The Grundy Apocalypse
A DC Universe Nightmare
Chapter 1
Solomon Grundy was tired. He had been walking for days now and had traversed hundreds of miles. Yet, he had gotten no closer to his destination. His thoughts were always muddled, and he struggled to determine where his destination actually was. One thought was always clear, though. He was alone.
Then, a burst of light entered his brain, and the large, pale creature stumbled. On his knees, Grundy tried to shake the literal cobwebs from his brain. Drool spilled from his lips and pooled below him. A mixture of blood, mud, and mucous. Grundy stared into it and felt…nothing.
Then Grundy heard a voice call out to him. He snapped his thick neck to each side looking for the source but found nothing. Alone.
"Grundy," the female voice soothingly cooed once again. "You don't ever have to be alone again."
The voice and its message gave Grundy the strength to get to his feet.
"Not alone…?" Grundy asked hopefully.
"No," the voice assured him. "Never again. In fact, everyone will be a part of your family."
Grundy smiled, revealing large, gnarled teeth covered in twigs, leaves, and dirt.
"Friend?" Grundy asked the female.
"Yes, darling," she purred. "I am your friend. Call me, Enchantress."
Chapter 2
A pile of rubble which was once an old tenement building infested with drug dealers, begins to tremble. Large concrete blocks fall off the top of the pile, and a red glove punches through to the top. Slowly, a muscled figure pulls itself up. It's the hero known as Hawk.
He grunts as multiple lacerations on his body begin to heal at a superhuman rate. A dainty white glove reaches out to him. It belongs to his partner, Dove. She helps him out of the rubble.
"You okay, big guy?" she asks.
Hawk only offers a grunt and several winces due to the pain. His wounds were closing themselves up, but they still hurt like a bitch.
"I didn't think Grodd would bring the whole building down around you," Dove cringed.
Hawk began to dust himself off, coughing out some of the dirt he swallowed.
"You're healing faster than normal," Dove added as she patted the debris from Hawk's back.
"Yeah, I meant to tell you about that," Hawk growled. "Grodd isn't as lucky."
Hawk reaches back into the rubble and pulls out the massive gorilla. Grodd, was as scary as they came. Highly intelligent and amazingly strong. He was also ruthless and savage beyond belief.
"Wow," Dove recoils in amazement. "He's huge up close!"
"Tell me about it," Hawk snarls. "He also hits as hard as anyone I've come across."
Dove pauses for a second.
"I wanted to ask you something," she paused. "Do you feel any different right now?"
"Not really," Hawk looked at her suspiciously and shrugged. "In fact, now that my wounds are healing, I feel pretty good actually."
Dove lifted a tattered piece of Hawk's uniform and inspected one of those wounds. Hawk flinched a bit at her touch. She apologized for hurting him and he quietly nodded. However, it was more to do with his feelings for her than pain.
That wasn't completely true. There was pain involved. The pain of having feelings for Dove, for Dawn, but not being able to share them with her.
Dove moved on to another one of his healing wounds and inspected that one as well. Hawk briefly sighed at the thought of worrying about her every time they fought a bad guy, as well as every time he watched her go out with another guy. He had to stifle those feelings for the betterment of the team.
"You're stronger now too," Dove began, snapping Hawk out of his daydream. "You really manhandled Grodd."
Hawk shrugged. "Nah, he brought the building down on us. He underestimated me."
"That may be so," she smirked. "But I think at one point he realized that he couldn't beat you. That's when he got desperate and brought the building down."
"Wasn't it because you put that dampener thing on his head?" Hawk changed the subject.
Dove smiled. She was Hawk's counterpart. She was advanced in so many things, speed, agility, strength, grace, and observation. She literally knew him better than he knew himself. Batman once told her that Hawk was a brutal weapon, and that she was the trigger. Coming from Batman it was funny and scary at the same time.
Hawk was getting stronger, and they both knew it. They would have to talk about it later, though. He wasn't in the mood to talk, and they had to get all of the people she pulled from the building to the hospital. They had to address it soon, though. It just didn't feel right.
Chapter 3
In the bowels of the Iceberg Lounge, two men scurry around in the dark. The fate of the Earth was in their hands, and they took a tremendous amount of glee in knowing that. They went over their inventory list for the third time this evening.
"Riddle me this, Ozzie," the Riddler cackled. "If you have me you want to share me, if you share me you no longer have me. What am I?"
Oswald Cobblepot, better known as the Penguin, puts down the case of water he's holding, and screeches.
"I don't know, you twit!" the little man puts his hands on his hips. "And are you sure we have enough supplies to last six months?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Riddler snaps. "In fact, if your exclusive guest list is accurate, we can live like kings off of these supplies for a year!"
"A year?" Penguin quacks. "Who's paying for all of those extra supplies?"
"Why, you are, Ozzie," Riddler smiles. "And the answer to my riddle was 'a secret'. And ours will be what brings down the world."
Penguin wanted to celebrate, but he was a worrier by nature.
"And you're sure we can stop this when the time comes?" he asked with a gun pointed at his partner's temple.
"Yes," Riddler sighs. "It wouldn't be a world worth living in if we couldn't go out and enjoy it, could it?"
The answer makes Penguin smile. The Riddler was right. It was all going to be theirs soon. The pieces were in place, and all it would take now was a little chemistry.
Chapter 4
Professor Anthony Ivo smiles at the monster before him. He had seen Solomon Grundy on television many times, but it was another thing to see the hulking monstrosity in person. It was odd, this walking corpse didn't have any kind of odor other than the moss and mud speckled across his body.
Ivo took a breath and then inserted the needle into Grundy's forearm. He pushes the serum into Grundy, and the monster simply stares at him. No pain and no concern, as long as Mary was nearby. She cooed and rubbed his shoulder.
"That's it, Grundy," she purred. "Almost done."
Her name was June. June Moon to be precise. She was also known as the Enchantress. The people pulling the strings assured him that she would keep Grundy in check, and for the most part, it looked like they were right.
The fourth member of their team walked into the laboratory. He strode silently and in a bad mood. His skin crackled with heat and made Professor Ivo terribly uncomfortable. He was known as Effigy, a powerful fire manipulator.
"How's it going, Ivo?" Effigy growled.
"Um," Ivo nervously clears his throat. "I believe we're done here. All that's left is to test."
"Good," Effigy grins.
Enchantress helps Grundy up off the table. She dusts him off and turns to Effigy.
"Grundy?" Effigy asks. "Do you remember what you have to do?"
Grundy nods and then picks Ivo up off of the ground.
"What's going on here?" Ivo shrieks. "What are you doing?"
"The bosses wanted to make sure that you made Grundy contagious," Effigy begins. "Did you?"
"Yes!" Ivo screams out again. "Of course! But we should at least test him!"
"That's what we're planning on doing?" Effigy smirks.
Grundy then takes a huge bite out of the professor's shoulder. Flesh tears off of his arm and blood begins to spurt in all directions. The savagery shocks Effigy, who thought he was ready for what was to come. Meanwhile, the Enchantress giggles with delight.
Grundy drops the screaming man to the ground and looks at Enchantress for her approval. She pats him lovingly on the arm.
"Enchantress, please take Grundy into another room," Effigy says emotionless. "It's about to get hot in here."
"Gladly, darling," she winks.
As the duo leaves, Effigy locks the door behind them. Then looks down at the now silent, and dead, Ivo. If this works, the world would never be the same. Hell, the universe would never be the same. He was just glad to be on this side of the devastation.
The professor stirred, then jerked upwards. However, the professor was no longer there. His broken body was, but any trace of Ivo was gone. All that remained was a bloodied, mindless zombie. It snarled at Effigy and then pounced.
Effigy lit up the entire room in fire. The heat and flames marinated every inch of the laboratory. Seconds later, Effigy pulled the fire back, and Ivo was nothing but ashes.
Enchantress pokes her head through the broken door.
"Shit," she said. "Does this mean it worked?"
"Yep," he shrugged. "We just weaponized Solomon Grundy."
Chapter 5
Lex Luthor smiled. In fact, he couldn't stop smiling. It took a lot to amuse a man of his intellect. Naturally, the only person that could amuse him was himself.
All of the chess pieces were in place. Riddler and Penguin may have thought they were in charge, but hiding in a bunker like a couple of amateur survivalists would keep them off the board and out of his way. They may have hatched this idea, but Luthor's touches made it brilliant.
Now it was Superman's turn. The hero had no idea what was coming for him. It was somewhat bittersweet for Luthor to know that the end of the world was coming, but Superman wouldn't be able to see it. Luthor would remake the world how he wanted it.
Still, thinking about Superman's eventual fate got the best of him, and Lex Luthor smiled once again. Sadly, it was the last time Luthor would smile.
Chapter 6
Superman slowly entered the Earth's atmosphere. He was tired. He should have taken a lap or two around the sun to charge up again, but he had been off planet for three days already. He wanted to get home.
It was a miracle that he received the distress signal from the spacecraft. He had received a tip from Cyborg that Lex Luthor was planning to release a biological weapon from his LexCorp towers into the Metropolis skyline.
He had gotten to the tower with more than enough time to stop Lex from detonating the weapon. However, it was pure luck that he was there to hear a separate distress call coming into Lex's office. It was from a ship sponsored by LexCorp, whose main mission was to salvage space rocks in the hopes of finding Kryptonite.
Unfortunately, for all involved, the ship was sabotaged by Mongul and dragged to a distant moon. It was odd, though. Mongul normally worked alone, but this time upon reaching that moon, Superman was ambushed by both Mongul and Sinestro!
It took some help from Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Jon Stewart, but the villains were overcome, and the crew was saved. Thankfully, Hal and Jon offered to handle Mongul and Sinestro. Distracted, with his thoughts, Superman barely notices the three tiny mushroom clouds below.
It looked to be coming from the West Coast. San Francisco? Metropolis would have to wait!
"Attention all Justice League members and reserves," he began with a commanding voice. The exhaustion that he had felt moments before was gone. He wouldn't let those depending on him know he wasn't at his best.
"This is Superman," he continued. "There looks to have been multiple explosions in the San Francisco area. Large enough for me to see from the upper atmosphere. It looks like we'll need as many of you as possible."
There was a brief pause before the first and only answer came through.
"Affirmative, Superman," came a low, and very monotoned voice. "This is Batman. We had a head's up from the Joker. Multiple league members enroute…"
Superman didn't like the fact that Batman paused. He wasn't one to pause.
"Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Shazam, were at ground zero," Batman grunted. "No response from them since the detonations."
"Batman!" came a frantic voice. "This is Aquaman on scene! The devastation here is substantial. Buildings down, roads collapsed…people everywhere, dead."
"Aquaman!" Batman shouts. "What about fallout?"
"Negative, Batman," Cyborg chimed in. "I'm here with Aquaman and there is minimal radiation in the atmosphere. Whoever did this didn't use nukes."
"Hawkman here," came a grizzled voice choking back sobs. "Manhunter and Shazam are…gone, and Wonder Woman needs medical attention."
None of the leaguers dared say a word during Hawkman's pause.
"Multiple hostiles on the ground with us," Hawkman continues. "We've already engaged them."
"How many?" Batman shouts.
"Luthor, Grundy, Cheetah, Parasite, the Enchantress, Effigy…" Hawkman pauses. "Dammit! I see Black Manta and Dr. Polaris as well!"
She needs help. Where is Superman?"
A sonic boom resonates in the area as Superman lands among them.
"Here," he says.
He takes Wonder Woman from Hawkman's arms.
"I'm going to take her to get help," he says through gritted teeth. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
Hawkman doesn't say a word as Superman takes off.
"We've got company," Cyborg growls, as Luthor and his small army approach.
A red blur streaks to the side of Hawkman, Aquaman, and Cyborg.
"Sorry I'm late," the Flash chuckled nervously. "But I brought some friends."
A dark, black jet drops vertically from the sky. Its doors open and out comes Batman, followed by Nightwing, Vixen, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Hawk, Dove, and Starfire.
"Alright, Luthor," Batman scowls. "Let's fight."
Chapter 7
Superman raced across the skies with Wonder Woman in his arms. He had never seen her in this bad shape before. He had to get her to Paradise Island. If anyone could help her it would be her own people.
The wound on her shoulder looked like a bite and during the flight it had gotten worse. He could see the infection spreading through her veins.
"Hang in there, Diana," he whispered.
Her eyes began to flutter at the sound of his voice. She looked up at him with gray eyes that held no recognition of him. She growled at him through a mouthful of mucous and drool.
Chapter 8
Hawk gripped his bicep. The Flash had just bitten him. Without thinking, Hawk squeezed the Flash's head in his hands until it popped.
Dove rushed over to him.
"Hawk?" she screamed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he lied through bloodied teeth.
"He's so damned fast!" she shouted as she tried to staunch the flow of blood from his arm.
"What is happening?" he yelled.
"Solomon Grundy bit the Flash," she began. "Not long after, he started running around biting everyone. Hero and villain alike!"
"He won't be biting anyone else," Hawk grunted through the pain.
"That's not all," Dove began to tear up. "Everyone he bit is like him, and Grundy…"
Hawk had noticed that, but it was all happening so damned fast that he didn't realize what it reminded him of.
"Zombies…" he paused.
"There's no such thing," Dove scolded.
"Grundy has been a zombie this whole time, and none of us noticed!" he yelled.
He looked down at his arm and then towards Dove. He knew what he had to do. It was time for his blaze of glory. She'd never go for it, so it was a good thing this would be the last time he'd let her down.
Faster than anyone his size should move, Hawk grabbed Dove by the shoulder and threw her as far away from him as he could. He jumped up and screamed as he rushed forward towards zombie-Luthor.
The mindless creature in the purple and green armor had no idea how to use any of the armor's weapons, so Hawk easily leaped on top of him and smashed his skull like a ripe pumpkin. He then turned his sights to zombie-Cyborg, and . He dispatched of them rather easy as well. Even with their powers, they were mindless monsters now.
Hawk heard a low snarling from above him and turned just in time to see zombie-Hawkman land on top of him. He felt Hawkman's teeth pierce his shoulder as they hit the concrete. Hawk struggled to turn his body over to fight Hawkman, only to see someone swing a broken stop sign, decapitating Hawkman.
It was Dove. She then stomped on Hawkman's severed head. She turned to Hawk with a look of rage.
"What were you thinking?" she screamed.
"I was trying to protect you before I turned…" he stumbled.
Dove paused, then took a moment to look around. It was absolute carnage. Hero, villain, and innocent bystanders were all infected by Grundy's curse. They were in essence what Hawk had called them. Zombies.
All of them except Hawk. Who by her count, had been bitten at least twice.
"Hawk, listen closely," she took a deep breath before continuing. "Other than the bites, how are you feeling?"
Hawk looked at her incredulously. How did she think he felt? He was turning into a zombie! He looked down at where the Flash had bitten him.
The bite had already healed! He looked up at Dove who had noticed the same thing.
"What the hell is going on?" Hawk asked rhetorically.
Chapter 9
Superman held Wonder Woman by the neck in one hand. He was rocketing towards the sun. He had realized what Wonder Woman had become, and what she had turned him into.
He could feel the dizziness and fever overcoming him. He couldn't let himself infect anyone else. If he became a mindless berserker, the world had no chance.
He wished he could have gone back to check on his friends, but there wasn't any time. He would have to just have faith that they would overcome this. He had to take himself off the board.
He felt a sense of calm come over him just as he began to feel the extreme heat. That calm was soon replaced by pain as it got hotter. The next thing he felt was hunger.
He looked at the limp body in his hand. It was rotten. Not fresh. He hurled it forward into the sun where it disintegrated. He looked into the sun and his pupils melted. He couldn't feel anything anymore, and the bright light surrounding him suddenly went black.
Chapter 10
Batman's leg was broken. It didn't stop him though. He blocked out the pain and limped towards his jet. Hawk and Dove were behind him. Hawk carried the unconscious Starfire. They were the only ones left. All of the other heroes and villains were either dead or had turned into a zombie and then killed…again.
Other than the former civilians who were now zombies, the streets were empty. It was getting dark, and people had gone into hiding. The world was different now.
He had gotten a call from Nightwing, and this outbreak was happening on the East Coast as well. Batman had no choice but to retreat. They had to regroup. They had to figure out a way to stop this.
Reluctantly, he stepped onto the ship, and said a silent prayer for the world.