Justice League
Volume 1: Invasion
Chapter 2: Rush
"Okay Superman," Green Lantern started. "Be honest, what are we up against?"
"Picture an alien army whose main purpose in their short lives is to cause misery and suffering to everything around them, including each other. Parademons." He told him. "They can regrow their limbs, fly, and spit fire."
"That's... great."
Wonder Woman's com link beeped. She tapped it. "Go."
Above the subway system, Captain Steve Trevor and his men in the DMA set up a temporary camp around the hole the heroes had just made in the ground. "Diana, are you alright?" He asked concerningly.
"I'm fine Steve."
"Good. Alright, well what's going on down there? A giant hole just opened up in the sky."
"I'll tell you when we get back up."
A few moments later, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern had made their way back up to the surface where they explained everything that had happened. Including Superman's mind controlling, the boomtubes, and Superman's information on Apokolips.
Steve groaned. "Do they have any weaknesses?"
"None that I know of." Superman responded.
"You have to order a city-wide evacuation." Batman told him.
"Where?" Green Lantern asked him. "Just here? You heard Darkseid. This is happening everywhere. And I doubt we can evacuate everywhere, Batman."
"After the warning, the government will start evacuating people where the boomtubes have opened." Steve said.
"We won't have that kind of time." Superman said. "We have a few minutes tops before parademons start pouring through those boomtubes."
"We can't just go in there and hit them hard?" Lantern asked.
"The portals are a one way. You can't go into a portal opened from the other side. It'll kill you." Superman told him.
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
Batman turned to Steve. "Start getting people out of here. Soon this will become a metahumans only zone."
"Then why are you here?" Trevor asked. Batman responded with another glare. Steve turned away quickly. "Fine, fine." He tapped his com and walked towards the rest of the men.
Wonder Woman looked at Superman who was starring intensely at the boomtube in the sky. "What are you doing?" She asked him.
"Watching the Boomtube with my x-ray vision." He told her.
She was silent for a while before putting an uneasy hand on his shoulder. "Look, Superman, you don't to blame yourself for this. You were being controlled by Darkseid. This isn't your fault." Her words were sincere and touching.
Superman chuckled. "Yeah, right."
"But you-."
"I'm not sad." He stopped her. "I'm angry. I was used to start this. Darkseid controlled me." He smiled. "Trust me, I learned a long time ago to use my anger to help me. In a way, it's a good thing. I can finally let loose."
Wonder Wonder smiled with him. "We'll need your power to end this."
"Guys!" Snapper Carr pointed upwards at the boomtube. "Something's happening up there."
Everyone looked up into the sky to see the portal opening up wider. Superman narrowed his eyes and spotted a large group of parademons coming through. There were hundreds of them at the least. He turned to Green Lantern.
"They're coming!" He shouted.
Steve grabbed his gun. "Alright men," He shouted to the other DMA soliders. "We gotta get as many people out of here as possible. Snapper, I want the U.S. Army on our coms yesterday." He looked at Wonder Woman. "Be safe." He told her.
"You too, Steve." She responded.
Steve Trevor and his handful of soliders turned to the streets. "Tansell," He turned to one of the men. "Take group two to the east and south. I'll take group one to the west and north. Our destinations are the safe zones." He slapped another on the back. "Snapper, you're with me."
"Yes sir."
The two groups began to seperate. "Remember, stay in link with coms and try not to die."
With that, the men had ran off. Superman clenched his fist. His eyes burned red. "We need a plan." Batman said. But as soon as he finished, Superman thrusted himself into the air, towards the fast approaching parademons.
Green Lantern and Wonder Woman followed close behind. "I guess he has a plan."
Batman sighed before preparing himself for an incoming horde of parademons.
Central City
Wally West rose from his bed and yawned heavily before standing up and stretching. He was barely awake and needed to eat. The previous day, he had ran around the world seven times without stopping, a new record for him. His body had burned off so much, he fell asleep almost as soon as he hit the bed.
"- is advised to stay calm and do not panic. Repeat, stay calm and head to the nearest safe zone designated in your city." A news reporter spoke on Wally's television. "It has been confirmed that Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and apparently the Batman have been in Metropolis fighting the invading forces. The DMA and U.S. government has begun spreading across the country and maybe even the globe to help as well." Wally ignored the report with only the thought of food on his mind. He made his way to his apartments kitchen and looked into the cabinets. "Nothing." He said to himself. The red head then made his way to the fridge and opened that. "Nothing." He closed it and spotted a bag of chips on the counter. He sped over to it and in less than three seconds had completely eaten every crumb in the bag.
"Better." He grabbed a can of soda and made his way back to his bedroom with the idea of taking a day off. A gleam of red shinned through the window, catching his attention. "What the hell?" He moved his curtains from the window and starred out at Central City. "My God." He dropped the can of soda at the sight of his city being destroyed by giant warships and flying alien creatures. Tanks and soliders shot at the aliens as civilians ran through the streets. He stood in awe for a while until one of the flying aliens spotted him. "Oh crap." The alien dived through Wally's window, roaring towards him.
Wally reacted fast and quickly moved to the side at superspeed. The alien slammed into the TV. It turned its head back to Wally as fire lit in its mouth. "That's not good." Fire spread from the creatures mouth towards the speedster but before it could reach him, Wally sped around his apartment in a circle and tackled into the aliens back, knocking him down. He tried to punch the creature but the alien grabbed his fist and squeezed. "Argh!" Wally shouted in pain before it bit into his shoulder! The scarlet speedster tightened is other fist and punched the alien in the chest as many times as he could before it let go of him.
Both Wally and the creature got to their feet but the speedster was the first to move. He headbutted the alien, causing it to slam into the wall behind it, stepping on Wally's PS3.
"Oh come on!" The demon spit another ball of fire at Wally He ran towards the alien, vibrating his fist at super speed before vibrating his fist through the creatures chest until it lost consciousness. Wally pulled back and sat on the arm of his now burned couch. He felt his heart beating almost as fast as he could move and took a few seconds to breath before doing anything else. "What the hell is going on here?" Wally sped into his bedroom and outfited himself in his red and yellow Flash suit. He pulled the mask over his face. "That's better." He told himself before speeding out of his destroyed apartment.
Metropolis
Superman swung a truck into the air, swatting away a large group of parademons. A fireball slammed into Superman's back. He turned and inhaled deeply before unleashed a huge gust of wind on the few aliens behind him. A building exploded behind him. He looked up to see a warship shooting fireballs at the ground and several other buildings. He rocketed towards it and placed his fists in front of him. The Man of Steel flew into the ship and out the other end, extremely damaging it. In moments, the ship was crashing to the ground. Superman pushed it into the nearby river.
He saw a bright green flash of light and spun around to see the Green Lantern creating a large rope that tied up a group of the creatures to a large green rocketship. The Lantrn snapped his fingers, sending the rocket into the air until it exploded! The rockets remains spelled out the words: 'You Suck!' He looked to Superman. "Sweet, huh?"
Wonder Woman kicked one parademon in the throat before splitting the skull of another. "Steve," She turned to him. "Get these people to safety."
Steve Trevor, Snapper Carr, and a small group of DMA soliders guided a small group of civilians through the streets of Metropolis towards a safe-zone. "Come on people, move it!" He called. The safe-zone was a fallen heli-pad near the ocean. There were not a lot of parademons or warships in this area. They mostly swarmed towards the center of the city. Steve tapped his com-link. "Control, we have another group. Send the helicopter around." He looked to Diana. "You get back out there." He told her. "Word is the airforce is on their way, we won't be alone for long."
The amazon nodded before flying into the air. "I'll be back."
Batman hit a brick wall and fell through and into a convinient store. He landed on his back and flipped to his feet. The parademon who tossed him through the wall roared and jumped after him. Batman threw a pellet into its mouth and dodged its large claws. Instead of slicing him, they cut through his cape, leaving four long claw marks on them. The smoke exploded in its mouth and soon shrowded the abandoned store. Batman moved to the exit. "Come on." He said to the monster. It roared again and its mouth began to create fire. That was all Batman needed. He jumped through the hole he created when he smashed through just as the gas from the pellet ignited the fire! Soon, the store exploded behind Batman.
Superman landed next to The Dark Knight. "This isn't working." Batman told him. "No matter how many we take down more come through the portal." He said, motioning to the open Boomtube in the sky. "We need to take this thing out from the source."
Green Lantern levitated down close to the two. "And how do you suppose we do that?" He asked. "Superman says those things won't let us in from this side."
"But I assume if we open a portal from here, we can go in." Batman said.
"Yeah, but the only problem here is finding a boomtube generator. A motherbox." Superman said.
"Who would have one?"
"I'm not sure."
"Gentlemen!" The three looked up to see Wonder Woman wrestling back three parademons. She had two of them by the throat and her heel on anothers throat. "If you're done conversing, I could really use some-."
Just as she was finishing, a loud 'boom' rang through their ears and a portal opened in front of them. Wonder Woman threw the two parademons in her hands to the side and knocked the one beneath her out. "A boomtube?"
"Get ready for what comes out." Batman said, preparing a few choice batarangs. Superman clenched his fist. He was secretly hoping the person coming out was Darkseid. Green Lantern created a SWAT team behind him, guns at the ready.
A man flew through the portal. He hit the ground and slid for a few feet. "Never. Doing that again." He looked up to see the four heroes starring down at him in confusion. The Flash looked around him. "That actually worked?"
-Central City - Six Minutes and Twenty Three Seconds Before-
Wally West ran down the mostly destroyed streets of his city. Parademons flew around, grabbing people and destroying buildings. One of the creatures chased after a little girl holding a teddy bear.
"Mommy!" The girl shouted. Wally picked up his speed and punched the parademon chasing her in the jaw, and the speed he was running he must have shattered a majority of its skull. Without stopping, the Flash carefully picked up the girl and made sure not to run so fast. He really didn't want her throwing up on his suit right now. He found a safe-zone on the edge of the city, a helicopter was already landing and soliders guarded the area. The hero placed the girl inside and ran off without her knowing he had ever grabbed her. She smiled as she watched the red blur speed off. "Thank you Flash!" She waved him off.
A small group of parademons were heading for a group of running civilians but the Flash sped in front of them and ran his fist into their faces. He turned around to the people. "You're going the wrong way." He pointed in the opposite direction. "The safe-zone is that way. Get there ASAP." He told them before zooming off again. He spotted a parademon standing in the middle of the street, holding something. Wally sped up his pace and was prepared to punch the parademon but it turned around just as Wally delivered the fateful punch. Instead of hitting the alien, he hit what looked like a small square remote.
The device seemed to have activated and opened a portal behind the Flash and the parademon. Unable to stop at the speed he was running, both the Flash and the creature fell through!
The first thing he felt was sharp and imense heat over his body. The second was the dizziness he felt coming through the portal and the third was him, hitting the floor. As soon as he fell, the Flash popped to his feet. He looked around and almost dropped to his knees at what he saw. It was like a palace. A twisted, all black, and set on fire type of palace. Around it were smaller more alien-like buildings. And there were fire pits everywhere. Giant two headed dogs walked around the palace, guarding it.
"Oh my God." He said. An anamilistic shriek sounded off behind him. He spun around to see an entire army of parademons! Way too man for him to take on alone. They were stanfing in front of some sort of arc. He did the only thing he could think of doing: Run.
Before he could be swarmed, Wally ran towards the palace, away from the creatures. He didn't know what he was going to find at the palace but it'd be better than staying out in the open. Probably. There were multiple pillars in front of the palace, all lined with skeletons and fire. The Flash did his best to ignore it. Upon arriving in front of the giant black doors, one of the huge two-headed dogs jumped in front of him, a parademon on top of it with a whip. He didn't slow down. Instead he vibrated his molecules to the right speed where he became intangible! He zoomed right past the guard and through the doors. Flash stopped vibrating and ran up a set of winding stairs. He wasn't sure what he was looking for or running towards but chances are, the ring leader behind the invasion was here.
In a few seconds, Wally had sped throughout a majority of the huge palace, finding nothing but a few trophy rooms and balconies. He stopped running for a while before seeing a large door with an inscription ion the front. It was in some strange alien language. "Well, if it has this on it, it has to be important." The Flash thought to himself before opening the door and running through. There was a light flashing in the hallway leading into another room. Wally slowly stepped inside to see the room was big and circular. At the center of it was a bright, glowing sphere. "Woah." He shaded his eyes. "That's bright."
He approached what looked like a computer panel in front of the sphere. The keys on the keyboard were oviously in some alien language. "Great." He inhaled and pressed a red button on the panel.
A voice echoed through the room. Whoever it was spoke an alien language. Wally guessed it was the same language as the one on the door and keys.
"Ugh. Don't they have this in english?" Wally asked aloud.
"English language accepted. Welcome Lord Darkseid." A feminine voice greeted.
"Darkseid?" He thought for a moment before his brain flash backed to the news he had heard. Something about an alien warlord -Darkseid- announcing he'd destroy the world. "Holy crap." Wally said.
"Phrase unrecognized." The computer said.
"Um... Okay. Computer, what is this thing?"
"The Hellspore is a device of nearly unlimited destruction." The voice continued. "While it was created almost a century ago, the limitations of the Spore is unknown."
"It's a bomb?" Wally asked as a holographic visual appeared.
"In some words, yes." The holograph expanded into a planet, none specific but it was surrounded by three other planets. "Although this version has never been tested, the estimated destruction the Spore could cause would expand to surrounding planets, theoretically destroying an entire galaxy." The visual showed the glowing ball or "Hellspore" being placed on the planet and detonating. "First, the Spore will connect with the earth's core and ignite it using the Apokaliptian substance from the Fire Pits of-."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, skip to phase two." Wally demanded, studying the holographic image.
"After it is connected, the core will overload until it explodes, killing every life form on the planet and, if powerful enough, the entire galaxy the universe resides in."
The Flash watched in horror as the holographic planet exploded, taking others with it. "Oh my God... Is Darksei-." He stopped himself. "Am I going to use this weapon on earth?"
"Earth is the subject planet you have chosen to rule over before destroying it, using the expiremental Hellspore." The computer said.
The hero clenched his fists. "Can the Hellspore be... Destroyed in any way?"
"Destruction of the Spore will cause an immediate explosion. While it may not be as strong, it will nevertheless destroy anything in a twenty mile radius."
"Dammit." The Flash walked around the panel and to the Hellspore. He reached out, ready to touch it until he heard the computer speak again.
"Welcome Lord Darkseid." It said. Wally spun his head around only to be greeted by a fist impacting his face! He hit a wall before sliding down to the ground.
"A human. On Apokalips." A deep voice said behind shadows. "Impressive you've lived this long." The Flash looked up to finally see the man known as Darkseid standing over him, his hands behind his back. "But sadly, this is as far as you go."
"Like hell." The Flash sped from under the dark go before lunging back, a punching him in the jaw. Pain sky rocketed through Wally's hand.
Darkseid looked back to the man in red. "That almost hurt." He told him. "You are one of the earth's few super humans." His eyes began to glow red. "Pity there won't be anymore left when I'm finished with your planet." The Flash sped away again and through the door he had come through. "Run." Darkseid shouted. "You and your species will soon be dead."
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Wally said to himself. "Running. Is that all I'm good for now? I mean he's an alien. And if there's one thing I've-."
'Hello Wallace Rudolph West.' A voice said in his head.
"Wally stopped running through the endless halls of Darkseid's palace and looked around. "What the hell is-."
'Don't be alarmed. I am here to help you get back to your home planet.'
"Right..." Wally said in uncertainty.
'I sense you believe this is a hoax.'
"You sense correctly."
'Very well. If you need proof I will give it to you. Follow these directions. I must share valuable knowledge with you that might save your world, Wallace.'
The Flash smirked. "What direct-." He stopped and knew exactly which way to go. He zoomed off.
After a minute of running through the corridors of the palace and dodging between security, the Flash had finally reached his destination. But he didn't even know where he was. He had run down a few flights of long stairs so he guessed he was in some sort of dungeon. Certainly smelled that way.
Wally waited for the alien guard to turn the corner of another hallway before approaching a large metal door with some sort of combination lock. There were four knobs resting on the door. "Alright." Wally cracked his knuckles and spun all four of the knobs at blinding speeds. In the first five seconds, he had already been through at least a thousand combinations. Then he heard the clicks of the door as it slid open. Inside was a smaller room and what appeared to be some sort of prison. There were small cells that lined on the walls. As he walked pass them, he saw the skeletons of the people who had once occupied the cells. But the skeletons looked different. Some had fanged teeth, others had four fingers, and other seemed to have... wings. Alien corpses. Everything in this room was dead. Nearly.
"Hello Wallace." The Flash turned to see a man in a cell behind him. No, not a man. He was green with very red eyes. His skin was kinda wrinkley and his arms went further down than humans. "My name is J'onn J'onzz." He smiled.
Wally's first instinct was to take off running and never turn back but instead slowly approached the odd creature speaking to him. "You... You were the guy talking in my head?"
"Yes." J'onn responded. "Telepathy."
"Telepathy? What kind of aliens have telepathy?"
"Martians."
"Oh." Wally thought for a moment. "Oh! You're from Mars!"
"I am from Mars, the same solar system as your planet earth."
"Wait..." Wally looked at the cell. "Why are you a prisoner here? I'd think that if Darkseid's been to our solar system before the government would have detected it. Unless the government didn't want us to know the truth. Maybethishappenedthousandsof yearsago-." His words all ran together. He stopped when he saw the martian looking at him with a smile on his face.
"Are you finished?" J'onn asked.
"Yeah, sorry. It happens."
"Now, as I said before I am here to help you off of Apokalips and save your world. But you must focus on what I'm about to show you."
"Show me?" J'onn extended his fingers past the bars and touched Wally's forehead. Their minds synced together. Information flowed through J'onn and into Wally, granating him with all of his knowlede of Apokolips. J'onn removed his finger. The Flash stood silent for a moment and dropped to his knees. Tears became to form in his eyes.
"I am sorry." J'onn appologized. "I couldn't let you know what I know without transfering my memories as well."
"Your wife... You're daughter," Wally wipped away his tears. "I'm so sorry about them. Darkseid is evil. To do that to your home."
"Darkseid will not stop unless you stop him on earth. What he dropped on my planet only killed half of us. That was the true trial run of his Hellspore. If this one works... I fear there will be no hope left."
"Why?" Wally asked. "Why does he do this?"
"Darkseid destroys planets for mere game. He sees it as good sport." J'onn explained. "He will not be satisfied until he reigns supreme."
"How do I stop him?"
"There is no simple way to defeat Darkseid himself but you can go after the Mother Boxes."
Flash thought for a second. "What they're using to teleport to earth, right?"
"Yes. Destroy those all there will be no way they can come back at least not for a few hundred years."
"Great. Wait... How do I get back?"
"The arc where you came through." J'onn said. "If you can use one of the mother boxes the parademons have-."
"I can use there own portal to take me home." Flash finished.
"Yes. Now go. Darkseid knows you are here."
"How can you tell?"
"After years in this cell, I have learned to sense his evil."
Wally was about to run but turned back to J'onn. "Come with me." He said. "I can get you out of here."
"No Wallace. If I wanted to leave his prison, I would have ages ago."
"But don't you want to go back home? To mars?"
"Wallace, I am the last surviving member of my race." Wally paused to take in what he had heard. The last of his race? Darkseid had nearly destroyed all of planet mars and this martian was the last one. "There is no other place I belong."
"Yes." Wally and J'onn turned to see Darkseid in the doorway with a few parademons at his side. "But unlike the martians planet, for earth there will be no survivors."
"Not if I can help it." Wally responded. "Oh, and thanks for letting me joyride in your palace. The security here sucks."
"Foolish mortal. The only reason you still had a head before entering here is because I allowed it. Everything you have done here was permitted by me." Darkseid told him. "You are too fast for the parademons. So I will deal with you personally." His eyes became two bright, fierce balls of light.
Wally whispered to J'onn. "Alright J'onn lets put those telepathic powers to use."
"Darkseid is invulnerable to my telepathy. Wallace," He called. "You must run"
"Yes." Darkseid said. "Run if that is all your good for. A sinister smile crept upon his face, drawing even more evil there than there already was. He began advancing towards the Flash.
"You cannot fight him." J'onn said. "You will lose. And then he will kill you."
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."
"I'll do it." J'onn stood straight. "I'll fight him." The martian took a deep breath before making his own body fade and walking through the bars!
Darkseid chuckled. "Well I must say I'm impressed martian. It was only a matter of time before you decided you wanted to die."
"You can become intangible?" The Flash asked.
"Among other things. Now run." J'onn commanded. "I'll hold them off."
"You will try."
J'onn ran towards Darkseid but the parademons made a defensive wall between the two. To Wally's surprise, J'onn changed form from a skinny humanoid being to something that faintly resembled a rhinoceros and charge into the horde before shifting into a dragon-like creature, and crushed a few parademons in his way.
"Shape shifting, telepathic, and ghost martian." Wally said to himself. "Cool."
"I haven't forgotten you, human." Darkseid suddenly fired two red beams from his eyes. They moved towards the Flash who barely managed to dodge them as they shot passed his arm. "Ha!" Wally looked to Darkseid. "You missed!"
Darkseid simply smiled. The Flash turned his head to see the beams turn and zoom back tokwards him! "Oh crap!" He moved again and again as the two beams kept on his trail.
J'onn returned to his regular form and punched a parademon in the face before looking to Wally. "The Omega Beams! They follow you! You have to out run them!" He shouted.
Wally moved into one of the cells and jumped out as the beams followed him in and out. "I can't leave you!"
"Go!" J'onn threw a parademon into a wall.
"I'll come back for you! I swear!" Wally promised before running towards a wall. Darkseid clenched his fist and moved towards Wally. The Flash began vibrating his molecules again and closed his eyes tight as he jumped through a wall. The omega beams hit the wall, completely obliterating it.
The Flash fell on his chest and looked behind him to see Darkseid starring at him. "Run, human." He said as another stream of Omega Beams shot out of his eyes. Wally quickly got to his feet and ran as fast as he could, away from the beams.
It felt like Wally was running for hours when in reality he had only been running though the palace's hallways for a few seconds as the beams followed him. For the first time in a long time, Wally actually began to sweat. The intense heat of the planet mixed with the fact that he was literally running for his life put a lot of pressure on him.
Wally had to lose the omega beams on his trail. The Flash turned a corner to see the giant doors he had come through. An exit. But they were guarded by a dozen parademons, all awaiting his arrival. The Flash let a grin creep on his lips. He ran to the group and sped up before sliding in between the legs of one parademon and out the doors. As he slid at the last second, the beams didn't. They slammed into the group of parademons, incinerating them on contact.
Wally looked up to see the dust of the creatures and began running. From the palace he could see where the parademons were coming through. There were thousands of them all around a large arc. A portal had just opened. Group by group they jumped through and the boomtube. There was one parademon next to the portal, holding a silver device in his hands. When one group jumped through he'd change coordinance in the mother box.
Wally ran through the mass of creatures and towards the one holding the mother box. Before anyone of them noticed him, the Flash held the device in his hands. He examined the mother box and -of course- saw more alien symbols on the screen and pad.
"Hope this works." He said as the parademons began attacking him. He pushed a lot of the buttons at super speed before jumping through the portal.
Darkseid watched the scene from his balconey at the palace. He smiled. "It matters little." He turned to two parademons, each holding the arms of a defeated J'onn J'onzz. "The human knows my plans. It won't stop me. You've prevented nothing." He told the martian.
"He will tell the other heroes of earth." J'onn looked up from the ground and at Darkseid. "They will defeat you." Darkseid responded by back handing J'onn in the face. For any other being, this would have completely shattered their skull but lucky for J'onn, his shape shifting abilities saved his life.
Darkseid grabbed the martian's jaw. "Why, martian? Do you fell guilty about not being able to save your own planet? Unable to save your own family?"
J'onn starred the dark god in the eyes. "I helped him to ensure that what you did to my planet doesn't happen to earth." He said. "I help because it's right."
Darkseid let go of J'onn and went back to his calm facade. "You cannot deny the inevitble, martian. Do you know why you're still alive?" J'onn was silent. "Because I enjoy a trophy. And because you were the only thing not desroyed on mars, I have you." Darkseid narrowed his eyes. "But you must be punished."
"I've been through all of your torturing. You will not break me." J'onn said.
"I will admit, you are strong willed. Stronger than most. Not even Granny Goodness could not break you. And you have been through my torture chambers. All but one." Darkseid turned back to the balconey. "Tell Kalibak to ready a fire pit for the martian." J'onn's eyes went wide with terror. "Tell me, wasn't it fire that destroyed mars?"
The parademons began to drag the martian away.
Metropolis - A Few Seconds Later
"That actually worked?" The Flash asked, looking down at the mother box in his hands. "Holy crap." Before he could celibrate further, his body was tightened by a green band. He looked up to see the Green Lantern pointing a stream of solid green light at him, creating the clamp. Behind him were Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
"He doesn't look like one of them." Lantern said to the others.
"He's the Flash from Central City." Batman told them.
"That was a boomtube he just came through right?" Green Lantern asked.
"Yeah it was." Superman said.
The four eyed the speedster. "Um... Not exactly how I would picture a super hero team up." He gave a weak smile.
Batman kneeled down to come face to face with the Flash. He examined the man's eyes. Green eyes. Not yellow. "He might not be mind controlled." Batman concluded.
"How did you come through that boomtube?" Green Lantern asked.
"With this, glow stick." Wally motioned to his hand which held a device.
Batman took it from him and studied it. "Superman," He handed it to the Man of Steel. "Is that what we need?"
"A mother box."
"Question is: How'd he get it?" Wonder Woman looked at the Flash.
"If you let me go I'll tell you, sweet cheeks." The Flash smiled.
"No deal." Lantern said. "I'm still not sure if you're mind controlled or not. So just sit tight speedy."
"Okay, where did the mind control thing come from? Did I miss something?"
"He's not showing any of the signs." Green Lantern said.
"I couldn't even form a complete sentence when I was mind controlled." Superman noted.
"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" The Flash demanded, angrily working against his restraints.
"I know what to do." Wonder Woman pulled her lasso from her waist. "Lantern, let him go." The green construct faded from Flash's upper body and was quickly covered with Wonder Woman's golden lasso. "Are you being mind controlled by Darkseid?" Diana asked him.
Before the Flash could even think of an answer, one spit out of his mouth automatically. "No, I am not." Flash struggled to break free of the lasso. "What the hell is this made out of?"
"The truth." Wonder Woman replied. "How did you get through that boomtube?"
"Using the mother box I got from one of those aliens on that firey planet." He said again. "This must be illegal."
"Why were you on Apokalips?"
"I fell into one of the portals and ran to that Darkseid guys castle and found out that he has this ultimate weapon of mass destruction that he plans to use on earth then I met a martian-." Wally's words were coming out faster than most could comprehend.
"Stop!" Batman called. "What weapon of mass destruction?"
"It's called a hellspore. It's a weapon that will drill to the center of the earth and merge with the core and-."
"Destroy the planet." Superman finished.
The heroes exchanged worried glances. Wonder Woman sighed. "Anything else you want to tell us?" She asked.
"You have amazing boobs." The Flash said with a dumb smile on his face. He straightened when he realized what he said. "Wait, what?"
Wonder Woman pulled the lasso off of him. "Men."
"So Darkseid does have an actual plan." Batman turned to Superman. "Did you know about this?"
"No." He said. "I never left the torture chamber."
"Can you read their language?" The dark knight motioned to the mother box covered in alien language.
"No. I can't."
"How did you program it to take you to us?" Batman asked the Flash.
"Honestly, I just punched in a bunch of numbers." The Flash shrugged. "Coincidence."
"I don't believe in coincidences."
"Of course you don't."
"Maybe I can help." Green Lantern said. "My ring is programmed to read any language."
"I thought you said your ring wasn't familiar with apokoliptian technology." Wonder Woman said.
Lantern took the mother box from Superman. "Every language is related in some way. My ring can decipher at least every other word from going through the Guardians database and comparing it to existing alien languages, past and present." He put his ring on the device.
"The Guardians?" The Flash asked.
"Of the Universe." Lantern responded. After a few seconds, the scan was done. "I got it." He said.
"You know how to work it?" Superman asked.
"Barely, but enough to get us to Apokolips." He said. "We can go as soon as we're ready."
Wonder Woman turned to Flash. "Will you help us stop Darkseid on Apokolips?" She asked.
"Wait, we're going to Apokolips? Great, I just got back." He thought for a second. "I'm in for saving the world and all that."
Before he could finish, there was a loud boom in the distance. Then suddenly, water errupted from the ocean and into the air. The perfect cylinder of water flew up before crashing back down into the ocean. This caused excess water to fall to Metropolis.
"Yeah," Superman looked to the other four. "We need to check that out before going anywhere."
"That's near the safe-zone!" Wonder Woman levitated into the air. "Steve!" She flew towards the sight, followed by Superman. Green Lantern created a jet, encasing him and Batman. "Hang on." He told him. They shot off into the air. The Flash followed on foot.
. . . . .
Wonder Woman landed on the ground and was quickly rushed by parademons. She easily plowed through them and made her way through. She stopped when she saw a few of the parademons on top of Steve and Snapper. "No!" She tried to get through the mass of demons but even with her strength, the dozens of parademons pulling her down made it hard to move.
The parademon rose its clawed hand in the air and prepared to slice them through the man beneath it.
"No!" Diana yelled as she pulled free with all of her might.
But before she could do anything, a man grabbed the parademons wrist and threw it into the ocean before doing the same to the others around the two men. Steve looked up to see a man with relatively long blonde hair and a thin orange body armor on, complete with green bottoms and a trident slung over his back. He had a look of absolute focus plastered on his face. His entire body was wet.
"Are you alright?" The man asked Steve before extending a hand to help him up.
"I'm... Okay." Steve accepted the hand and the man easily pulled him up along with Snapper.
There was a shriek near them and Steve saw Diana getting pulled into the mass of parademons. "Diana!" He grabbed his gun from the ground and was prepared to unleash his form of hell on the creatures. But he was stopped by the man.
"There's no need for that." He said. "I'll take care of them." He pulled the trident from his back and leapt into the crowd of parademons. Blood and severed limbs splattered around the area as the man cut and ripped his way to his goal.
"Oh my God." Snapper said. "That's... That's Aquaman." He said with an abnormally large smile on his face. Steve watched in amazement as the Aquaman did what he did best.
Aquaman finally made his way to Wonder Woman who was fiercely fighting for her life. He extended a hand to her which she took. The man pulled her as hard as he could and flung her out of the crowd and into the air. A bloodied Diana quickly regained herself and levitated back down to Steve.
"Diana!" Steve ran up to the woman and the two shared an embrace.
"Steve I was so..." She trailed off before spinning around. "That man." She said.
On cue, Aquaman burst from the crowd of parademons. With a strong twirl of his trident, the parademons fell to the ground. Dead. The man straightened up and wiped a smear of blood from his cheek, completely ignoring the fact that he was soaked in blood.
"That's a pretty sight." Aquaman looked above him to see Superman landing down next to him. The Flash appeared next to him. "Sorry we're late." He apologized. "Ran into a horde close to the Daily Planet." Green Lantern and Batman showed up a moment after.
Aquaman extended his hand at Superman. "Pleased to make your aquaintance." He said, smiling. Superman was about to shake his hand but noticed he was drenched in parademon blood. Aquaman noticed this. "Oh, sorry." He turned to the ocean and and lifted his hand. After a moment, a stream of water floated towards him before covering his entire body, practically melting away the blood.
"Wish I had one of those." The Flash whispered to Green Lantern.
Aquaman turned back to Superman he smiled. "I'm Aqua-." He stopped. He gripped his trident and twirled it in his fingers to where the pointed end was at the bottom. He reared back and threw the trident past the four heroes in front of him.
Batman spun around, batarang in hand but saw the one parademon behind him impaled into a brick wall with the trident in its skull. The dark knight turned back around to Aquaman who was approaching the creature.
"You're welcome." Aquaman said to Batman, yanking his trident from the wall.
"I don't do thank you." Batman said.
"He's like that." Green Lantern said to Aquaman.
"You don't say." He turned back to Superman and shook his hand. "I am Aquaman, also known as Arthur Curry, from Atlantis."
"I'm Superman." He turned to the others. "The Flash, Green Lantern, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Steve Trevor, and Snapper Carr."
"Are you some kind of team?" Arthur asked.
Before Superman could answer, the Flash appeared next to him with his arm around his shoulder. "Yes, we're a team." He said smiling. "We're the..." He thought for a moment. "What's a good team name?"
"The Oddly Dressed Wierdo's?" Lantern remarked.
The Flash turned to him and smiled. "Could use some work."
"What are you doing here of all places?" Steve asked Aquaman.
"I was coming to offer the surface aid but one of those portals opened in the water. These," Aquaman pointed towards the group of dead parademons. "Are all that remains of those forces."
"There are more out there." Green Lantern said. "They're going to keep coming unless we go to their home planet and stop them there."
"And we need all the help we can get." Superman told him.
"I'll join your team and help you destroy the evil invaders." Aquaman said, smiling.
"Good." Superman turned to the others. "Are we ready?" He asked.
"Just about..." Green Lantern punched a few keys on the mother box before the loud 'boom' signified the portal opened. "Got it."
Wonder Woman looked to Steve. "You and Snapper should probably stay here." She advised.
"You read my mind." Snapper said, moving away from the portal.
"Just... Just be careful." Steve took Diana's hands in his.
"You too, Steve." The two embraced in a kiss.
The Flash whispered to the Green Lantern. "So she's taken?" He asked.
"Apparently."
Diana and Steve let go of each other. The solider stepped back next to Snapper.
Superman starred into the portal with his fist clenched. His cape fluttered in the force it emitted. Batman stepped next to him. "Darkseid." He started. "How powerful is he?"
Superman thought for a moment. "I honestly think he may be the strongest thing I've ever encountered."
"You won't be fighting him alone." Aquaman said as he approached the two. "We have mighty forces availible to us."
"We will win the day." Wonder Woman said.
"Are we gonna have a game plan or something?" Flash asked them.
Batman thought for a while. "Superman, Flash, you two know the layout of Apokolips?"
"Only the palace." Superman responded.
"And that's where Darkseid is." The Flash said. "Plus that's where the hellspore is."
"Superman, you'll take Wonder Woman, and Aquaman to find Darkseid. The three of you are the strongest of us." Batman said. "Flash will lead Lantern and myself to the hellspore. We'll try to dispose of it. Maybe we can get to it in time before Darkseid decides to launch it." Batman told them.
"Sounds like a plan." Green Lantern said.
The Flash looked to Aquaman. "I think I should tell you that the planet is completely... You know, on fire." He warned. "Don't want you to flip out, aqua-fresh."
"That shouldn't be a problem as long as we're not there too long." He said.
The six heroes all exchanged glances. "Lets go." Superman said turning to the portal. Batman slid the mother box in one of his utility belt pockets. Green Lantern created a bubble around the six and levitated them towards the portal.
"We should totally be playing 'Highway to Hell' right now." The Flash said before the bubble went into the boomtube and disappeared, along with the portal.
Lucas 'Snapper' Carr looked to Steve. "What do we do now?"
Steve sighed. "We hope."
Apokolips
A hooded figure approached Darkseid as he sat in his large throne in his throne room. "Lord Darkseid," The figure kneeled. "The heroes are coming here. To Apokolips." He reported.
"Good." Darkseid said. "Those heroes are earth's last and only hope. Coming here is suicide and we will grant their wishes. Ready Granny Goodness' Female Furies and tell Kalibak to set loose the hell hounds." He commanded.
"Yes," The man lifted his hood from his head. "Father."
"Go, Deesad, ready my forces. The trophies of earth will be their bodies." He smiled sinisterly.