Justice League
Volume 1: Invasion
Chapter 3: Fury
'Boom.' The sound that signified an opening boomtube. The portal opened, drawing in the winds and gravel around it. A green bubble flew out of the portal and onto the grounds of Apokolips. The bubble faded back to the ring of the Green Lantern who examined the planet in awe and disgust.
"Welcome to Apokolips." Superman said.
"Don't forget to visit the gift shop where you can get your very own severed alien head." The Flash added.
"Hera." Wonder Woman said, seeing the red lake and pillars of fire.
"Alright." Superman turned to the group. "We know our jobs. Lets get to it." He pointed to the palace in the distance. "We get there and we split up."
"Alright." The Green Lantern made a jet around them and flew the group to the giant palace doors. "Don't worry guys," The Lantern said. "I'll knock." He smiled as he created a giant battering ram with the Green Lantern symbol on the end. With a wave of his hand, the construct smashed into the doors and sent them tumbling down.
The Flash was the first to run in. "Lucy, I'm home!" He called. There was no one inside.
"Nice." Green Lantern said, smiling.
"There's something wrong here." Superman said as he flew in. "There should be guards. Parademons, Hell Hounds, something. Not empty."
"Maybe he knows we're here." Batman said.
"Yeah, maybe." Superman responded. "I don't like it."
"There goes our element of surprise." The Flash said.
"Be on your guard." Wonder Woman said.
The Flash pointed down one corridor. "The hellspore is that way."
"And Darkseid is up there." Superman headed for the stairs. "Good luck."
Batman nodded to Green Lantern and the Flash as he walked down the hall.
Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman began moving up the stairs.
. . . . .
"You're sure it's this way?" Green Lantern asked the Flash.
"Yes!" The Flash answered. "Why do you keep asking me that?"
"You just don't look sure." Lantern said, raising an eyebrow.
"I know where I'm going." Flash responded. "I was here like, ten minutes ago."
"Yeah, okay." Lantern said. "Just making sure."
The two walked behind Batman who had remained silent the whole time. He stopped walking suddenly and put his hand out to stop the others from going any further.
The Flash and Lantern exchanged confused looks. "Uh, Bats? What-?"
"Quiet." He said as he faced front. He peered down the corridor to see the lights going out, row by row. The darkness eventually reached them. It was a second of complete dark until the Green Lantern used his ring to light the way.
"What the hell was that?" Lantern asked.
"This doesn't really seem like the kind of place that would have to pay an electric bill." The Flash remarked.
"It's a trap." Batman told them.
"Oh, so you humans are smarter than you appear." A voice spoke in the darkness.
"Where's it coming from?" Lantern asked.
"Everywhere." The Flash responded.
"I must admit," The voice spoke again. "No other planet has ever given us this much trouble before. It will be amusing watching you all die." It began to laugh.
"Show yourself!" Green Lantern demanded.
"Of course." The path the heroes had just came down was seperated from them by a large door with the omega symbol on it cutting them off. Similar doors began closing them off from other hallways until only one was left.
"Crap!" The Flash ran to one of the doors just before it closed in front of him. "This is where the hellspore is!" He told them.
"Oops." The voice said. "Did I cut you off from your way? Sorry. But if you want, mine is open."
"Lantern." Batman called. "See if you can open that door."
Green Lantern created multiple constructs to open that door. From a jackhammer to a bulldozer but nothing worked.
"See?" The voice continued. "Why don't you come down here?"
"I'm not finished yet." The Lantern created C-4 with his ring and stuck it to the door. "3... 2... 1" The explosives erupted on the door but had no effect. Not even a scratch.
"It will take years to break through that barrier." The voice told them. "If you want to get to the spore, you'll have to find me.
Batman began walking towards the only lighted path. "We have no other choice." He told the two. "Be on your guard."
The three began moving down the path. At the end of the corridor was a bright white light. The closer they moved, the harder it got to look directly into it. They finally made it to the end of the hallway and stepped into what looked like a gladiator colosseum set outside of the palace. The three heroes looked around to find no one.
"Welcome, foolish human heroes!" The same voice who had spoken to them earlier was now clearer and more vivid. The three looked up to see an odd looking woman standing on top of a balcony about fifteen feet off the ground above a large door.
"Gah!" The Flash jumped at the sight of the woman. "She really is an alien."
"She?" Green Lantern started. "That's a woman?"
"You truely have earned the fury of Lord Darkseid. And I'm here to deliver it." She smiled as she waved her hand from her cape. "Furies!" She shouted. The door beneath the balcony lifted up revealing four scantily dressed women, prepared for battle. "Destroy the outsiders for Granny Goodness." She commanded.
"Outsiders?" The Flash started. "Lady, I don't know if you've looked in a mirror lately but you obviously need a giant case of wrinkle remov-. Ahh!" Before he could finish, he was punched in the face before he could even know it. The punch launched him a few feet back. He looked up quickly to see a woman with orange skin and red hair. Her eyes were pupiless and she had a smug grin on her face, one the Flash recognized from himself.
"So you're the fast one, huh?" She said in an oddly seductive voice. "I bet you I'm faster. I mean, hell, I am the Speed Queen."
Green Lantern was ready to blast the back of the girl but soon noticed the absense of light.
"Move!" Batman called. "Now!" He pushed Lantern out of the way before leaping to the side himself as a gargantuan woman landed where they just stood. Batman landed on his feet and threw a few explosive batarangs which the woman caught in her hands. When they exploded, she simply dropped the ashes to the floor.
"Stompa," Both Batman and the large woman looked up to see another woman with a very revealing outfit. In her hands was a long spiked whip. "Stop toying with the human and kill them already."
"Sorry Lashina." The woman named Stompa said. "I'll take care of this one real quick." She charged at the dark knight.
Batman dove to the side and threw a flash grenade in Stompa's face, temporarily blinding her! The woman, still running, rubbed her eyes and slammed into a pillar.
"Clever bastard." Lashina said, crackling her whip.
"You don't know the half of it." Batman responded. The woman cracked her whip and sent it flying to the Dark Knight who let it wrap around his wrist. She tried pulling but Batman stood his ground. He reached into his utility belt and retrieved his tazzer. He connected the whip to the tazzer, causing a stream of electricity to travel to Lashina and shock her until she let go of the weapon.
Batman pulled the whip off of him and threw it to the ground. Lashina ran towards him and drove her fist into Batman's gut before uppercutting him. They were stronger than they looked. He needed to be faster. The apokoliptian tried for another assault but Batman gripped his cape and moved to the side but not before using his cape to stun her. In the brief darkness, Batman kneed her and punched her to the ground.
Lashina moved towards him but the Dark Knight anticipated her move and flipped over her. The woman looked down and saw what appeared to be a bat symol on the ground but it was in an odd blue foam. She turned back to Batman who held a detonator in his hand. Before she could move, he pressed down on it, causing the explosive gel to explode beneath her feet. Lashina flew into the air but was stopped when Batman tossed a batarang with a line wire connected to it in the air. It wrapped around her body and when she was completely still, Batman pulled her back down to the ground.
Lashina angrily ripped out of her restraints. "Stompa!" She yelled to the woman who was rubbing her eyes. "Pillar!" The large apokoliptian grabbed the pillar she had just ran into and pulled it off from the rest and held it over her head.
"Ready Lashina!"
"Follow my voice!" Lashina yelled as she ran towards Batman. It was thn he realized what they were doing. "Now!" Lashina jumped over Batman. Stompa threw the pillar towards Lashina who had moved to the side, leaving Batman.
Before the pillar could hit the Dark Knight, a green bubble encased it. Batman looked up to see the Green Lantern.
"I had it."
"Sure you did." Lantern threw the pillar back at Lashina and Stompa, hitting them both.
A blue bolt of energy hit Green Lantern, causing him to fall into the empty audience stands. He rubbed his head and stood up. "I'm getting a concussion when this is over." He looked to the source of the blast to see a beautiful blonde woman shooting the blue bolts at Batman out of her sword.
Batman dived to the side as a bolt barely missed him. He threw three batarangs at the girl who used her sword to cut all of them out of the sky. She readied another blast but was hit with a blast from Green Lantern. The woman tried to stand but found herself stuck to the ground with the green ball melting on top of her.
"Gumball blondie." Lantern said with a smug grin.
The girl's sword began to light up. "My name is Gilotina!" She yelled. A bright blue pulse destroyed the green gumball, freeing Gilotina. Green Lantern backed away until he was levitating right over Batman.
"You got a plan?" He asked. "We're a little detoured."
"Take care of Gilotina there." Batman said. "I'll take care of these two. He said motioning to Stompa and Lashina.
"Got it." With that Green Lantern flew towards Gilotina.
Batman turned to see Lashina gripping her whip and Stompa standing up who has finally regained the ability to see.
The Flash ran right next to Speed Queen. The woman tried to punch the scarlet speedster but the Flash moved to the side and appeared on the other side of her.
"Give it up." The Flash said. "You're not faster than me." He smiled.
Speed Queen began to huff. "No. I am faster than you, human!"
"Oh, really?" Suddenly, the Flash stopped running. Speed Queen turned her head and could no longer see him.
"Guess he tired himself out." She laughed as she looked back in front of her but her smile disappeared when she saw the Flash running in front of her backwards! He smiled at her.
The Flash stopped running again and held his foot out. Speed Queen, unable to stop running, she tripped over his foot at super speed. She skipped across the floor until she hit one of the pillars.
"Show off..."
The Flash sped over to her. "I mean, I am the Fastest Man Alive. But it doesn't matter to you. Because you're unconscious."
. . . . .
"We're almost there." Superman said as he stepped up the stairwell and into a wide hallway.
"Good." Aquaman said. "This place is disturbing."
"Definitely." Wonder Woman noted.
"You don't know the half of it." Superman said. "It was worse in the torture chamb-." Before he could finish, a fist connected with his jaw, sending him flying into a wall. Another punch shot Wonder Woman into the ceiling and back down while the last hit knocked Aquaman off of his feet. Superman looked up to see a somewhat tall, pudgy, grey man with long black hair and disgusting smile.
"Kalibak." Superman spat.
"The kryptonian." Kalibak held a high tech mace in his hands. The Beta Club. "I knew my father should have killed you when he had the chance. In my opinion, you're not worth the trouble."
"And that's why Darkseid is calling the shots and not you."
Kalibak gritted his teeth. "How about I teach you some respect?" He lifted his club above his head, preparing to hit Superman.
"I'm not someone you can torture anymore Kalibak." Superman gave a smug grin. "I've got friends this time."
Kalibak was about to lower the Beta Club onto Superman's skull but felt something wrap around his wrist. He turned around to see Wonder Woman holding onto her golden lasso which was wrapped around Kalibak's arm. She pulled him into an uppercut. The apokokaliptian hit the ceiling and fell back down. Kalibak dropped the Beta Club a few feet away. Before he could crawl towards it, Aquaman stepped on Kalibak's hand, causing a loud cracking noise to sound from it. He clenched his teeth in pain.
Superman grabbed him by the colar and slammed him into the wall. "Not so tough now, are you Kalibak?" Superman held him with one hand.
The man laughed, loudly. "I'm not the person you should worry about kryptonian."
"And who should we be worried about?" Wonder Woman asked. "Darkseid?
"Yes." Kalibak answered. "He'll kill you all and every human on that pathetic excuse for a planet will die."
Superman wrapped his fingers around Kalibak's wide neck. "We won't let that happen."
"Come now, kryptonian. Do you really think I would actually let you into my fathers sanctuary?" Kalibak lifted a detonator in his hands and pressed the button! The bottom of the bridge exploded, causing the three heroes and Kalibak to fall.
Superman caught himself in the air first and began scanning the area for the others. He spotted Aquaman plummeting down. He was about to go after him but was quickly covered in the falling debris from the bridge.
Wonder Woman emerged from the smoke and dived down to catch Aquaman. She dodged the rock and peices of rubble. All she had to do was stretch her hand and grab him but Aquaman's eyes opened wide.
"Look out!" He shouted.
Before Diana could react, she felt someone wrap their arms around her torso.
Kalibak, now armed with his Beta Club, smelled Diana's neck. "When this is over and you're dead, I'm going to keep your body as my own personal-." Before he could finish, Wonder Woman jabbed him in the gut repeatidly with her elbow. "You little bitch!"
"I've been called worse." She said.
Aquaman could see Wonder Woman was currently busy and would most likey not be able to catch him in time and Superman was no where to be seen. Hitting the ground won't hurt too bad. Because his body was used to increasingly damaging preasure, this fall won't kill him, but it will hurt like hell.
Arthur braced for impact but instead of hitting the ground, he slid down a large green inflatable slide. "What the-?" He hit the ground and got off of the slide, only to see Batman, the Flash, and the Green Lantern fighting with a group of women.
"Hey!" Aquaman turned around to see Green Lantern blocking a blast from Gilotina's sword. "You mind helping out here Aqua Fresh?" He made a shield, blocking another blast. "And you're welcome, by the way!"
Aquaman saw the blonde warrior readying another blast. He hurled his trident with percision accuracy. It hit her sword, causing it to fall out of her hand and several feet away from her. She looked at the sword then to the man who owned the trident.
"How dare you!" She yelled.
"Excuse me." Gilotina turned around to see Green Lantern with a large green boxing glove on his hand. "Can you hold this?" He reared back his fist and launched it onto the woman's jaw, knocking her out.
The Flash ran by Lantern. "K.O.! You win!" He shouted in a very announcer like voice.
Aquaman grabbed his trident from the ground. "I'm guessing you got detoured as well?" He asked them.
"Yep." Lantern said.
"So much for the whole splitting up thing." The Flash noticed a quick black figure in the corner of his eye. "Look out!" He pushed the other two away as a black whip cut across where they just stood.
Lashina cut her whip in the air, aiming for the heroes. She shot a glance to Aquaman. "You're cute." She smiled. "Too bad I'll have to kill you now." She shot the whip towards Arthur but before it made contact, a golden lasso caught it in midair!
Everyone looked up to see Wonder Woman holding her lasso and Kalibak in her hands. She threw Kalibak to the ground and wrapped Lashina's whip around her arm before stepping on it, causing Lashina to fly to the ground. Wonder Woman kicked the woman in the face and wrapped her lasso back around her waist.
"Thanks for the save." Flash said.
"No problem. Who are these-? Look out!" She moved the Flash out of the way as Gilotina fell through the air, sword in hand, aiming to decapitate. Diana put her bracelets in the way of Gilotina's blade, blocking it. The woman made several more attempts to cut her target into pieces but was blocked by the amazon's bracelets.
Flash was about to spring into action but was knocked off of his feet. He began moving backwards and ran into a wall. He opened his eyes to see Speed Queen standing over him. He smiled. "Sore loser, huh?"
"Round two, human." She said, clenching her fists.
"And once again, Green Lantern to the rescue." He smiled. "I got this you guy-!"Green Lantern tried to form a construct to blast Gilotina but was hit with an agonizing pain. He sunk to his knees. He could feel his body numbing. Kalibak stood over him with his Beta Club pulsing with energy.
"The Beta Blast." He said smiling. "The first blast subjects ever nerve in your body to the most horrific pain imaginable. The second however," Kalibak pointed the Club at the Lantern who couldn't even speak. "Well, lets just say you won't be in pain too much longer."
"Stop!" Aquaman charged with his trident. The trident and the Beta Club clashed together. After a brief struggle, Kalibak pushed Aquaman back and ran towards the atleantean. He fired another Beta Blast at Aquaman who dived to the side and threw the trident at Kalibak.
The apokoliptian narrowly dodged the golden weapon and it embedded itself into one of the pillars surrounding the colosseum.
Kalibak turned to the pillar. "No weapon now." He smiled and looked to Aquaman. "What will you do now?" To his surprise, Aquaman shoved his fist into his face, knocking Kalibak into the air. He landed with a loud thud.
"Use my fists, the old fashioned way."
Batman jumped over Stompa as she punched the ground, missing the dark knight. He landed on the ground and dodged yet another punch.
"You can't just keep jumping around." Stompa said. "You have to do something eventually."
"I did."
Stompa raised an eyebrow as she heard a ticking sound behind her. She turned her head to see two black globs on her back with indivisual timers in the middle of them. She looked back to him.
"How did you-? When did you-?" The giantess stammered.
"I'm Batman." The glass on the timers broke moments before the plastique on the woman's back exploded. Thick black smoke clouded the area. Batman activated the detetive vision on his cowl to help him see through it. But just as he did, he saw a hand reach through the smoke. The detctive tried to duck but the hand instead grabbed his entire head and lifted him into the air.
Stompa began to squeeze. "All you are is a rodent. A rodent that needs killing." She had a murderous and deranged smile on her face. She was about to punch him but felt someone stop her.
Stompa turned to see Superman holding back her fist. "I wouldn't do that." He said. "Let him go." The woman tightened her grip on Batman's head. "Mistake." Superman's eye lit red and he shot a beam of laser vision into the hand she was holding Batman with.
"Argh!" Stompa shouted in pain as she dropped Batman who immediately began gasping for air. Stompa tried to use her free hand to punch Superman but he grabbed that one too.
"I don't want to have to hurt you." Superman said. "But trust me, I will. Stand down." His voice was firm and his eyes were still red.
Stompa rose her foot and slammed it down on the ground, causing Superman to let go. Stompa charged and punching him in the face. The Man of Steel slid back a few feet and braced himself for another punch. When it came, he pressed her fist down and connected his fist with her jaw. Stompa flew into the air and hit one of the pillars.
Superman approached Batman. "You alright?"
"I'm fine." He said. "We didn't get to the spore."
"And we didn't get to Darkseid." Superman told him. "We should probably try to handle these girls first."
"Agreed." He pointed to the balconey overlooking the arena. There, was Granny Goodness, looking down at them. "That's their ring leader. Get to her, we finish this."
Superman followed his gaze. "Granny Goodness."
"You know her?" Batman asked.
"She helped Darkseid control me." He clenched his fist. "I got her." He was about to fly off but was hit with a large boulder. Batman turned to Stompa who began running towards him.
Wonder Woman dived to the ground, avoiding Gilotina's sword. Diana swept her foot on the ground, tripping her attacker. Gilotina and Diana both flipped to their feet and had a brief staredown.
"I'm going to enjoy cutting you open." She smiled. "I can't wait to see how you look on the inside."
"You're sick." Diana said, glaring at the women.
Gilotina began laughing like a psychopath and charged at Diana, her sword in front of her. Wonder Woman moved to the side. The sword only cut off a few strands of her hair. The amazon grabbed the arm Gilotina held the sword in and bent it backwards, causing her to drop the weapon. Before it hit the ground, Diana kicked it further away from them.
Gilotina reached to the side holster on her leg and retrieved a smaller sword.
"Swords everywhere, huh?" Diana remarked.
"You'd be surprised where I keep my swords." Gilotina swiped it across Diana's face, leaving a bloody cut along her cheek. Wonder Woman kicked the woman away and rubbed the blood from her face.
Gilotina smiled and licked the blood from the edge of her sword. She let out a growl of satisfaction and a hint of pleasure. "I've never met someone equal to me."
Diana looked back at her. "You're not my equal, witch." She pulled her fist into the air and slammed it down into the ground, creating a massive shockwave. Gilotina struggled to stand up straight. Wonder Woman smirked. "Not even half of it."
Granny Goodness watched as her Female Furies struggled to maintain their unbeatable record. She clenched the rock rail on the balconey so hard it crummbled in her hands. The woman turned to the room behind her. It was dimly lit and the figure of a woman sat, sharpening her sword.
"I need you to get out there and kill them all. All of the earthlings." Granny commanded.
"And you'll do what for me?" The woman said, her eyes staying on her blade.
"I'll take... A hundred years off of your sentence." Granny offered.
The woman chuckled. "You'd be better off fighting them yourself."
"Fine. Two hundred." Granny was obviously annoyed.
The woman stood up. "Two hundred is such a short time when you think about it." She smiled, enjoying the fact that she was getting on the older woman's nerves.
"Two hundred and fifty. That's as far as I'll go."
The woman placed an odd looking golden helmet on her head and holstered her sword then grabbed her axe and shield. "Deal." She came to the balconey and took a few seconds to survey the scene. She then jumped over the railing and fell to the ground.
She landed with a loud crash that created a large crater where she stood. She spotted her first target. A man in a crimson red suit and lightning bolt across his chest. He had just finished Speed Queen. He had a smug grin on his face. The perfect target.
The Flash dropped Speed Queen on the ground. She had passed out trying to keep up with him. "Well. That was somewhat disappointing." He said to himself. Suddenly, he heard something behind him. Someone running. At super speed, he dodged as an axe came down where he once stood. He looked up to see a tall woman with black hair wearing a blue, yellow, black, and red armor-like suit complete with a golden helmet. She was almost a whole foot taller than him.
"Woah." He said. "Big. Very Big." The woman tried to cut the Flash again but he moved to the side.
"That's Barda to you human." She said, pointing the tip of her axe at him.
"Big Barda." The Flash said. "Catchy." He ran to the side as she brought her axe down towards him again. "And you certainly are big." He smiled.
Barda swung her axe but of course missed. "Give it up Big Barda." Flash teased as he ran. "You're never going to hit me." Barda frowned and threw her shield at the swirling vortex that was the Flash. The shield hit the man's head, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. Barda rose her axe, aiming to decapitate her target. Before she could, a green bolt hit her side, flinging her away from the Flash. Barda recovered and grabbed her axe. She saw the Green Lantern barely managing to stand. He aimed his ring at her.
Barda ran towards him, dodging the multiple concussion blasts he shot at her. She threw the axe centered towards his chest. She was about to make contact until a red blur flew in front of the Lantern and they both disappeared.
The Flash let Green Lantern go. "Dude, we could really use the whole imagination ring package. Like a giant... Machine gun or something!" He shouted as he saw Big Barda charging towards them.
"That blast from the big grey guy scrammbled my brain." He grunted. "I can barely think."
"Well you certainly need to try!" The Flash ran towards Big Barda. "I don't like punching girls." He was about to hit Big Barda but she had amazingly fast reflexes and grabbed his fist. With her immense strength, she forced him to his knees and yanked his hand, sounding a loud snap. Wally West shouted in pain as he felt his right arm break.
Barda raised her axe in the air. "Now you die."
"No!" The Lantern formed a solid thought and created an archery bow with an arrow already loaded. The arrow fired itself at the woman. She caught it with one hand. She turned to the Lantern and snapped the arrow. It disipated before hitting the ground. This distraction was enough time for the Flash to regain his thoughts and dash away from her.
"This girl is..." The Flash carresed his broken arm. "Strong." He turned to the Lantern. "And dude, a freakin' green arrow? Really?"
"What? I was in Star City a few weeks ago. Sue me. He rubbed his temple. "I'm getting the feeling in my body back." The bright green aura around his body came back. "She doesn't stand a chance." He noticed the Flash's arm. "Are you alright?"
"I've fought with a broken arm before." He winced in pain. "Hell, even a broken leg. I'll be fine."
Superman rammed himself into Stompa and the two created a large crater. "You're not going to win this fight." He told her. She tried punching his jaw but it barely phased him. "Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." He grabbed her collar and threw her into the stands around the arena. The apokoliptian warrior tried to stand up but another pillar smashed into her, causing her to fall through the arena and to the ground, unconsious and covered in rubble.
Superman dusted off his hands. "We need to get to that spore." Superman turned to Batman.
"And where were you?" Superman asked him.
"Thinking." Batman responded. "We take down these Furies and get back to the objectives."
"Two down." Superman said.
"Three left."
Wonder Woman grabbed Gilotina's sword and snapped it with a simple twist of her fingers. She punched the woman in the gut before launching herself into the air and landing behind her. Diana wrapped her arms around Gilotina and bent her body backwards and shoved the woman's face into the dirt before flipping her completely over and forcing her arms behind her back. The amazon wrapped her lasso around Gilotina's wrists, tying her down.
"Submit!" Wonder Woman shouted.
"No!" Gilotina shouted. "Let me go!"
Wonder Woman raised her fist and slammed it into Gilotina's face, knocking her out. Diana took her lasso off of Gilotina and spat on the ground next to her.
Aquaman jabbed Kalibak in the face causing him to stummble backwards. He punched him again, this time making him fall to the floor.
"Without your weapon, you aren't much of a problem." Aquaman said as he pulled his trident up to his back. The Atlantean may have held his calm exterior but his fight with Kalibak did weaken him, especially with the high temperatures. He was sweating heavily.
Kalibak smiled. "Maybe I'm not. But she is."
Aquaman was too late to see a whip cut across his back, leaving a large rip in his suit. Arthur let out a brief cry of pain and dropped to his knees. Lashina stood behind him.
"This whip is coated in poison. The deadliest poison on Apokolips." She told him.
"You obviously don't know much about atlantean physiology. My body is immune to the most poisonous of sea creautures." He told her. Lashina frowned and tried to unleash her whip again but was hit in the back, knocking her to the floor. Wonder Woman stood behind her, her fist clenched.
"Behind you." Wonder Woman pointed to Kalibak who was trying to crawl to his Beta Club.
Aquaman smacked the end of the trident into Kalibak's jaw. Arthur rested against his trident.
Wonder Woman ran to his side. "You don't look so good. Are you okay?" She asked.
"It's just the heat." He tried to stand straight. "I'll be okay. Lets go."
Green Lantern made a shield with his ring, blocking off an attack from Big Barda. The Flash ran around her trying to land an attack but seemed to have no effect. Barda swung her axe at the Flash, barely missing his throat. But she smashed her foot into her chest and knocked him on the ground. She tried to hit him with her axe but the Green Lantern created a green rope that wrapped around her wrist, stopping her.
"Get ready for the worst indian sunburn of your life!" The Flash grabbed Barda's ankle and ran his hands up and down repeatidly at super speed. The friction burned Barda's leg, causing her to remove her foot. The Flash took the moment to speed away from her.
Barda pulled her fist down, forcing the Green Lantern into the air but he took flight in the air and began blasting Barda. The woman ran from side to side, dodging the blasts.
"Holy crap! This chick is a freakin' trooper." He said. Barda ran up one of pillars and grabbed the edge of the railing between the stands and the ledge. With a mighty thrust, she launched herself into the air, but pulled the metal rail off of the edge as well. Wielding it as a spear, Barda threw it at the Green Lantern in midair!
Before it could connect with his chest, a batarang cut the rail in half! Big Barda was knocked back to the ground as Superman flew into her. Green Lantern looked down to see Batman running towards Barda and Superman.
"We've taken down all of you." Superman told Barda. "You won't win this fight." Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and the Aquaman surrounded them. Barda noticed this and smiled.
"Well done. I give."
Superman looked back to the others then to Barda. "Seriously?" He asked her.
"I know when I'm beat." She pushed Superman off of her. "Besides, I know why you're here. You want to stop Darkseid."
"And you're alright with that?" Green Lantern asked her.
"Any enemy of Darkseid is a friend to me."
"Then why did you fight us?" Wonder Woman questioned.
"I'm a prisoner here on Apokolips. I have to fight on the Furies to serve my sentence." She explained. "Against my will."
"Barda!" The fighters looked up to see Granny Goodness, looking down on them. "What are you doing? Destroy them! Kill them! Skin them alive!" She demanded.
"Shut up you fat bitch!" Barda shouted back. "This is one battle I'm not going to fight."
"If you hadn't broken my arm, I'd totally be in to you." The Flash said.
Granny Goodness turned to the inside of the tower overseeing the arena. preparing to leave.
The group looked back down. "Wait," Wonder Woman looked around. "Where's Batman?"
Granny Goodness began to move from the balcony. "Must warn Lord Darkseid." She said to herself. She turned to see Batman standing in her way of the exit. "Oh, it's just you." She smiled. "The human, fighting amongst gods. Do you really think you can take me down, mortal?"
"Literally or figuratively?" He raised his arm to reveal a detonator. "Maybe I could do both." He pressed down on the button. The floor beneath Granny's feet exploded, causing her to fall through and drop through the balconey!
Goodness fell next to the heroes, followed by Batman gracefully dropping down.
Big Barda grabbed the woman's neck and lifted her into the air. "Hello Granny."
Superman approached Barda. "Woah." He said. "Lets not do anything hasty."
"I could kill her right now. It'd be easy. Like breaking a toothpick." Barda tightened her grip on Granny's neck.
"I say she does it." Wonder Woman said.
Superman turned to her. "How could you say that?" He asked her. "We're supposed to be the super heroes. Not encouraging people to kill is one of our responsibilities."
"I'm not a super hero, Superman. I'm a warrior, like her." She pointed to Barda. "Sometimes there's a need to kill. I say this is one of those times."
"Killing is-."
"She wants freedom. This is the way for her to achieve that."
"Killing is never right, no matter the situation." Superman said, frowning.
"This isn't your call, alien." Wonder Woman stared into Superman's eyes.
"Neither is it yours, amazon." Superman glared at her.
"You didn't mind killing those parademons back on earth."
"That was different. They're not alive."
"Both of you shut up." Granny Goodness said. "Barda's going to kill me because she's a killer. A weapon and nothing else." She smiled. "No matter how much she'll deny it, she craves the bloodlust. Don't you?" She looked Barda in her fury filled eyes. "And you just might get away with it Scott Free, huh?"
The last remark sent a tear down Barda's cheek. She threw Granny to the ground and fell to her knees. "Do what you want with her." Barda said.
Granny laughed. "I knew you wouldn't do it." She tried standing up. "You worthless little-." Wonder Woman kicked her in the jaw, knocking her out.
Diana looked to Superman who was glarring at her. "What? She's not dead, right?" The amazon narrowed her eyes at the man before looking to the rest of the group.
"We need to proceed as planned." Batman said.
"Barda." Superman called to the women. "I'm guessing you know this place better than we do."
"Like the back of my hand." She stood and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"We need to get to the room they're holding the hellspore in." Batman told her.
Barda looked around the arena and ran to the tower. There was a large metal door in the wall where the Furies had come through. She forced her hands through and began pulling. She yanked the door off of the wall and threw it to the side. She turned back to the group and pointed at the newly found hallway. "Go down this corridor and take a left. There's another hallway. The sixth door on your right. Take it and that's where it is." She instructed.
"Got it." Batman grabbed his cape and ripped a large portion of it off. He tossed it to the Flash. "Wrap that around your arm then you and Lantern come with me. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman, continue with your mission."
Superman nodded and turned to Aquaman. "Need a lift?" He grabbed Aquaman and lifted them both into the air. Wonder Woman followed.
Flash quickly tied the cape around his arm and made a makeshift cast. "Ready. Lets go." He, Batman, and the Lantern came to the hallway. The Flash stopped running and turned to Barda. "Hey, you wanna join us? We sure could use your help."
"No. I'm staying here. Carry out my sentence."
"You don't have to." The Flash told her. "You can be free. What will they do to you when they wake up?"
"Nothing they haven't done before." Barda could see the concern in the Flash's eyes. "I'm not staying here for me." Barda said. "I'm staying here for my husband." She gave him a weak smile, obviously something she wasn't used to doing. "You should go."
The Flash smiled back at her and zoomed off.
"Good luck." Barda said. "You're going to need it."
Darkseid's Throne Room
Darkseid stood in the center of his massive throne room. Around him were holographic screens of the six heroes who were now on his planet. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman. The dark god had taken the last few minutes to study them as they battled the Furies. He now knew their strengths, weaknesses, and emotional traits. Most importantly, ways to defeat them.
Desaad ran into the room and immediately kneeled. "Lord Darkseid, the heroes have defeated Kalibak, Granny Goodness and the Female Furies." He reported. "Also, Barda, the prisoner Goodness has kept, turned on us and aided the heroes in their mission to-."
"Enough." Darkseid commanded. "I know. I still have one final card to play. One final test for them."
"Test, sire?" Desaad asked.
"Bring me the martian." Darkseid told him.
Five minutes later, two parademons dragged J'onn J'onzz into the throne room. His body was just recovering from the extreme fire based torture he was subjected to. He was still smoking and groaned in pain.
"Martian," Darkseid stood over him. J'onn lifted his head to meet his eyes. "Who do you serve?"
After a moment, J'onn spoke. "Dark... Seid."
"Who would you give your life for?" Darkseid continued to question.
"Darkseid." J'onn answered.
"Who will you kill for?" Darkseid let a grin creep onto his lips.
"My lord, Darkseid!" J'onn kneeled in front of the dark god. "Your wish is my command."
"Kill the heroes known as Batman, the Green Lantern, and Flash."
J'onn stood as his eyes began to glow red. "Yes, Lord Darkseid."
A/N:
Yes, I threw a Mr. Miracle and Green Arrow reference in there, it's continuity people (= And for those reading my other fanficition Children of Tomorrow, it will be another few weeks before I update that. I want to get through with this volume of JL before I work on anything else... Maybe. I'm terrible at sticking to my own word...
School has started and I am busy with a lot of stuff so if it's a long time before I update anything... Well, you know why.
I would also like to take this time to say that this chapter of The Justice League is dedicated to a friend of mine.
R.I.P. Byron Hill. I'll miss you.