Elsewhere…
Green Lantern, having created a machine gun, was firing a spray of bullets at his adversary, Sinestro. Only teen feet away Superman was battling Ares, with the former attempting to deal with the latter's ability of teleportation. Shazam, fighting Black Adam, summoned lightning and shot it towards his foe. Black Adam was sent flying backwards, right into the swing of Hawkgirl's mace, sending him flying back towards Shazam. Meanwhile, Superman punched Ares down to the roof of a building. Aquaman and Wonder Woman were waiting below, restraining the fallen foe with rope.
"Wonder Woman. Aquaman," addressed Superman. "Let's wrap this up. I've gotta get to the Watchtower."
"Before Luthor throws something else at us…" agreed Wonder Woman.
A large thud sounded behind them, and all three turned their heads to see Wonder Woman's comment answered. The hulking figure standing before them let out an intimidating growl.
"Doomsday…" muttered Superman.
Superman immediately rushed towards him, but even when flying at top speed, Doomsday simply swatted the hero aside.
"Should have been a combined assault," commented Wonder Woman.
"Clark sometimes forgets he can't do everything himself," added Aquaman.
At that, the two rushed back to aid in the fight. Meanwhile at the invaded Watchtower, another fight was going on. Cyborg was battling Luthor, but he was a worthy foe while inside his robotic suit. After pushing Cyborg to the side, he fired a set of missiles at the battling Bane and Nightwing. Bane saw the missiles and moved out of the way but Nightwing was not so lucky. Fortunately, Raven arrived and blocked the incoming projectiles with a purple force field. Cyborg, distracted by the close save, was caught off guard by the brutish Solomon Grundy, who locked him in a deadly bear hug. But Raven sent Luthor's missiles to Grundy, causing him to drop Cyborg.
"You're interrupting tonight's entertainment, Raven," said Luthor, irritation in his voice.
"I detest violence, Luthor," said Raven. "But I'm even less fond of you."
Suddenly Nightwing was caught off guard by a rope wrapped around his neck. He was reeled in by Catwoman, and the two began to fight. Hoping Raven was distracted, Luthor fired at her. But Raven dematerialized, dodging it with ease. Cyborg continued to fight Grundy, who threw him to the floor. He pulled himself off the floor and began to fight alongside Nightwing.
"Thought you'd have this mess cleaned up by now," said Nightwing to Cyborg.
"Name's Cyborg, not Miracle Worker," he responded, as he continued to fire.
"Nightwing to Batman, you there? We could you use your help."
"After I check out Arkham," answered Batman. "Have to make sure Luthor didn't bust him out."
"He'll keep. We're getting out butts handed to us."
"Be there soon, Dick."
Batman soon arrived at Arkham in his Batmobile, and was speaking to a prison guard who seemed unconvinced Joker could be free.
"We've been keepin' a close eye on him, Batman, just like you said," he explained. "He hasn't moved in hours."
The guard went to unlock the cell door, but stopped when he met Batman's searching gaze. He looked to where Batman was looking at the bottom of the door, and sure enough, all was not as it seemed. There was what appeared to be some sort of string, attached to two pieces of metal sticking out the sides of the door.
"What in the hell?" said the guard, clear confusion in his voice. "What is that?!"
Batman kneeled down and grabbed a small spray can from his utility belt. He sprayed it across the string, freezing it solid. He then lightly tapped it with his hand, safely shattering it into tiny fragments. Believing it was now safe to do so, the guard pushed the door open and stared inside. The string had been rigged up to some explosives, and a dummy of the Joker with his hands held to his ears sat on the bed to the left. If Batman hadn't noticed the string, they would've both been dead.
"How'd Joker do this?" said the guard, utterly confused.
"He didn't," said Batman. "The real trap…"
Batman suddenly turned his back, holding his cape in front of him, blocking some metal projectiles thrown by a familiar mercenary.
"…is behind us."
"You're so clever," said Deathstroke, spinning his sword in anticipation of the blows he would bring.
He brought the sword down, but Batman blocked it with the metal gauntlets on his wrists, grabbing the sword and then casting it aside. He then proceeded to land several kicks and punches.
"You're Luthor's pet now, Deathstroke?"
"His money's green. And as a bonus…I get to kill Batman."
Deathstroke suddenly rushed him, fists outstretched. Batman dodged them but fell to Deathstroke's kick. He immediately got back up, returning the favor by throwing three batarangs to his shoulder. But Deathstroke trudged on, pulling out his guns and firing a stream of bullets. But Batman was fine, having backflipped over the mercenary at the first sight of his hands reaching towards his guns. He removed both of them from his hands, throwing the two weapons behind him. Still taken aback, Deathstroke was unable to dodge Batman's final punch to the head, knocking him out.
"Sorry, Deathstroke…No bonus for you."
Batman walked away, leaving Deathstroke to wake up to cell bars. But the fight was far from over.
"Batman to Watchtower. Come in." There was a five-second pause, but no one answered. "Nightwing." Still, there was no response, and Batman began to worry.
Meanwhile back in Metropolis, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl were attempting to deal with Doomsday. She swung her mace, but he simply grabbed her arms. Doomsday began to chuckle at her inability to escape. But he was then taken aback by a green hold that wrapped around his neck, dropping Hawkgirl. Green Lantern swung the hold and Doomsday towards Wonder Woman, who brought the monster down with a swing of her fists. Seeing Doomsday falling right above him, Shazam needed to finish his battle with Black Adam quickly.
"Shazam!" he yelled, bringing lightning down on Black Adam.
Before he could retaliate, Doomsday fell on Black Adam, sending them both down to the streets of Metropolis. Doomsday would easily survive the impact, but Black Adam would not. Green Arrow rushed in, firing a specialized arrow towards Black Adam. It sprung open a soft raft, protecting him from the fall upon impact. Doomsday, meanwhile, simply created a crater in the asphalt road.
"Green Arrow! What was that?" asked Flash, who had just ran up next to him.
"Thunder of the gods, Flash," he responded. "Thunder of the gods."
"What does that make us?"
Before he could respond, Doomsday came to, pulling himself off the ground. But before he could make a move against the two heroes he towered above, Superman flew into him, sending them both far away from Flash and Green Arrow.
"The poor slobs who clean up the mess," said Green Arrow, answering the question.
Back at the Watchtower, the fight continued to progress. Bane had successfully brought down Nightwing, while Raven and Cyborg continued to deal with Catwoman and Grundy, respectively.
"Now, if there are no further interruptions…" said Luthor.
But another interruption arrived right behind him, teleporting in a beam of white light.
"Took me almost two minutes to break your encryption," said Batman. "Nice work."
"Bane?" called Luthor.
"Ha esperado mucho tiempo para esto," said Bane, who walked over. "Now I break your back."
Bane landed a few blows to the chest right off the bat, but Batman jumped away from the next and landed a kick to the head. Bane attempted another punch, but Batman tripped him before it could be completed. Bane got back up and brought his two fists together in anger. He lunged at Batman, knocking him to the ground. Before he could perform a finishing blow, Batman knocked down the globe to his right. Bane tripped over the rolling sphere and fell to the ground, giving Batman enough time to get up again, and bringing his foot down on Bane's head, landing the finishing blow himself.
"Bane, Catwoman, Grundy…" said Batman, listing Lex's defeated cronies. "You're all alone, Luthor."
"Geniuses often are," said Luthor.
"Psychopaths like you—"
"You hero types are all alike…even less imposing close up."
"You're testing my patience."
As Luthor began to walk towards Batman, he pulled out a batarang. He threw it, hitting the shoulder of Luthor's robotic suit with pinpoint accuracy. Smoke came from it, and he stumbled back a few steps.
"Resigned to throwing toys?" said Luthor smugly, and he shook his head. He continued to walk towards Batman, who continued to throw his batarangs at the suit. But only one more projectile made contact because Luthor soon caught up to him and punched him in the head.
"Time to teach you humility," said Batman.
Batman began landing kicks, trying to avoid hurting his hands on the hard metal surface of the suit. Luthor jumped backwards and fired missiles. But Batman dodged them with a backflip, and before landing back down, kicking Luthor in the head. Luthor then grabbed Batman by the shoulders, throwing him into an interface. Before Luthor could bring the fist of the metal suit down, Batman slid under his legs and attached an explosive from his utility belt to his back. Luthor tried to remove it, but the suit's arms weren't long enough. Batman then successfully detonated it, sending Luthor flat on his face.
"Try this on, Genius," said Batman has he pulled a small circular device from his belt. Before Luthor could get back up, Cyborg grabbed his shoulders and Batman attached the device. Blue sparks of electricity came out of it, and Luthor's suit was shut off, making him unable to move. With the Watchtower safe and secured, Batman tapped the communicator on his mask.
"Superman, report."
"It's done," said Superman. "The others are mopping up. I'm taking Doomsday into deep space."
"Make sure it's very deep space."
Suddenly an electronic-sounding noise could be heard throughout the room. Behind Batman, Raven had creating a portal which Grundy and Bane had already been sent through. Catwoman, who had yet to enter it, turned her head.
"What's that?" she said.
"It's the None of Your Damn Business Alarm," said Cyborg, as Nightwing pushed Catwoman through the portal, which was then promptly closed by Raven.
Cyborg walked over to Batman and opened up an interface.
"Radiological," said Batman, studying the blue screen. "Metropolis."
The screen displayed live footage of the Joker and Harley Quinn next to the Superman statue in the heart of Metropolis. Luthor chuckled and started to speak.
"I cans see the headlines: Justice League fails; Clown kills millions…"
"You gave him a nuke?!" said Batman, astonished.
"Most of the League dies…And Superman's beloved city is vaporized…I console the masses by offering to rebuild it. In my own image of cou—"
Luthor was knocked unconscious by a hit from one of Nightwing's metal weapons.
"He was done," said Nightwing.
"This is Batman. Code Red! Everyone to these coordinates NOW!"
While the League quickly assembled, the Joker and Harley Quinn continued to operate on the nuke.
"Baldy said remember to…" muttered the Joker as he pushed some buttons. "There we are."
The Nuke displayed "READY" in red lights and began beeping.
"Mr. J!" said Harley Quinn who stood back up and started clapping. "It works!"
But Harley's smile soon turned into a frown as she looked to her left and saw a flash of white light. "Uh oh…"
"Back to the van, Harley," said the Joker, who did not share her worry. "Bats and I need to talk."
"But Puddin'…"
Harley outstretched her arm and the Joker turned around and slapped her across the face.
"Go. No one likes a third wheel."
As she walked away, Harley had an angered, but saddened look on her face. The Joker turned away, not noticing nor caring about her disappointment. Batman then emerged from the white light, which then started to fade away.
"Batman! My coeur des coeurs! My pomme de frites! I knew that ape Deathstroke couldn't kill you!"
"Too bad for you," said Batman, who then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the nuke displayed "READY."
"Why so jumpy? I merely took it off standby. It's this button you gotta worry about."
The Joker pointed towards the detonator he held in his hands. Above the two adversaries, Shazam, Wonder Woman, and Hawkgirl were flying towards them.
"There they are!" said Hawkgirl.
"Keep him talking, Bruce," said Wonder Woman quietly.
Not far behind them, Green Lantern was using his ring to allow Aquaman and Green Arrow to fly alongside him, while the Flash remained running on the ground below.
"Don't wait for us, Barry!" said Green Lantern. "Go!" Flash nodded to Green Lantern and sped ahead.
"You push that button and eight million die," said Batman.
"Eight million and two, darling," said the Joker. "I was going to enjoy the fireworks from a safe distance…But now that you're here…What say we have one last dance…"
The Joker began to move his finger towards the button. Just a single touch and not just Metropolis, but a majority of the Justice League would be dead. Batman tried to run towards the Joker, with only a couple feet separating them. Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Green Arrow continued to fly forwards. The Flash was going at top speed, but perhaps it was not enough. Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, and Shazam, too were flying as fast as they could. With all eight of them focused on the Joker, all failed to notice the blue sparks of electricity that began spouting from their bodies. Just when it seemed to be too late, with the Joker's finger right above the button, the sparks crackled and surrounded Batman and the Joker in a flash of blue light.
Batman completed his pounce at the Joker and knocked him down. But as Batman looked around, he realized they were in an entirely different place now. The League was gone, and black ominous buildings loomed around them. The Joker got back up and shook the detonator.
"What the hell's the matter with this thing?" he said angrily as he pounded on the bottom. Realizing it wasn't going to work he gave a dirty look towards Batman. "This is somehow your fault!"
Batman continued to look around. He recognized some landmarks, including the statue of Superman, except here it was metal.
"Metropolis…" he muttered. "And yet…"
Thinking he was completely distracted, the Joker snuck behind Batman and went to punch in head. Batman put his hand out, blocking the hit. He then grabbed his arms and attempted to restrain him. But the Joker struggled free.
"Maybe I was a bit too sentimental before," he said. "I'll be fine without you."
The Joker pulled out a jagged dagger, prepared to put up a fight. But he was not skilled enough to dodge most of Batman's blows. Batman grabbed the dagger and tossed it aside, but the Joker had picked up a crowbar and held it up menacingly.
"Smile!" he said.
"I am smiling."
The Joker rushed forwards and managed to whack it across Batman's head, but the impact caused him to drop it. Batman grabbed the hand the Joker used to swing with and punched the Joker in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
"Now stay down…"
The Joker attempted to land another punch but Batman simply sidestepped to the left and punch him in the stomach, bringing him back to the ground. Around them sirens rang.
"And keep quiet."
Armored men came out of the armored vehicles that arrived, all wearing the same symbol that was all over the city. Batman was shocked when they aimed their guns at him.
"Hands up!" one of the men said. "I said hands up, Bat-Freak! Do it or your dead!"
"Now that's funny!" said the Joker, who grinned at the situation unfolding before him.
Batman slowly put his hands up, but he had a plan. A rod with a button slid out of his wrist. Upon pressing the button, an ear-piercing alarm filled the air. All the men dropped their guns and put their hands to their ears. Batman put his hands back down and pulled out the smoke grenades from his belt. When it cleared, he had long since moved away, along with the Joker who had made it off scott free. Batman was on a rooftop, listening in on a conversation between a few of the armored men.
"Amateurs…" one of them said. "Next time wipe your drive."
"They're not Insurgents?" another said.
"Just some punks. Like that Joker Clan idiot we almost had. Still can't believe we friggin' lost Batman…"
"Yeah…Let's hope the Big Boss doesn't find out…"
"I'm in a nightmare," said Batman.