Justice League
Volume 1: Invasion

Chapter 4: Uniting To Save The World

Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash ran down a narrow hallway, following Barda's instructions to get to the room that housed the hellspore. They finally arrived at the sixth door on the left.

It had the same large inscription the Flash had seen before. "This is it." The Flash pushed open the door with his good arm and ran in. Batman and Green Lantern followed to see the large sphere of light that was the Hellspore.

"Woah." The Green Lantern shaded his eyes. "That's bright."

"That's what I said." The Flash noted.

"Yeah," Lantern aimed his ring at the hellspore. "Lets blow it up."

"Wait!" Batman and the Flash shouted at the same time.

Batman pushed the Lantern's fist down. "Do that, and you'll risk killing us all." The Dark Knight tapped his cowl to activate its detective vision and examined the Spore. "Just as I thought. We can't destroy it with brute force."

"Yeah, that's what the freaky ass computer told me." Flash said. He thought for a second. "Wait, Bats, how did you know that?"

"Common sense." Batman ran to the keyboard and examined it. "Dammit." He said. "It's some kind of alien language." He turned to the Green Lantern. "Can you read this?"

The Lantern looked at the keyboard and positioned his ring in front of it. "Scan." He said. A faint green light came over the keyboard and then retreated back into the ring. The man's eyes lit up green. "I can now." He began typing on the computer.

"Is their a way to get rid of it?" Batman asked.

"I'm working on that but it says here that I can still delay its scheduled release."

"Scheduled release?" Batman frowned beneath his mask.

"A boomtube is supposed to open in about thirty minutes that will take it to earth."

"That's plenty of time." The Flash asked.

"What about the delay?"

"I can make it to where it won't open for another decade but that won't stop someone from altering that when we're gone."

"Can it be deactivated?" Batman asked.

"I'm still trying to figure that out. But for now, I'll delay it."

"Well do it faster." Batman said.

Suddenly the screen began to turn red and so did the room. A countdown initiated on the screens and sirens began to go off. "What did you do?" The Flash asked.

"I'm not doing this." The Green Lantern said, still typing. "The systems are being overwritten. It's locking me out!" He reported. "The boomtube is opening in less than five minutes!"

"Of course." The three turned to see Kalibak standing in the doorway, smiling. He held a wide device in one hand and his Beta Club in the other. "That's what I told the system to do." The Flash gritted his teeth and ran straight for Kalibak but was hit by something. He slid on the ground and hit the wall. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kalibak said. "My new friend is just as much a believer in Darkseid's power as I am."

There in front of Kalibak, a tall, skinny, green man stood with a blank expression on his face. He had appeared from thin Flash looked at the man who just punched him and his eyes widened. "J'onn?" He mummbled.

"The martian has been broken." Kalibak laughed maniacally. "And he now serves Darkseid."

The Flash stood up. "J'onn," He said softly. "What are you doing? What happened?"

"I serve Darkseid. And only Darkseid. Now die."

. . . . .

Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman walked to the large doors that hid Darkseid's throne room. Since leaving the fighting arena, the trio were not met with any further problems.

"Guys," Superman said, breaking the silence between the group. "I don't mean to sound cliche, but it's a little too quiet here. And that's saying something." He pointed to his ears referring to his super human hearing ability. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I." Aquaman added. "I've walked into plenty of traps but none have ever felt as obvious as this."

They approached the doors which stood about fifteen feet tall. "Well." Superman looked to the others. "You ready?" Both Aquaman and Wonder Woman nodded. "Okay." Superman pushed the doors open and stepped inside. "Darkseid!"

The group saw the huge figure that was Darkseid standing on the top of a large balcony peering out of a window with his back to the entreway. He slowly turned his head to them. "I was wondering when you would arrive. I hope my Furies didn't give you too much trouble."

Superman pointed at Darkseid, frowning. "We're going to-." Wonder Woman sprung forward before Superman could stop her. "Wonder Woman!" Superman called. "Wait!" However, the amazon ignored the call. She leapt into the air, readying a fist.

But with blinding speed, the dark god spun around, back handing Wonder Woman and sending her back to the ground, creating a crater on the blood red marble floor. Diana slowly opened her eyes only in time to see Darkseid falling towards her. Before she could even think of moving, she was grabbed at a breath taking speed and moved to safety as a loud crash sounded behind them. She looked up to see Superman carrying her.

The man put her down. "I know you don't usually work with other super powered beings," He started as he set her on her feet. "But we need to work together. Like it or not, right now we're a team."

Wonder Woman frowned before nodding. The two turned around to see Darkseid standing in the very large hole he had just made in the ground of his palace. He turned to look at them, a demented smile on his face as his eyes lit up red. But before he could fire his infamous Omega Beams, Aquaman smacked the edge of his trident against his head, throwing him into one of the pillars of the throne room.

However, Darkseid shrugged off the rubble as if it were nothing and looked to Aquaman. "You will be the first to die." But before he could move, Superman smashed into him and ran him into the wall. Superman punched the dark god in the face several times before Darkseid gripped his entire hand around the kryptonian's head and threw him into Aquaman as he ran to help him.

Wonder Woman ran towards Darkseid who prepared to swat her out of his way. However, Wonder Woman anticipated his move and jumped over his fist and landed behind him. She immediately punched the back of his knee, making Darkseid kneel down on one knee. Wonder Woman then wrapped her lasso around his neck and pulled.

"No one," Darkseid reached to his back and gripped Wonder Woman's arm. "Makes me kneel!" He pulled the woman off of him and slammed her into the ground and then again, and again, and again until she was laying motionless on the floor.

"Someone has a superiority complex." Aquaman said, standing up. "I can relate." He ran towards Darkseid and dodged a strike from him and landed a punch on his jaw. Darkseid frowned and tried hitting Aquaman again but the atlantean deflected it with his trident and punched him in the face again. Aquaman moved to the side as Darkseid slammed his fist into the ground. He noticed the purple blood on his fist. "So the self proclaimed god does bleed." Aquaman said, smirking.

Darkseid let out a roar of anger before Superman punched him in the face at full power, pushing Darkseid into the seat of his throne. "He's about to bleed a lot more."

"No Kryptonian. That pleasure goes to you."

Before Superman could question, he felt a sharp pain in his chest before feeling himself completely lose strength. He knew the feeling all too well. Aquaman spun around to see Desaad holding a green knife in Superman's torso!

Desaad smiled. "Kryptonite."

Aquaman punched Desaad in the face, breaking his jaw before kneeling down with Superman. He took the knife by the hilt and prepared to pull it out but suddenly, he was struck by a red beam, the Omega Beams! Aquaman let out a groan of immense pain and dropped to the ground.

Superman tried to stand but Darkseid gripped his cape and lifted him up. "Now, comes your end."

. . . . .

The Batman jumped over Kalibak as the he swung his beta-club at him. "You can't jump around for too much longer, Batman!" Kalibak shouted, obviously getting frustrated. "Why don't you fight me and stop running like a coward!"

"If you insist." Batman once more hopped over Kalibak but this time covered his head with his cape and attempted to sophocate him to unconsciousness. However Kalibak smiled beneath the cape.

"Apokoliptians don't need to breath!" He gripped the cape and swung it off of him, throwing Batman into a wall! "Unlike you pathetic humans!"

"Plan B then."

Green Lantern shot energy blast after energy blast at the martian flying towards him, but each one went right through his body while in his intngible form. "Foolish human." J'onn said as he quickly approached the Lantern. "You will soon experience Darkseid's reach. Be it through acceptance," He disappeared completely from sight. The Green Lantern moved around swiftly, looking for any sign of the martian, his ring at the ready. J'onn appeared ominously behind him as he rose from the ground. Still in his intangible form, he shoved his hand through the Lantern's back! "Or through death."

The Green Lantern groaned in pain as he felt the martian solidifying his arm inside of his chest. He couldn't form a complete thought, leaving his will useless. The martian was about to rip the man's heart out until the Flash slammed into J'onn, causing them both to hit one of the walls. Lantern dropped to his knees as he recovered himself.

The Flash held J'onn against the wall. "This isn't you J'onn!" He shouted. "Try to think!"

J'onn easily moved the hero off of him before grabbing him by the neck. "For the first time in my life, I am seeing the world clearly. And I know what I must do to serve Lord Darkseid and that is all that matters." He shifted his left arm into a sword-like weapon. He prepared to thrust it through the Flash's heart.

"Remember your family, J'onn." The scarlet speedster blurted out. This caused the martian to briefly pause his actions before tossing the Flash through the wall behind them. He slid on the smooth floor and into a hallway. He stood up slowly and coughed. "Do you think your wife and daughter would want to see you like this?" He asked J'onn who responded by punching the man in the gut and upper cutting him. The Flash hit the halls ceiling before falling back to the ground. J'onn kicked him in the chest, making him slide further back and towards the adjacent wall. Upon impact with the surface, Flash spit up blood. He caressed his aching, broken arm as he slid his back up the wall to stand. "C'mon J'onn." He said. "You're better than this." J'onn wrapped his fingers around the Flash's neck tightly and lifted him off the ground. The martian's face was an obvious expression of anger but it seemed as if he was fighting something inside of himself as well. "I don't know what Darkseid did to you," The Flash said through weak gasps. "But you are too... Strong to give in... Like this."

J'onn let out a cry that sounded like a mixture of pain and anger before ramming the Flash through the wall. But this one lead to the outside fire pits. J'onn still held the hero's neck as he dangled him above the massive drop and firey doom. The speedster glanced down and suddenly regreted pissing J'onn off this much.

The martian stared at the hero for a while. Memories began to flood through his mind of his life on Mars before it was destroyed by Darkseid. It infuriated him to remember how everything that was perfect in his life was swept right from under his feet, leaving him alone to wallow in his own pain in a cell. But then he remembered why he fought Darkseid for so long. He fought for redemption. The inability to save his family when he had the chance still haunts him, even years after their deaths. His family -his memories gave him strengh. Strength to do what was needed to avenge his people.

A tear escaped his eye as he loosened his grip on the Flash's neck.

"Uh, J'onn?" The speedster questioned as he felt himself slipping from the martian's grasp. J'onn's eyes returned back to their usual red color. He seemed to snap back into reality just as the Flash was about to fall. He grabbed the man once more and placed him in the ground.

"Wallace," J'onn spoke. "I am sorry." He looked down at the speedster who was feeling his own heartbeat. "Are you injured?"

Wally gave him a questionable look as if wanting to say: "It's not like I just got thrown through two walls and dangled over a pit of fire by my neck or anything remotely similar to that." Instead he just shook his head.

J'onn looked back into the room the Hellspore was held in. He frowned. "I will help your friends."

Batman was grabbed by the cape and thrown into the Green Lantern and the two dropped to the floor. Their attacker, Kalibak jumped into the air, preparing to land on top of them.

"Move!" Batman tackled Green Lantern out of the way as Kalibak landed on the floor, creating a small crater.

"You puny creatures put up a good fight." He said as he walked towards them. "But you have to admit the better race won this battle. Submit and maybe I will talk my father into keeping you all as pets."

"Kalibak." A voice behind the apokaliptian spoke. Kalibak spun around to see the martian standing behind him.

He smiled. "Ah, martian. Good. I assume the fast one has been dealt with? Take care of these last peices of trash." He commanded.

J'onns face was emotionless. "As you wish." He grabbed Kalibak's shoulder and landed a punch, literally thrusting Kalibak through the wall in front of him. The apokoliptian was out after one punch.

Both Green Lantern and Batman looked up at J'onn who extended his arms to them, offering to help them up. Neither of them took it.

"I mean you no harm." J'onn told them.

"That would have been a nice lifestyle change ten minutes ago." The Lantern crossed his arms.

"Woah, woah." The Flash sped over inbetween them. "He's cool." He stood in front of the martian.

"You sure about that?"

The speedster looked at J'onn. "Positive."

The Lantern hesitated before lowering his ring. "Alright." His head snapped towards the Hellspore and then back to the group. "We need to get rid of that bomb."

Batman approached J'onn. "Do you know how to shut that thing down?"

"There is no way to shut it down." He answered. "It cannot be defused. It will explode somewhere at some point."

"Guys..." The Flash ran towards the computer. "These... Numbers are getting shorter!" The Boomtube generator underneath the Spore began to create a portal to earth!

"I've gotta fly it off world." The Lantern said.

"That thing destroys solar systems." Batman pointed out. "You can't get away that far and live."

"I'm willing to take it as far away as possible and try to shield-."

"Don't be stupid." Batman interrupted. "That won't work and no one needs to die. We just have to think and-." He reached to his belt and grabbed the Boomtube generator. "We need to send it somewhere else. Somewhere where no one can get hurt."

"Where are you going to find a place like that?" Lantern asked.

"I know of a star system that has been devoid of life for many years." J'onn added.

"Can you program the Mother Box to take the Spore there?"

J'onn looked to the drooling Kalibak on te ground. The martian's eyes turned red for a moment as he read Kalibak's mind on how to work the Boomtube. "Now I can." He took the Mother Box from Batman.

"Hurry!" The Flash looked to the timer which he guessed was running down. The portal was finally big enough to encompass the Spore. The alien numbers began to get smaller and smaller until the Spore dropped through!

"No!" Green Lantern flew into the portal, following the Spore. "I'm gonna try to slow it down, just hurry the hell up!"

Batman turned to J'onn who was typing feverishly on the Mother Box. J'onn finally looked up. "I have it."

Batman snatched it from J'onn and ran towards the portal. "Batman!" He heard the Flash cry out but he wasn't going to stop for anything. But he felt something tug on his foot and pull him down to the ground. He turned to see Kalibak holding his leg, a sinister smile plastered onto his face. Batman noticed the red blur speeding towards him. He tossed the Mother Box into the air and the Flash caught it.

"Center button!" Batman yelled before Flash leapt into the portal.

Batman groaned as Kalibak tightened his grip on the man's leg. "I have had enough of you humans! You and your entire race will perish!"

But J'onn grabbed Kalibak's shoulder and yanked him back, causing him to let go of Batman who tended to his leg before looking back to the martian.

"I'll handle this." J'onn told Batman.

Kalibak shook his head as he recovered from his plumet to the ground. "Tell me Kalibak," The apokaliptian looked to see J'onn walking towards him, his red eyes menacingly staring into Kalibak's soul. "Would you like to see my fears? My nightmares? Nightmares you gave me." Flashes of burning hot fire began to flood Kalibak's mind and he soon began to feel as if he were burning alive!

J'onn simply stood feet away from him and watched as Kalibak fell to the ground, quivering.

-Earth; above Metropolis-

Steve Trevor fired his assault rifle on a large group of parademons as he lead a small group of civilians from a ravaged apartment to a safe zone. Once the creatures were dead, he looked to them all. "Lets go! Stay close." He kicked the door open and was met with Snapper Carr aiming his weapon at him. When he realized who it was, he lowered his gun and approached him.

"Snapper," Steve greeted. "Did you find the people in that McDonalds?" He asked.

"They were all... Dead by the time I got there."

"Well help me get these people to safety."

"Got it." The two were about to charge on but heard what sounded like thunder. They looked up into the sky to see a large Boomtube opening. "Oh no. Not another one."

"Give me your binoculars." Steve commanded. Snapper handed them to him and Captain Trevor peered at the different pattern of the portal. "Woah, wait." Steve narrowed his eyes. "This one's different."

A large ball of light fell towards the ground. "What the hell?"

"That's not good."

The ball continued to fall but behind it, trailed a green figure.

"Is that-?"

"The Green Lantern?"

The Green Lantern flew downwards and quickly approached the Hellspore. He could feel the intense heat of it as he passed and flew in front of it. "Lets hope this works." He sent all of his remaining will power into his ring and created a large energy shield that collided with the Spore in a blinding array of yellow and green colors. The Lantern struggled to keep the field up as the Spore slowly pushed him down. The ring briefly rang with a 'blink' sound, signifying that it was low on battery. "Come on... Just a litte... Longer."

The Flash held the Mother Box tightly as he free fell towards the earth's surface. He spotted the large yellow Hellspore somewhat paused in midair, a green force field blocking it from moving further. The Flash maneuvered his body so that he moved past the Spore and around it. He readied the Mother Box but noticed Green Lantern's construct faltering. He had to act fast. What else was new?

The Lantern felt the energy in his ring drain and the shield he created started to fade. "Aw, hell." He had one resort left. The last remaining bit of his will power went into causing the shield to explode and push both the Hellspore, the Green Lantern back. The Spore went a few feet backwards before continuing to hurdle to earth!

The Flash grit his teeth as he watched the Lantern fall to the ground. As much as he wanted to save him, he had to save the world first. Flash vibrated his molecules faster and in turn, fell faster as well. Once he was a few yards away from the Spore, he pressed the center button and aimed it at the ball. The large white Boomtube opened in front of it and sucked it inside! Once the entire Spore was consumed by the portal, Flash pressed the center button again, closing the Boomtube.

-Space Sector 346-

The large Boomtube opened above a large devoided planet that had a large chunk missing from it. The many planets of the solar system surrounding the planet were in similar condition. No one, nothing inhabited any of the planets which was why the Hellspore was sent there. The Spore touched down on the planet and immediately drilled through until it reached the center, finally detonating and destroying the empty dead space.

-Earth-

There was a slight, harmless ripple that crossed passed through Earth, the result of the Spore exploding. It was done. The Boomtube was closed and the Hellspore had detonated. The world was saved. The Flash saved the world. Not alone of course, but still. It was still a pretty fun feeling to have. The man smiled to himself before celebrating in a moment of victory but then noticed: He was falling to his death. "Son of a bitch!" He shouted. He tried to spot the Green Lantern's body but couldn't seem to locate it and assumed he had already fell and that he was next.

But he felt an arm wrap around his torso. He looked up to see the Batman falling with him. "Bats? What are you-?"

"Wait for it." Batman pressed a button on his belt.

"What are you gonna do? Glide me safety?"

"Not exactly."

The duo fell to the ground and had mere feet until they splattered and as Flash closed his eyes tightly, he heard a loud boom. It wasn't another Boomtube. This one sounded more mechanical in nature. He turned his head to see a black and red jet flying towards them! Batman pressed another button on his belt and the top of the jet opened. At the exact moment the jet flew below them, Batman and the Flash fell through the the opened hatch and into the jet.

The Flash stood up quickly, his eyes wide and his heart racing. "I'm alive? I'm alive!" He shouted. He helped Batman up and hugged him. "I love you man. I mean it, and I'm not afraid to admit that."

"You have three seconds to let go of me." Batman told him.

The Flash let him go. "Sorry."

Batman sat in the jet's pilot seat and the Flash sat in the single seat behind that one. Batman turned to him. "Good job." He said.

The Flash smiled before remembering something. "Wait, the Lantern!"

Batman piloted the jet so that it faced towards the core of Metropolis. "There." The two spotted the unconscious Green Lantern being held by J'onn. Batman tapped his com. "Superman come in." He waited. "Wonder Woman? Aquaman?" No response from any of them. "Something's wrong."

"Obviously." The Flash looked down at all the destruction in Metropolis. "We need to help down there."

"No. We're going back in."

"Great." The Flash responded sarcastically.

J'onn nodded as if signifying he knew what they were going to do and flew himself and Green Lantern back upwards to the Boomtube leading to Apokolips, followed by the other two in the jet.

J'onn spoke into Batman and the Flash's heads. "I sense great pain in the rest of your allies. You need to get to them. I will tend to Green Lantern."

. . . . .

A blood churning crack sounded from Darkseid's throne room shortly before Superman crashed through a pillar. Darkseid approached the weakened kryptonian and removed the rubble from his body before grabbing him by his cape. Superman was increasingly growing weaker every second the kryptonite knife was inside of his flesh. For the last few minutes, Darkseid has been beating Superman to a pulp, not trying to kill him but put him in so much pain and agony that he wished he were dead.

Darkseid punched Superman in the gut again, causing the Man of Steel to cough up blood. "Kryptonite." The dark god grabbed the hilt of the blade and twisted it. "A pity a simple rock can weaken such a mighty being." Superman's vision started to fade. He closed his eyes. "No, no." Darkseid smiled sinisterly. "No dying yet. That comes later." He heard something of a metal clank behind him and turned his had to see a bloodied Wonder Woman holding Aquaman's trident. She carried it as a warrior but still obviously tired and injured. "Oh, such a valiant effort amazonian." He dropped Superman to the ground.

Wonder Woman shouted before hurling the golden trident at Darkseid who caught it just before it hit him. He laughed. "Don't you realize you've already lost?" He was about to fire the Omega Beams. "A full charge of my Omega Beams will obliterte you on contact. I've been patient with you long enough I think. You should give up and die peacefully."

"Never!" Aquaman punched Darkseid in the face as hard as he could, which wasn't much given his current condition. The ruler slid back and into a wall but phased it off as if it was nothing. The atlantean prepared to fight but quickly collapsed to his knees, making noises that sounded like he was gasping for air.

Darkseid stood over him. "No water on Apokolips I'm afraid." Wonder Woman tried to punch him while he was distracted but he caught her by the neck and squeezed. "I truly admire your persistance. Maybe I'll keep you alive and train you as one of the Furies."

"Like hell." Wonder Woman struggled to break free but his grip was too strong.

"But I can tell that your will is strong. It took weeks to break the kryptonian's will in what should have taken a few hours." He told her. "Maybe I should just kill you. You aren't worth the trouble. Besides," He smiled. "There are more than a few amazons I can chose from."

There was a whistling sound and Darkseid felt a small explosion on his back but like everything else, it didn't phase him. He turned to the source. Batman stood in the entrance of the throne room, scowling at Darkseid. "Put her down. Now." He demanded.

"Ah, the human. Come to tease death, I see."

"I won't ask again." Batman said.

"If you insist." Darkseid tossed Wonder Woman through a wall before returning his attention to Batman. "If you are the last line of earth's defense you must be getting desperate. No matter." He put his hands behind his back. "Your solar system should be reduced to ash by now."

"Your Hellspore has been sent to an uninhabited solar system." Batman told him as he let his cape cover a majority of his upper body.

Darkseid frowned. "How?"

"Your own Mother Box technology. With a little help we were able to reroute it."

"The martian?" Darkseid clenched his fist. "I'll have to skin him alive when this is over."

"I can personally guarantee that you will not get the chance." All Batman had to do was stall for a few more moments.

"How would you do that when you'll be dead?" Darkseid moved quickly towards the Dark Knight, almost too fast for him to follow. Almost. At the last second, Batman dived to the left as Darkseid ran into the wall he stood in front of not a few moments ago. Batman rolled on the ground before looking up to see Darkseid move towards him again and again he dodged. "I can literally do this for ages. How much longer can you keep this up?" Darkseid asked the man.

"However long it takes."

The Flash sped silently towards the smashed pillar that Superman laid next to. He took care not to alarm Darkseid as Batman stalled for him as was the Bats' plan. The Flash took hold of the dagger in Superman's chest and prepared to pull it out.

"Brace yourself big guy." He whispered.

Superman responded by gritting his teeth and squeezing the corner of his cape. The Flash pulled the dagger by its hilt and it slowly began to leave his wound. Once it was fully out, the Flash tossed the knife to the other side of the room. "Please tell me you'll be fine."

"Forget me." Superman struggled to sit up, grunting as he did. "Aquaman needs your help." As much as it pained Superman, he inhaled deeply before unleashing a small burst of his frost breath, creating a block of ice in his hand. He handed it to Flash, picking up quickly, the speedster dashed the Aquaman's side.

"Um..." He looked around the man. "Do you have... Gills or something?"

Aquaman eyed him oddly. "Just... Splash it on me." He told him.

"You know," the Flash rubbed the small block of ice at super speed, melting it into drops of water. "Taken out of context, that'd sound weird."

The drops fell onto the atlantean and was seeped into his skin. It soon became easier for him to breath and he regained most of his strength.

"You alright?" The Flash asked him.

"Fine. We need to help Batman."

"You are a smart one, I'll give you that." Darkseid said as he examined Batman who was breathing heavily. "But I can tell you won't last much longer. For you are just a man. Compared to me, you are an ant. An ant I will crush with a simple twist of my heel. And a lone man cannot hope to defeat the likes of a god like me."

"Good thing he's not alone." The two looked up to see a giant glowing green boot hovering over Darkseid. It dropped like an anchor on top of him. Green Lantern hovered to the ground next to Batman. "How's that for irony?" He smiled.

"About time you woke up." Batman said coldly.

"You're welcome." The Lantern's construct disappeared and the two peered into the crater he made.

"Be careful." Batman warned him.

"He doesn't look so tou-." Before he could finish, a fist shot out of the crater and into the Lantern's chin, launching him into the air. Darkseid rose from the ground, his eyes burning and peering down at Batman. He rose his fist and prepared to strike the Dark Knight down but a red blur took his target away.

The Flash then ran back towards Darkseid and attempted to vibrate his arm through his heart, killing him but the dark god had faster reflexes than he thought. With a simple swatting motion, Darkseid back handed the Flash off of his feet.

Before Flash could fly off towards a wall, J'onn appeared from no where and caught him. "Don't bother with phasing through him. It won't work." He advised.

"That would have been nice to know a few seconds ago."

J'onn's eyes grew bright red again as he stared at Darkseid. "But a mental attack..." He focused on trying to invade Darkseid's mind. J'onn grunted before dropping to his knees, breathing uneasily. "He's... Too inhuman."

"Didn't like what you saw martian?" The Flash and J'onn looked up to see Darkseid standing over them. "I do think I promised you a skinning."

A green bolt of energy hit Darkseid, pushing him back. The Green Lantern created a large cannon and fired multiple green cannon balls at Darkseid. The first few seemed to take him by surprise but the last ones he swatted away like gnats. One last cannon ball hurdled towards Darkseid's face but he caught it and crushed it in his hand. The peices disipitated into green smoke.

The Lantern's eyes widened behind his mask. "He broke my will? Impossible."

"Ah. A Green Lantern." Darkseid looked impressed. "I have not killed one of your kind in ages. It'll be nice to relive old memories." He fired a blast of Omega Beams at him. The Lantern created a large barrier in front of himself and on contact, the Beams destroyed the shield, blasting Green Lantern back. The Flash took the moment to repeatidly punch Darkseid all around his body at lightning fast speeds. After a few seconds, he looked at his hands. The material of his costume around his knuckles were ripped and bloody. Darkseid looked off into the distance until looking back down at the Flash. "I'm sorry, have you begun trying to stop me yet?"

"Last resort attack." The Flash reered back his foot and kicked Darkseid in his crotch. There was no reaction. "Well damn."

Batman ran over to where he last spotted Wonder Woman who was now trying to stand. He put her arm around his shoulders and helped her up. "Are you in a condition to fight?"

"Always." Wonder Woman brushed her hair back out of her face.

The Flash flew past them and hit a wall hard. He dropped to his knees. Batman and Wonder Woman moved to help him up. "We're getting no where like this." Batman said. "We need an attack plan."

"The plan is simple." Wonder Woman frowned as she spotted Darkseid easily handling Green Lantern, Aquaman, and J'onn. "Attack." She ran towards him.

"Fools!" Darkseid grabbed Aquaman by the neck before slamming him to the ground. "You will not win!" He grabbed J'onn and tossed him into the air where he hit Green Lantern. "I am a god, I am immortal. You all are not strong enough to-."

"Shut," Wonder Woman flew into the air just as Darkseid was turning her direction and ran her fist square into Darkseid's face. "Up!" Darkseid flew through several of the pillars holding up his throne room before slamming into a wall.

He moved the rubble off of him and Darkseid stood. "By far one of the strongest attacks from your kind I've recieved all day." He wiped a small amount of blood from his chin and smiled. "Good. Not good enough."

Batman stepped from behind one of the pillars Darkseid hadn't crashed into, holding his explosive gel container. He pressed the detonation button and the remaining pillars around Darkseid broke apart, causing the ceiling above Darkseid to cave in and fall on top of him.

Aquaman approached Batman. "Like that'll stop him."

"You have a better idea?"

"Maybe we could-." There was a rumble. Aquaman and Batman backed up. "Have you found a weakness yet?"

"Working on it."

Another rumble.

"Work faster."

Two red beams shot out of the ruins of the ceiling and curved quickly towards both Batman and Aquaman! But the Flash ran in front them, becoming the target of the Omega Beams.

"I got this." The Flash looked behind him as he ran, the beams were gaining. He sped up, ignoring how huch it hurt him to move in his current condition. In less than two seconds, the Flash had run around the entire throne room ten times with the Omega Beams close behind. He finally spotted an oppurtunity in the form of a large peice of the ceiling resting on another smaller peice, almost like a see-saw. Once he got close enough to it, the Flash jumped on one end of the rock, causing the other side to lift up. The Flash ducked as the Omega Beams hit the raised end of the rock, causing it to explode! The speedster was flung into the air and landed on his broken arm, forcing more pain. He grunted hard.

Darkseid rose from the rubble and looked to where the Flash had landed. "Ah. No mortal has ever mislead a full charge of my Omega Beams." He prepared to fire another burst. "Do you think you will be so lucky again?"

A batarang hit Darkseid's face and on contact it released a foamy substance that covered the ruler's head. However within seconds, he melted the foam off. "Getting desperate Batman?"

"You haven't begun to see us get desperate monster!" Aquaman said as he smacked Darkseid against the head with his trident. "You wish to destroy the earth and for what? To feed your ego?" He hit him again. "Well I guarantee you that as long as one of us still draws breath," He rose the trident above his head, preparing to impale him. "The earth is protected." Just as he brought it down, Darkseid uppercutted the atlantean, causing him to slam into what remained of the ceiling and fall back down.

J'onn transformed into a type of dragon and circled Darkseid before contricting around him and squeezing with all of his might. He felt Darkseid struggle against him but to no avail. J'onn spotted Wonder Woman running towards them and whipped his body back in to place, causing Darkseid to spin around. Wonder Woman landed a kick to Darkseid's gut before connecting her fist with his jaw and a series of other devestatiing blows to his body.

"One side!" The Green Lantern created two large green fists he used to pelt Darkseid until launching him into the air. Green Lantern flew up with him and created a drill over his arm and brought it down on top of the dark god, forcing him back towards the ground.

Darkseid got to his feet quckly, seething with anger. "I will kill you all!"

Batman came up behnd Aquaman and the Flash. "Flash, create a vortex. Aquaman, be ready to hit him."

The scarlet speedster circled Darkseid, going just fast enough to lift him several feet into the air. Darkseid tried to fire multiple short-term Omega Beams at the Flash but none of them hit him. Aquaman jumped from the destroyed staircase of the room and punched Darkseid in the face with as much force he could muster which appeared to be enough to launch him back towards the ground.

The six heroes all looked at Darkseid as he tried to stand. Never before had he been this furious. And never had a single planet give him this much trouble.

"Submit." Wonder Woman suggested.

Batman spotted him reach to his belt for something. He narrowed his eyes before they widened again. "Stop him!" He jumped towards Darkseid. "He has a Mother Box!"

Darkseid smiled as he back handed Batman back towards the heroes. He pointed the Mother Box into an open space and activated a Boomtube before flying through and closing it.

"Where did he go?" Green Lantern asked.

"Where do you think?" Batman stood up. "Earth. Flash, do you still have the Mother Box?"

Flash handed the device to Batman. Batman browsed through the selected solar systems until he got to theirs. He pressed the center button, opening a Boomtube back. "Go back to earth, try to contain Darkseid, limit caualties as much as possible."

"What are you going to do?" She asked him.

He walked past them. "Get Superman."

The others didn't argue. Instead they ran through the portal back to earth. Batman walked towards Superman who rested against a wall. Batman frowned.

"Get up. Darkseid's on earth and we need to stop him." Batman told him.

"I... I can't the kryptonite being inside for that long..." He looked pained. "I'm too weak to do anything especially against Darkseid. He's too strong. Go on without me."

Batman kneeled to look at him. "I don't have time for your little pity party. You are one of the strongest people on earth, if not the strongest. Earth needs you and you're just going to sit back while Darkseid destroys them?"

Superman looked up at him before sliding upwards on the wall, attempting to stand. Batman was right. He had to get up. He had to fight. Despite everything that happened to him over the past few weeks, he still had a duty. A responsibility.

"We need you. We need Superman."

The Man of Steel stood up straight. His wound was bleeding heavily but he could feel it starting to heal. Healing slowly, but healing nonetheless. "Open the damn Boomtube."

A/N:
The final battle with Darkseid is about to begin and the first volume of FFDCU: Justice League is coming to a close and I can't wait to start on the next few volumes. I've got tons of plans for the League and their adventures.

Anyway, I want to thank you all for reading and wish you all a Happy New Years!