Disclaimer: Okay, I'm just going to keep this short and sweet. I don't own the rights to any characters from Marvel or DC.
Chapter XXVII
Iron Man flew in between the numerous building surrounding Times Square with a small squadron of Parademons hot on his trail. It seemed amazing and annoying at the same time that these creatures of seemingly little cognitive thought were able to keep up with him. The saving gracing, if he could call it a saving grace, was that they couldn't navigate as well as he could. Iron Man used that to his advantage and started ducking around the tightest of corners of any buildings he came across. At least one or two Parademons overshot the approach around those same corners and slammed into an adjacent building. Those that made it, albeit barely, were quickly blown out of the sky by a rapid-fire repulsar blast from Iron Man. But more kept coming and further frustrated the armored Avenger.
"You have more incoming, Tony." Jocasta chimed in from Iron Man's HUD.
"Thanks for stating the obvious, Jo," Iron Man sarcastically quipped. "Anyone nearby? I could use some cover."
"Keep flying straight, Stark. I've got you covered." Captain Marvel chimed in.
Iron Man stayed on the move and spotted the familiar form of Captain Marvel racing straight towards him. The second Captain Marvel's hands started glowing with cosmic energy, Iron Man banked hard to his right. The Parademons chasing him weren't prepared for Marvel's attack and were blasted out of the sky in short order. At least one Parademon from the initial group was able to close the gap and it attacked Marvel head on. Marvel easily sidestepped it and landed a stiff left jab followed by an even harder right hook before blasting it away. She had little time to celebrate as another squadron of Parademons converged on him.
The never reached her as a glowing green WWII plane appeared out of nowhere and shot them all down. Marvel looked to see Green Lantern approaching her, and he gave her a quick thumbs up. Shots were fired toward Green Lantern and his attention was drawn to another group of Parademons. Green Lantern bolted straight at them and he formed a battering ram construct. The construct plowed through the Parademons and took down most of them. Some were able to move only to be blasted out of the sky by Captain Marvel. A lone hover tank approached Lantern and Marvel but it was quickly attacked by a missile strike from Iron Man.
The tank was crippled and was listing to its left but it kept coming until War Machine arrived and finished it off. He quickly said, "Tony, you've got some explaining to do."
Iron Man, Captain Marvel and Green Lantern regrouped with War Machine and Iron Man quipped, "Okay Ricky Ricardo. Short version; Earth is being invaded."
"I can see that, and Pepper says hi. So who's the new guy and why's he glowing green?" War Machine asked.
Lantern approached and said, "Name's Hal Jordan. I'm member of Green Lantern Corps."
"Never heard of the Green Lantern Corps but I can at least guess that you're one of those Justice League people." War Machine exclaimed.
"Yep!" Green Lantern just as he willed a brick wall construct behind War Machine and kept a Parademon from attacking him.
"Okay, can we skip the Meet & Greet and get back to kicking ass, please?" Captain Marvel said.
"Sounds good to me. Rhodey, you game?" Iron Man asked.
Spinning his mini-gun, War Machine replied, "Always!"
Elsewhere in the city, Wonder Woman was tackled out of the sky by a pair of Parademons and sent slamming down onto a rooftop where she made short work of them. Rising up to her feet with sword and shield in hand, Wonder Woman immediately found herself confronted by a group of soldiers emerging from a Boom Tube. The soldiers opened fire with their energy rifles without hesitation and Wonder Woman deflected the blasts with her shield before pushing forward.
She closed in on the group and quickly retaliated with a heavy assault of shield bashes and sword strikes coupled with various hand-to-hand blows. One of the soldiers got close enough to kick her sword out her hand, but Wonder Woman responded by grabbing him by the foot and tossing him into three other soldiers. Another soldier tried to use Wonder Woman's own sword against her, but she blocked the incoming slash with her shield and the drove her knee into his face.
Wonder Woman then took out the Lasso of Truth and used it against the soldiers as they surrounded her. One soldier was trapped the Lasso and tossed across the rooftop into another soldier. Another picked up Wonder Woman's fallen sword, only to have his arm caught by the Lasso. Wonder Woman pulled hard on the Lasso of Truth, yanking the soldier by the arm in which he held the sword. Then she drew him in closer and stared him dead in the face.
"I believe this is mine." Wonder Woman said before taking back her sword and then knocking the soldier out with a head butt.
Wonder Woman was seemingly unaware of one soldier appearing to get the drop on her, but he stopped in his tracks by Vision. The android Avenger had phased up from the ground and blasted the soldier back. Another soldier pushed forward and took a swing at Vision, but Vision altered his density and let the weapon phase through him. Then he punched the soldier in the jaw before blasting another pair of soldiers.
Two more soldiers moved on Vision and fired their rifles, but Vision phased down into the ground and out of sight. Wonder Woman deflected the shot with her bracers before using her Lasso to trip up one of the soldiers. Before the other soldier could react even in the slightest, Vision reappeared behind him. Vision grabbed the soldier by his shoulders before phasing right back down into the ground, bringing the soldier and slamming him into the ground hard.
Vision reappeared just as one last soldier attempted to punch him in the face. Instead of budging Vision, the soldier's hand was broken when Vision increased his density. The soldier reared back and held his damaged hand amid the searing pain while Vision floated closer to him. Then Vision phased and allowed Wonder Woman to pass right through him, bashing the soldier unconscious with her shield.
Vision reset his density as Wonder Woman confronted him. "I had that under control." she claimed.
"An analysis of the previous ten point thirteen minutes and sixty two seconds indicates that you were in danger of eventually being overtaken." Vision stated.
Wonder Woman was looking behind Vision and said, "You mean like now?"
Vision turned to see a horde of Parademons approaching them, too many for the two heroes to fight off alone. Luckily for them, the Human Torch swooped in from the side and burned most of the Parademon before they knew what hit them. Several of the Parademons dropped to the rooftop with burn marks all over them, but they pushed forward and advanced on Vision and Wonder Woman. The Human Torch made another pass and burned the creatures. Still, some the creatures tried to move toward Vision and Wonder Woman but they were quickly taken down.
The Human Torch dropped down to the roof and quelled his flames. "Hey, Vision. Long time no see."
"It is splendid to once again reacquaint with you, Johnny Storm." Vision replied.
Johnny then glanced at Wonder Woman with a raised eyebrow of interest. "Who's the babe?"
Wonder Woman raised her sword up to Johnny's throat and held it there, slightly scaring Johnny. "I am Diana of Themyscira. And, you are…
"Uh, Johnny Storm… of the Fantastic Four. Can you get the sword away from my throat, please?"
Before Wonder Woman could act further, three Boom Tubes opened above them and more Parademons emerged followed by a hover tank. Wonder Woman took the lead with Vision and the Human Torch standing beside her. As the Parademons converged on the trio of heroes, a giant blackbird appeared from out of nowhere and directly between the heroes and the Parademons. The Parademons instantly shrieked at the sight of the blackbird and tried to retreat but the blackbird engulfed them.
The hover tank took a shot at the blackbird but the blackbird formed a series of lance-like protrusions that jutted forward. The lances pierced through the otherwise thick armor of the hover tank and caused it to explode from the inside before it dropped toward the streets below. The blackbird shrank down to reveal the Parademons it had previously engulfed, leaving the creatures literally shaking on the ground. The blackbird soon dissipated and Raven appeared in its place, and Wonder Woman approached the young Titan with marked caution.
"Well done, Raven." the Amazon stated with a hand on Raven's shoulder.
"I don't think we're finished yet. More of them will come unless we can stop Darkseid." Raven claimed.
"Then we keep fighting until we find a way. And we will find away." Wonder Woman said.
Raven nodded before she looked at the Human Torch. "Who're you?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing. Name's Johnny."
"I'm Raven."
"That giant devil bird thing was really cool. Do you know Cloak & Dagger?" Johnny asked.
"Who?" Raven asked.
"Excuse me, but I believe this brief interaction is counterproductive to the current situation." Vision stated, and Wonder Woman walked passed him toward the edge of the rooftop.
"Agreed," Wonder Woman said as she looked down toward the streets. "Raven, you and I will head down to the streets to help the others. Vision, you and this Johnny Storm remain up here to aid Iron Man."
"That's a long way down, Diana. You want me to teleport us down there?" Raven asked.
Wonder Woman simply smirked and replied, "No. I've got this." With that, Wonder Woman took a single step off the ledge and dropped toward the streets, while Raven opened a portal and vanished from sight.
A flabbergasted Johnny blurted out, "Whoa, now that a bad ass woman!"
"Please refrain from the use of foul language, Johnny Storm." Vision said as he took off into the sky.
"Dude? Really?" Johnny said before he ignited and followed Vision.
Wonder Woman plummeted down the side of the building whose rooftop she'd been standing on moments ago, appearing like a missile as she fell. Down below her, more hordes on Parademons and soldiers littered Times Square like locusts in a cornfield. They were converging near the area where the Avengers and Justice League were fighting more hordes. Wonder Woman came down dead center of the horde, sending asphalt and other forms of debris flying and striking random targets. The hordes of Darkseid's forces turned the collective gaze at the Amazon as she prepared to fight.
Rather than appear nervous, Wonder Woman smirked and crouched down. Raven appeared behind her and projected a blast of dark magic that wiped out several Parademons and soldiers. The rest of the soldiers and Parademons regrouped and tried to attacked Wonder Woman and Raven, but Raven conjured a cage around them. The cage enveloped them and caused them to disappear seemingly from existence, leaving only a handful of troops left.
"All yours, Diana." Raven said as she vanished from sight.
"Thank you, Raven." Wonder Woman replied before she charged forward.
The remaining troops readied themselves for the oncoming assault and Wonder Woman started by bashing the nearest soldier with her shield. Then she started cutting through the other soldiers just as the Parademons moved on her. She landed a number of precision strikes and slashes and mixed in some hard kicks that laid out several foes at once. The soldiers that carried energy rifles took shots at Wonder Woman, but she used her bracers and shield to deflect the shots as they came.
More troops pushed forward on Wonder Woman and she fought them tooth and nail but knowing that they'd eventually overtake her. But before the scenario ever happened, a lightning bolt struck a few of the troops down. Thor suddenly dropped from on high with his arrival followed by a sound of thunder. A pair of Parademons instantly moved on the Asgardian without a second thought and they instantly paid for it. Thor took one massive outer swing of Mjolnir and clocked one of the two Parademons, and then he rounded right back to the opposite side to beat down the second creature.
Wonder Woman wiped out one last soldier before she regrouped with Thor and said to him, "Nice of you to drop in, Thor."
"Indeed. Nice of you to save me some creatures to pummel." Thor said.
More Parademons converged on the duo and Wonder Woman said, "There's more coming our way. Up for some friendly competition?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Thor said. Then, as the Parademons landed on the street, Thor and Wonder Woman charged forward.
The Quinjet performed a series of flybys above the city, with Batman and Black Widow keeping it airborne and Hawkeye taking arrow shots at anything that wasn't human. It wasn't long before the Quinjet was within range of the main command ship that lingered overhead, with Darkseid standing ever so stoically on its hull. The command ship's remaining guns instantly targeted the Quinjet and fired. Batman quickly pulled an evasive move to avoid the weapon fire. Black Widow took control of the jet's own armaments and unloaded on the command ship. Several shots landed on the hull while other narrowly missed Darkseid and Kalibak.
Kalibak had to move out of the way, but Darkseid remained where he stood nonchalant amid the gunfire. From the open hatch of the Quinjet, Hawkeye line up an arrow and directly targeted Darkseid. The shot was as perfect as Hawkeye could've ever wanted and released his grip on the arrow. The arrow sailed across the sky with lightning speed… and Darkseid caught it with one hand. Darkseid looked at the arrow and then at the Quinjet as it flew overhead, seconds before the arrow let out an electrical jolt that spread around Darkseid's immediate position.
The Quinjet flew closer to the command ship and Hawkeye saw the result… Darkseid was still standing. "That trick worked on Loki." Hawkeye commented to himself.
Darkseid's eyes started glowing the familiar red before he shot out an Omega Beam. Batman immediately banked hard to the right side in an effort to dodge the attack, but the Omega Beam struck the underbelly of the Quinjet. The three occupants of the jet felt the sudden, violent jolt after the Omega Beam struck. Batman and Black Widow tried to keep the Quinjet level, but it was sent into a spiral toward the city. In the chaos, Hawkeye suddenly fell from his perch within the hatch.
"CLINT!" Black Widow call out, but it was already too late.
Hawkeye was suddenly in free fall toward the street with no means of saving himself from his quickly approaching demise. But he never hit the hard asphalt, at least not at terminal velocity. Instead, a portal opened directly below him and he fell straight through it. Another portal opened and Hawkeye dropped from it, still hitting the asphalt hard but not enough to prove fatal. He felt some considerable soreness from the drop but beyond that, he was still alive. Unfortunately, he also happened to land face and chest first.
"Okay… that hurt!" he muttered to himself.
Another portal opened and Raven emerged from it to attend to Hawkeye. "Are you okay, Clint?"
Hawkeye was on his knees, replying to Raven, "I'll shake it off. It's just my bones and my muscles and my organs."
A commotion drew Hawkeye and Raven's attention toward the sky. They could see the Quinjet spiraling out of control, fire and smoke billowing from the fuselage. Fear instantly gripped Hawkeye as he knew there was no way that Natasha or Batman would survive. But it wasn't before he and Raven heard a sonic boom from the sky well above the city, and then a red and blue streak appeared. It was Superman, and the Man of Steel arrived literally in the knick of time to catch the Quinjet as it was coming down.
Superman slowed the Quinjet's descent toward the street and gently placed down, while Hawkeye and Raven approached the area. Batman and Black Widow emerged from the Quinjet relatively unscathed. As this was happening, a Parademon swooped down toward the group shrieking in protest. But Superman acted quickly and blasted the Parademon out of the air with heat vision. The Parademon dropped to the street but somehow managed to rise back up, only to have Batman toss a pair of Batarangs at it. The Batarangs detonated on impact, finally putting the Parademons.
Widow approached Batman and said, "I thought you don't kill."
"Parademons are born from the pits of Apokolips. In essence, they're not even alive." Batman claimed.
"Right…." Widow said with marked skepticism.
"Is everyone okay?" Superman asked to change the subject.
"We won't be if we don't end this invasion here and now. We need to take the fight to Darkseid." Batman said.
"Darkseid is mine. The rest of you help the others." Superman declared before he blasted back up to the sky.
No sooner did Superman depart, a ground tank rumbled toward Batman, Raven, Widow and Hawkeye. Hawkeye drew an arrow and calmly said, "I got this."
Hawkeye casually strolled up to the ground tank with his bow at the ready and an arrow set to fly. The ground tank approached him with a slow pace before it came to a stop. Hawkeye cracked his neck and readied his bow and arrow, bringing it up to bear against the tank. In the background, Black Widow was about to rush in and pull Hawkeye out of the way. Batman stopped her for some unclear reason, as if he knew that something was about to happen… just not to Hawkeye.
The ground tank suddenly stopped dead literally inches from Hawkeye before it started shuddering. Then pieces of it started flying and noticeable sparks blew from the rear end. It wasn't long after the fact that the Hulk revealed himself, tearing right through the tank's hull and roaring with every effort. The Hulk ripped through the ground tank like a sardine can until he tore into the cockpit where the two pilots were sitting. He growled at them and sent them running. Unfortunately for them, Batman and Black Widow were standing right in their path and knocked them both out. The Hulk hoisted the remains of the ground tank and tossed it aside before he lumbered toward the group of heroes.
Hawkeye looked back at Black Widow, Batman and Raven and claimed, "I totally softened it up for the big guy."
The Hulk lumbered passed Hawkeye and directly confronted Batman. "Stupid flying rat man. You push Hulk out of plane."
"And?" Batman asked.
The Hulk huffed, "Flying rat man have balls."
Batman nonchalantly pushed passed the Hulk and drew his grapple gun. "We need to get moving." Then he fired the grapple gun and launched into the air.
Hawkeye looked at Widow and said, "Man, that guy's nuts."
"I'm pretty sure he'd take it as a compliment." Widow replied before she, Hawkeye and Raven pushed onward, while The Hulk jumped into the air toward the battle.
Superman reached the command ship and landed on the hull right where Kalibak was standing. With his battle club in hand, Kalibak charged forward. Superman landed one punch, just one, that sent Kalibak flying backward across the length of the ship. Kalibak slammed into the hull and slid and scraped along the metal before coming to a rest at the feet of Darkseid, who stone face showed no emotion. Angered, Kalibak rose up and charged Superman. He took a swing at Superman with the club, and Superman landed an uppercut that sent Kalibak spiraling completely off the command ship.
With Kalibak briefly indisposed, Superman turned his attention to Darkseid. "Call off your invasion, Darkseid. I won't give you another chance."
"Nor would I expect one from, Kal-El. If you wish this invasion ended, you shall have to end me first." Darkseid challenged.
"So be it." Superman replied before he fired off a blast of heat vision.
Darkseid responded with an Omega Beam. The two blasts collided with each other, sending a huge wave of power spreading across the length of the command ship and beyond. The blasts eventually cancelled each other out, but it was only Superman that went backward from the ensuing shockwave. Darkseid appeared unfazed and took a few steps forward, but he was instantly surprised when Superman bull rushed right back into him. The momentum carried both of them off the command ship and all the way down to the streets below.
Darkseid was down and pinned by Superman, who started beating him down with brutal punches to the face. Darkseid managed to block one of Superman's many blows and responded with a head butt that rocked Superman, and then he kicked him away. Superman staggered from the previous hit but he recovered in time to see Darkseid charging right for him. Darkseid landed a hard right cross that put Superman into the asphalt, and then he kicked Superman across the street.
Superman was down for a moment to see Darkseid charging again. Darkseid went for another cross, but Superman was ready this time and landed a heavy body shot. The blow sent Darkseid into the side of a van, and Superman quickly closed the distance and landed a vicious overhead strike. A knee strike to the face rocked Darkseid even more. He staggered in his attempt to hit Superman with desperation punch. Superman managed to get behind Darkseid put him in a stranglehold, but Darkseid fired an Omega Beam that curved up above his head and into Superman's back. Superman felt the pain back he didn't release the hold, so Darkseid hoisted him up and fell backwards into the street.
Standing back up, Darkseid looked down at a winded Superman before pinning him down. He started pummeling the Man of Steel repeatedly into the asphalt, and each hit that landed pushed Superman's head and neck further and further down into the ground. Darkseid even grabbed Superman by the cloth of his suit and threw him back into the ground with enough force to break the surround ground. One more punch left Superman incapacitated.
Darkseid knelt down, grasped Superman's neck and proceeded to strangle him. "In all our conflict, I've learned never to take chances with you, Kal-El. It will be here, on this alternate Earth, that you shall finally succumb to Darkseid."
A loud roared suddenly sounded from the distance, and Darkseid looked back toward the source. He had no time to even react to the giant green behemoth lunging straight at him. The Hulk instantly closed the distance and took one swift but mighty swing at Darkseid, and the shot landed perfectly on the despot's stone face. The momentum that followed sent Darkseid flying into his own command ship, the impact leaving a massive depression in the hull. Darkseid dropped back to the street and crashed down, creating a crater from the impact.
Superman started to stir and found the Hulk standing over him brimming with rage. Then he looked to where Darkseid crashed and saw him struggling to rise from the rubble. Now standing on his own two feet, Superman found himself side by side with the Hulk while Darkseid became upright. Darkseid flexed his neck to alleviate the pain and stared down both Superman and the Hulk.
"Thanks!" Superman said.
"Hulk not want thanks. Hulk just wants to smash stone faced man." the Hulk claimed.
"You and me both." Superman replied.
"You may be a powerful monster, but I am still a god." Darkseid said and started to press forward.
The Hulk smirked and moved forward, replying, "Hulk smashed puny god before. Hulk smash another puny god now. Let's go!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note: Okay, this one took some time. Then again, what's was expected.
The epic battle rages on, and now, Darkseid is about to tangle with the Hulk. Stark might want to call Damage Control when this is over.
Stay tuned for more chaos as we approach the end. Oh and don't worry too much about why S.H.I.E.L.D. or no other heroes are getting involved. I've got something else in mind that's… let's call it otherworldly.
Don't forget to review. Peace!