thought? Great, now I sounded like Crystal Light.

Stuart's face contorted in a mixture of pain and confusion, as he turned his attention on Gardner. "What are you doing?"

Gardner ignored him. "I, Ashley Gardner, do not believe in you, Stuart, Suzy's crazy ex-boyfriend."

I couldn't help but smile at that last part. Stuart was less amused and moved to shoot Stuart, except he fell to the ground instead.

"What are you doing to me?" he gasped.

"You're nothing but some lame comic book character that can't handle rejection well. You even got beat by a Mary Sue." Gardner had gradually started walking closer and closer to Stuart, who was still on the ground convulsing in pain. A couple minutes had passed, and I was starting to wonder what was going to happen next. My two times with the Tinkerbell effect had stopped by now, and I was curious how far it could go.

"You are a figment of my imagination and can't exist in the real world. I don't believe in you, and neither does my sister, or Angela, or my mother, or my roommate, or your artist, or my MatLAB teacher, or..."

He stopped, and watched what was happening to Stuart. Stuart had pretty much stopped talking and had started to convulse and.. shrink? Sure enough, he was slowly starting to shrink right before our eyes.

Gardner held out a hand to help me stand up and I accepted it for once. Both of us stood over Stuart, or what used to be Stuart. Gardner bent down to get a closer look. "He's plastic!"

"What?" I picked him up, and Gardner was right, Stuart was plastic. A small, plastic action figure version of himself. I started to move his armed and legs around.

"Didn't know that would happen," commented Gardner.

I nodded, but was concentrating on something else: tearing Stuart's limbs off. First his arms, then his legs, then the head... There was a reason why Barbies never lasted for long once I played with them in my younger years. Satisfied with my work, I threw them on the ground and started to smash them into oblivion with the butt of Stuart's weapon. I did think about shooting Stuart, but didn't want to waste any bullets on him.

Done, I spat on his remains. "Reality's a bitch. You taught me that, Stuart," I said with a smile on my face.

"Are you okay?" asked Gardner hesitantly. He had just seen me shred my former boyfriend and smash him to bits like a crazy woman, so I decided not to insult him for once. Instead I said, "Just peachy."

**Author's Note**

As always, a huge thanks goes to Loki's Son, and AidenSurvival for pretty much being my constant reviewers. Reviews are addicting, and yours always make me smile.

This chapter wasn't as action packed as I hoped, because I suck at writing action/fighting scenes. But I thought it still did well, especially with the ending. I've had Stuart's demise planned for a long time. The idea that somebody from our world can turn somebody in the JLU verse into a toy, simply because they refuse to believe in JLU greatly amuses me. That's pretty much the ultimate superpower, especially when you consider superpowers don't affec..t Gardner.

So, there's two chapters left of this story. Next chapter is wrapping up things with Waller and Batman, and sending Gardner home. The last chapter wraps everything up, including one last twist that I'm rather proud of.

Thanks for reading, and if you can, please leave a review!