Disclaimer: Here I am with another chapter after another long wait… and coincidentally on my Birthday. What are the odd? I hope you're ready for another cameo, this time from the DC side of things.
As usual, I don't own the rights to Marvel or DC Comics.
Chapter XIV
Natasha was feeling better after her meditation with Raven, enough to roam about the Watchtower under her own power. The meditation had made her a little bit hungry, either as a side effect or simply because she didn't usually too much to begin with. She wasn't crazy about carbs as they made her fat, not that Bruce or Clint would've told her. She helped herself to some of the food in the mess hall and to her regret, there were carbs involved. Natasha had one more reason not to like this new universe in which she found herself and the rest of the Avengers. But the hunger was getting more annoying and she had to eat.
After a half hour of eating food that consisted of mashed potatoes and chicken (and carbs) Natasha continued her roaming around the Watchtower. She reached the training room but Clint wasn't there. Noticing the training equipment and sparring area and deciding that she nodded to cut the excess weight from her meal, Natasha ventured into the room. Removing the top half of her uniform to reveal the sports bra and the bandages, although the latter were now more for show than support. She then found a set of boxing gloves near a heavy bag.
Slipping the gloves and approaching the bag, Natasha took a deep, calm breath and took on a fighting stance. She landed a quick jab on the bag, inching it back a bit. She landed two left jabs in quick succession followed by a strong thrust. Each blow moved the heavy bag back only for it to return like a Punch Me Clown. Natasha then stepped up her hits, landing a combination of jabs and strikes at a rapid fire pace. With each strike she landed, Natasha bellowed a grunt. She wasn't just suddenly training, albeit in an alternate universe. She was letting out every ounce of anger she had ever since she first arrived.
She was envisioning Doctor Doom, his metal mask leering at her with cruel, malicious intent in his eyes. Natasha pressed her attack on the bag and landed harder and harder strikes. Sweat began to form on her face, slowing dampening her red hair. Her bandages started to slowly soak with sweat, but Natasha didn't care. She was angry. She needed to hit something… someone. Anyone. She had some twisted idea of how Bruce felt before he would morph into the Hulk. She kept striking the bag over and over until she finally stopped and held the bag back while she caught her breath.
"Not bad," a voice said, and Natasha saw Diana leaning cross-armed at the entrance to the training room. "You've definitely got some impressive fighting skills. It actually makes me think you're secretly an Amazon warrior in your universe."
Natasha caught the last breath and replied, "We've already got an Amazon in our universe, except she's green… and an attorney. You might like her."
"She sounds very approachable." Diana said as she approached Natasha.
"Yep," Natasha replied. She took a breath and then said, "So, you interested in a little one-on-one?"
Diana chuckled at the request. "You must be joking. The last time we fought, I almost killed you and I was holding back to keep that scenario from happening."
"If that's the case, then maybe you've got something to prove." Natasha challenged.
"Or maybe it's the other way around. From what I can tell, you and your friend Clint are the only normal humans on your team. Most everyone in the League, save for Batman, have super powers." Diana explained.
"Tony Stark's just a billionaire genius with an array of powered suits. Steve Rogers started out as a scrawny recruit before he was injected with a super soldier serum. Carol Danvers had her human DNA spliced with alien DNA and Bruce was bathed gamma radiation. As for me and Clint; he shoots arrows and I shoot guns."
"What about your Vision? What makes him so special?" Diana asked.
Natasha raised her eyebrows and replied, "He's an android. The only legitimately super powered Avenger we have is Thor." Natasha fell silent.
"Is something wrong?" Diana asked.
"You know, if I hadn't tried to fight Doom singlehandedly, none of us would've ended up here." Natasha admitted.
"Maybe, but who's to say that Doom wouldn't have arrived in our universe anyway? You've said yourself; we'd have underestimated him when we first fought, and you were right."
"Told you so." Natasha quipped.
Diana gave Natasha a leering glance before she added, "Just because we underestimated one of your enemies doesn't mean you should underestimate one of ours."
"We won't, not as long as our two group can get on the same page. Until then, how about that one-on-one?" Natasha requested, and Diana produced a wry smirk.
A black helicopter waited on the roof of a building when a group of men in masks emerged from the stairwell. They each carried a sack full of diamonds and jewelry and other forms valuable as they rushed to the waiting helicopter. Most of them got onto the helicopter expect for their apparent ringleader, a considerably taller and likely more muscular masked man. He set one foot into the helicopter just as the bank security guards arrived on the roof.
"Freeze. Hands above you heads now!" one of them called out.
The leader turned on them immediately and leapt into the air, landing right in front of the guards. With seemingly lightning fast reflexes, he dispatched the guards one by one. He grabbed hold of one guard and tossed him into another, landed a debilitating right cross that appeared to shatter another guard's jaw and grabbed another by the neck… with one hand. The guard struggled to breathe while another recovered and took a shot at the masked man. The bullet seemed to bounce of the man's body with a faint sound of metal echoing.
The masked man still reacted by throwing his victim into the foolish guard before returning to the helicopter as nothing happened. On the fallen guards stirred enough to catch a glimpse of a metal gleam in the sunlight. He pulled out is gun and tried to aim, while the leader of the gang stepped into the helicopter. The copter buckled briefly under the weight of the man, but it didn't keep the copter from lifting off. The guard had a shot and pulled the trigger. The bullet bounced off the leader's back and struck one of his cohorts in the leg, causing him to drop to the roof.
One of the henchmen moved to recover his fallen friend but leader held him back. "Leave him. He'll slow us down."
"But he's one of us." the man said, and the leader grabbed his throat.
"Maybe you'd like to join him?" the leader said.
"No!"
"I didn't think so," The leader dropped his cohort, snapping at the pilot, "Get us out of here. He'll be coming for us."
"We won't be able to outfly him. You know that, right?" the pilot asked.
"Trust me; I'm counting on him showing up. Now, get us airborne." The leader snapped.
The helicopter lifted off into the sky as the security guards recovered and opened fire on it. The escaping men returned fire with an array of automatic guns. One of the men lobbed a grenade at the guards, sending them scattering in every direction. A small but powerful explosion followed before the guards recovered and fired back. Another grenade was tossed and hit closer to one of the guards… who was too close to the edge of the roof to react any differently. He desperately slung himself over the edge to avoid the blast but it happened, he was suddenly hanging on for his life.
As the helicopter lifted away, the hanging guard began to lose his grip. One of the other guards noticed and rushed to aid his comrade. But he was too late to catch him when his grip gave out. He dropped straight down and the ground level of the building was approaching rapidly until something halted his fall. The guard looked up and saw that Superman had come to his rescue. Superman carried the guard back up to the roof and set him down gently among his comrades.
"Is everyone alright?" Superman asked.
"Yeah, Superman, we'll be fine. But those thugs made off with who-knows how much in in diamonds." One of the guards explained.
"Not for long." Superman claimed before launching into the air.
The helicopter was already a long distance from the scene of the crime and the occupants appeared to think they were in the clear. Only the leader of the group was focused on the job. Then the chopper suddenly jolted to a violent halt, sending the escaping thugs dropping to deck. One of the thugs opened the side gate and saw Superman holding the tail the chopper. Superman waved at the man and freaked him out before the rest of the gang opened fire on the Man of Steel.
The bullets bounced off of Superman's body and he couldn't help but smirk at the vain attempts of the thugs. In response to their efforts, he used his heat vision to burn their guns one after another. Superman didn't expect the leader of the gang to climb out onto the hull of the helicopter, completely heedless of the rushing air or the spinning rotors above him. They exchanged glances and Superman immediately knew that this guy was nothing like his cohorts. His suspicions were proven correct when the leader thrust his hand straight up right into the path of the rotors.
Instead of the rotors making mince meat of his arm, the rotors were brutally wrecked within a matter of seconds. Superman suddenly found himself struggling to keep the chopper level as flames burst from the fuselage. The chopper descended rapidly toward a busy intersection that was packed with passing cars and pedestrians. Superman continued to fight for control of the chopper as it was going down, while the leader of the gang suddenly lunged right for him. Superman managed to bat the leader away before he finally brought the chopper to the street with a minimum of collateral damage.
With the helicopter down on the street, Superman immediately checked the inside. The thugs were battered and bruised but alive enough to later apprehended by the authorities. Without warning, the leader of the thugs tackled Superman from the behind and sent him crashing into a parked SUV. Superman dropped to the street on one knee and took a moment to recover, but the attacker in question was making his way towards him. He reached up and tore his mask and shirt off, revealing a metallic upper body and a face that appeared half man and half machine. Superman instantly recognized his attacker.
"Metallo." he called out in shock.
John Corbin AKA Metallo, stalked toward Superman with a sadistic half-grin on the human side of his face. "It's been some time, Superman. I was actually convinced you'd forgotten about me."
Superman stood up but staggered a bit before replying, "Well, I've been a little busy lately."
"Yes, I've been watching the news regarding those new heroes. Too bad they won't be around to help you this time." Metallo claimed.
"Who says I need them?" Superman said and lunged forward.
He collided with Metallo and they went crashing into a moving tractor-trailer, destroying the container and sending the contents flying everywhere. Superman quickly pinned Metallo and landed heavy punches to his face. Metallo blocked one punch and drove his metal head into Superman before kicking him away. Superman rolled back and recovered before he fired his heat vision. Metallo quickly brought a shard of the trailer to block the heat vision while he moved closer. Superman intensified his attack and caused the shard to become red hot, but Metallo continued his advance. While he continued his approach, he opened a compartment in his chest.
When Metallo was close enough, he rammed the shard into Superman's face to push him back. Superman went for a strike but he then he felt it. He felt the weakened state he reached and he saw the reason in Metallo's open chest: kryptonite. Metallo immediately pressed his assault and landed hard and heavy blows to Superman's chest and face, and every hit hurt Superman and sent doubling over in pain. Metallo landed another hit that put Superman, but the half-man/machine villain became overconfident for a split second, enough for Superman to land a heavy uppercut to send Metallo flying to the asphalt.
Superman found some time and lifted off, landing a short distance away from Metallo but close enough to still be able to fight. He ripped a streetlight off its foundation as Metallo reached his feet and made his approach. Superman swung the streetlight and batted Metallo backward into a wall. He then tossed the light like a javelin, and it crashed into Metallo who went through the wall. Superman took to the air again and used his x-ray vision to see through the smoke and debris.
Without warning, a beam of green light shot from the smoke. Superman managed to avoid it knowing it was a concentrated blast of kryptonite, while Metallo emerged from the smoke. Metallo fired a sustained blast and attempted to shoot Superman out of the air, and Superman retaliated with heat vision. The two beams collided and a stalemate ensued. It didn't last long and the kryptonite blast hit Superman hard, sending him crashing to the ground. Metallo was immediately on Superman, using a focus beam to further weaken the Man of Steel.
Superman tried to fight back and he managed to landed a hard punch, but Metallo brushed it off and pinned Superman to the ground. He pummeled the weakened hero brutally while onlookers watched. Among them, Lois had just arrived but could do nothing but watch in horror as Metallo beat Superman down. The people who were forced to watch felt every punch Metallo landed on Superman, including Lois. Metallo halted his punching frenzy and started choking Superman while the pure green glow of the kryptonite further weakened him. Superman struggled to breathe as Metallo choked the life out of him.
"Where're your little super friends to help you now?" Metallo snarled just as he heard a loud boom in the sky.
Everyone looked up and saw an object approaching fast. It landed across from a bewildered Metallo. "Hey there, sunshine!"
Metallo forcefully dropped Superman to acknowledge the red and gold new arrival. "Who or what the hell are you supposed to be?"
"Oh, I'm nobody in particular really. I'm just a rich guy a powered suit who about to kick your metal ass. You can call me Iron Man."
"Iron Man, eh? You must be one of the new heroes I heard about on the news." Metallo said as he stalked toward Iron Man.
"Wow, word travels fast." Iron Man said.
"Indeed it does. I like the red and gold motif, but let's see how good it looks after I'm finished with it."
Iron Man jetted into the air and said, "Give it best shot, metal head!"
Metallo immediately focused a sustained kryptonite laser and followed Iron Man in the air. Iron Man ducked and dodged and weaved around the laser with ease before he found his first opening to retaliate. He fired a repulsar ray than Metallo dodged before the robotic villain retaliated back with his laser. Iron Man dodged away from the laser again. In fact, he looked like he was dancing around the laser. He fired a series of blasts from his repulsar rays, most of which Metallo managed to avoid. But the rays were throwing off his aim, making it that much easier for Iron Man to outmaneuver the laser. Iron Man fired a rays and this one finally struck the ground just in front of Metallo, sending him to the ground. Iron Man hovered over Metallo.
"C'mon, that can't be the best you've got." Iron Man mockingly said.
Metallo looked up at Iron Man and replied, "I'm just getting warmed up."
Then Metallo launched himself into the air and grabbed hold of Iron Man's left boot thruster. Iron Man suddenly struggled to stay airborne and level while Metallo swung the both of them around in midair. Metallo managed to bring Iron Man down hard to the ground, causing Iron Man to skid across the asphalt. Metallo lunged and pinned Iron Man down. He landed a few hard punches to the armored mask but Iron Man used his glove thrusters to fly out of the way. Metallo fired another kryptonite laser and struck Iron Man in the shoulder.
"He's tougher than I thought. Jo, give me an analysis of this guy."
"My initial scans indicate that he's comprised of a metallic exo-skeleton under human flesh." Jocasta stated to Iron Man.
"I meant besides the obvious, Jo. What weaknesses can I exploit?" Iron Man said while dodging another laser shot.
"He appeared to be power by the green mineral in his chest. If you can remove that mineral, he should shut down."
"So basically, I have to literally rip his heart out."
"More or less."
Great, no pressure." Iron Man mused and dodged another blast, but he was struck by another one and sent to the ground.
Closing the compartment to his kryptonite heart, Metallo stalked toward Iron Man and planted his foot on the arc reactor. "I can't help but wonder what you look like under all that armor. Maybe I should take the time to find out."
"METALLO!"
Metallo turned around just in time to see Superman flying straight at him, but he had no time to react. Superman rammed and tackled Metallo down, and the momentum sent both of them tumbling and reaching a vertical base. Superman immediately started punching Metallo in the face, and every hit staggered Metallo to the point where he could utilize his kryptonite heart. Superman grabbed Metallo by the head and hoisted him up and over his shoulder before slamming him into the asphalt. He then landed a heavy right jab that flung Metallo back the other way. Iron Man was able to recover and move clear before taking flight. From above, he showered Metallo with repulsar blasts. Metallo appeared to run for cover and ducked behind a car and as Iron Man moved in, the car was lifted off the street.
Metallo tossed the car hard and fast, striking Iron Man. Iron Man and the car crashed into the street and skidded along the width, forcing the on looking populous to move clear. Superman quickly intervened and blasted Metallo with his heat vision before moving in closer, but Metallo opened his compartment again to reveal the kryptonite. Superman immediately recoiled and that slight hesitation allowed Metallo to land a hard shot. Superman wasn't completely weakened and he was able to land a heavy punch of his own.
Superman drove his should forward to push Metallo back and Metallo responded with a hard kick. Metallo grabbed Superman by his throat and repeatedly drove his fist into Superman's stomach. Metallo wasn't prepared for the oncoming flying car being flung at him by Iron Man, and the car collided with him before slamming into the street. Iron Man fired a single, small rocket from his gauntlet at the car. The car exploded in a shower of flame and a plume of black smoke. Iron Man landed beside Superman and they regrouped. The flaming wreck started to move and Metallo reemerged. The human flesh on the one side of his face was burned away, revealing the full robotic face underneath.
"He's persistent, I'll give him that." Iron Man said.
"That kryptonite heart is the source of his power. We've got to get rid of it," Superman stated, and he sounded particularly winded. "The kryptonite weakens me, so I can't get close to him."
"I can, but I'll need a distraction." Iron Man said.
"I was afraid you'd say that." Superman sand before Iron Man launched into the air again.
From up high, Iron Man fired a sustained repulsar blast to push Metallo back. He immediately switched to rapid-fire blasts to keep the robotic villain at bay, while Superman took the opportunity to hit and run/fly. Superman landed a series of hits that rocked Metallo back and forth, leaving hardly any moments for Metallo to retaliate. Iron Man flew in and landed a hard punch to Metallo's jaw, and then Superman flew in to do the same. Iron Man came back with another sustained repulsar blast and Superman came back with heat vision. Metallo had to defend against both attacks and his metallic structure was being ripped apart bit by bit.
Metallo finally retaliate with a blast from his kryptonite heart, first hitting Iron Man and sending him flying backward. He focused on Superman again and fired on him, but Superman managed to avoid the hit. Superman kept his distance, grabbing anything that wasn't nailed down to use against Metallo. He picked up and truck and tossed it, but Metallo leapt over the truck as it came at him. He fired his kryptonite laser, forcing Superman to take flight to avoid the beam. From above, Superman used his heat vision and Metallo fired back on him with his kryptonite heart.
Superman had to avoid the laser, which meant he had to stop using his heat vision to move. Metallo didn't have such a disadvantage. Moving in between the attacks from Metallo, Superman repeatedly fired his heat vision from different aerial positions, but Metallo made it difficult to sustain the assault. Metallo was suddenly knocked off his feet by a small explosion. Superman saw Iron Man flying in from afar and firing more repulsar blasts. Iron Man closed the distance and landed a huge punch to Metallo's face before landing directly in front of him.
He made a grab for the kryptonite heart but Metallo grabbed his arm. He squeezed on the gauntlet and left a hand imprint of the alloy. Inside the mask of his suit, Tony could clearly make out the warnings of suits integrity being compromise. Thinking quickly, he fired a repulsar blast into Metallo's face, forcing Metallo to release his grip. Iron Man landed a series of strikes before Metallo head butted him, and then Metallo hoisted Iron Man over his head and drove back down into the asphalt. Metallo kicked Iron Man away before Superman grabbed him from behind, locking his arms behind his back.
"You never did know when just lay down and die, Superman." Metallo said.
"I could say the same thing about you, Corbin." Superman replied.
"Maybe, but I learned from my mistakes." Metallo stated before he turned his head all the way around. A blast of kryptonite struck Superman directly in the face.
Superman was thrown down hard and Metallo was on him before he could react, and Metallo started beating down the Man of Steel. Superman couldn't fight back since the kryptonite was weakening him, and thus he was defenseless against Metallo. Metallo halted his assault and grabbed Superman by the throat. He hoisted him up and began strangling him in full view of the public. This was deliberate; Metallo wanted them to watch and that included Lois.
"Take your last breath, Superman. Take it knowing that the world was watching Metallo kill the so-called Man of Steel."
Metallo then jolted forward ever so slightly, but he could tell that he was already beaten. He looked down and saw his kryptonite heart removed from his chest and resting in the metallic hands Iron Man. The armored Avenger was standing right behind him and had thrust his hand right through Metallo's chest. In an instant, Iron Man pulled his hand back and took the kryptonite with him. Metallo dropped Superman to the ground before dropping to his own knees and then slumping to the ground himself. His glowing green eyes flickered before shutting down completely. Iron Man took a brief moment to study the mineral in his hand before he looked down at the weakened Superman.
Seeing his state of weakness, Iron Man launched into the sky and flew as high above the city as his thrusters could propel him. Once he was high enough, just reaching the stratosphere, Iron Man tossed the kryptonite every higher up above him. Then using his undamaged gauntlet, Iron Man fired a repulsar blast at the mineral. The kryptonite burst into hundreds of tiny fragments, all of them being too small to cause harm to Superman if they every got close to him. Satisfied, Iron Man returned to Metropolis.
The popular had been staring up at the sky searching for Iron Man, waiting with bated breath for his return. Iron Man landed beside Superman as he was recovering from the kryptonite. Superman looked up at Iron Man with an astonished glance, and Iron Man offered his hand. Taking the hand Superman was pulled to his feet by Iron Man and they stood side by side. One lone person among crowd of people began clapping his hands together. Soon enough, more people began doing the same. Then there was cheering and adulation as Lois approached the duo of heroes.
Superman looked to Iron Man and said to him, "I don't really say this much to newcomers, but thank you."
"Don't mention it." Iron Man replied.
"Excuse me, wait," Lois said to Iron Man. "Lois Lane, Daily Planet. The people of Metropolis want to know exactly who is the man that came to help Superman. What do they call you?"
Iron Man looked at Superman before he said, "Well, Miss Lane, truth is I'm just a guy who trying to do the right thing. Now if you'll excuse me…" Gunning his thrusters, Iron Man took off into the sky.
While looking up at the contrail that Iron Man left behind, Lois said to Superman, "I guess he's not such prick after all."
"Yeah, I guess not." Superman replied before launching into the sky and flying out of sight.
Author's Note: That brings this latest chapter to an end.
The first detail I want to point out is the interaction between Natasha and Diana. There isn't much to it outside of them starting to understand each other. I wanted to add a sparring session between but opted not to do so. I learned from my previous mistake.
Secondly, I decided to have John Corbin/Metallo make a cameo appearance like I did with the Fantastic Four. One of the previous reviews suggested a possible fight between Metallo and Iron Man, and I figured I'd just go for it. Overall, I'm pleased with how the fight turned out. But what do you all think?
Drop me a few reviews and I should be back soon. Peace out!