Garfield League of America Chapter Eleven: Last Stand of the Resistance!
Sometime past high noon Garfield and Superman arrived at the entrance to Bludhaven, which was barricaded and fortified. A dust-cloud had gathered around the city, swirling like a typhoon except made of dust instead of water.
"Halt! Be you friend or foe?" Asked a guy in a red cap and red quiver as he pointed a red arrow at them, squinting through the dust. It was Roy Harper, the Arsenal!
"Walking Target, if I were foe, you wouldn't even have time to ask that question." Garfield told Arsenal, who lowered his bow as the dust cleared and Arsenal saw who they were.
"Garfield and Superman! You are both alive! I'll let you in and take you to our fearless leader!" Arsenal shouted with glee as he whistled. The gates were opened by several Resistance fighters but Arsenal's glee was short-lived as before he could greet Garfield he felt sudden twinge of pain.
"No what is this" Arsenal looked downwards and saw in his guts a blood-stained yellow vibration sticking out.
"Why so glum? It matches your outfit!" Maniacal laughter echoed across the dusty emptiness as the vibrations took form. It was man dressed just like The Flash but he was Yellow instead! It was Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash! Professor Zoom then chortled as he ripped out all of Arsenal's intestines and zipped off, killing the red archer before he started punching off the Resistance fighters heads as they fired in vain unable to hit him.
"Hold still you fool so I can peel you like banana." Garfield said with frustration as Reverse Flash dodged all of his Godkiller swipes with superspeed.
"No way Garfield you cannot catch me! Batman has boosted my time-powered speed with Dark Multiverse blessings!" Reverse-Flash bragged as he did cocky bending over dodge of another sword swing. "All in exchange for pleding my eternal servitude and aiding in your destruction Garfield!"
Reverse-Flash vibrated out of physical temporality, making Superman's heat-vision go through him. He then vibrated back into existence and like a pong ball punched abck and forth between Superman and Garfield.
"Superman you will be cherry on the top of Dead Garfield Sundae!" Reverse-Flash hooted as he circled around Garfield and Superman like a hyper shark. Any second now he would zoom in with a speed force punch capable of eradicating matter. "The tick of your clock stops here!"
"I don't think so." Superman replied without fright as he took deep breath and concentrated. "You caught us unaware but now that we are aware it is time for you to beware."
Reverse-Flash leered with mad cockiness as he readied the killing strike but suddenly his heart skipped a beat and he nearly tripped in shock. Though the bodies of Superman and Garfield were slowed down in his perception at super-speed, Reverse-Flash took a look at Superman's eyes and realized that they were following him and keeping up.
"I bet you wish you saw the error of your ways now, evil-doer." Superman quipped as he ripped off his s-shield and threw it like a shruiken across Reverse-Flash's eyes slicing them open. Reverse-Flash screamed like a stuck pig as he ran headfirst into a wall, and collapsed. "Give this yellowbelly sonuvagun his last rites, Garfield."
"You couldn't cut the mustard at track so I shall cut your head." Said Garfield with failing gym grade as he constructed a guillotine with his lantern arm and placed Reverse-Flash on it.
"This is not over! I am just vanguard of Batman's army! You and your resistance shall die today!" Reverse-Flash screamed with defiance to the end as Garfield separated his head from his body. Superman looked to the distance and saw that Reverse-Flash was right, an entire horde of Batman's Dark Knights were converging on Bludhaven.
"Then you can take a message back to them, can't you?" Garfield asked Reverse-Flash's head cooly and stuffed some dynamite in it, and with a mighty football kick sent it all the way to the approaching army making lethal explodings.
"That was a big bang but we'll need bigger. We must not let them into Bludhaven!" Superman told Garfield as new Dark Knights spilled over their fallen comrades like a flooding ant-hill and quickly surrounded them.
"Garfield itstime for you to enter the void once and for all! When I kill you and the entire resistance Batman will at last accept that Duke Thomas the Signal is a true family member!" Laughed Duke Thomas the Signal, who was a yellow-armored Dark Knight.
"Tell Batman he'll have to make arrangements for another death in the family." Garfield taunted the Signal who went ballistic and ordered waves of his minions to charge Garfield and Superman.
"Looks like once more it is just you and me. Two bad-ass friends side by side, back to back, against the worst evil can throw at us. LET US SHOW THEM WHAT GOOD MEN ARE MADE OF." Superman said to Garfield who nodded and they did the cool looking arm reloading motion before they began to battle the Dark Knights with everything they had.
With teamwork making clever combinations of their superpowers and arsenal Garfield and Superman mowed down every Dark Knight that challenged them. But the demonic forces of Batman were relentless like anal itch that just would not go away, and Superman and Garfield found themselves wondering where the end was as they slowly made Mount Everest of corpses.
"We can do this all day! We have not even peaked yet." Garfield said with husky determination as he decapitated another Dark Knight.
"Then it looks like I will have to take care of you myself. SIGNAL POWERS ACTIVATE." Said Duke Thomas the Signal with metahuman activities as he glowed up like a flashlight in pitch black blinding the heroes. When the light cleared, Superman and Garfield found that they were still standing with no apparent harm done.
"Was that supposed to do something? I am not even ticklish or itchy." Superman shrugged and he and Garfield began to advance on Duke Thomas the Signal.
"I am mirror and what you see is your demise." Said Garfield with menace as he readied the Godkiller for a killing strike. Duke Thomas the Signal yelped and like coward beagan to run, throwing his last Dark Knights to cover his escape. Garfield and Superman got ready to hand out more jawbreaking like candymen at the market but suddenly a new hero entered the fray by leaping down from above and killing two Dark Knights with martial arts.
"You brought the fight to my house uninvited so let me show you the door to hell!" Said a charismatic and youthful voice belonging to a raven-haired charismatic youth in a skintight black and blue suit with a blue bird emblem on his chest. With a sly wink, he turned to Garfield and Superman and flashed them a thumbs-up. It was none other than Nightwing!
"Your heads will pop more than fireworks on the Fourth of July." Said Nightwing as he did acrobatic dodges over the Dark Knights clumsy attackas they tripd over each other ot get him. Nightwing then charged up his electric escrima sticks and shoved them into eye sockets making head explosions.
"Nightwing! The traitor! Batman promised raise and promotion to anybody who brought you in dead or alive!" Said Duke Thomas the Signal with venom as he pulled out an AR15 and started firing.
Nightwing then did dodging slide underneath the bullets and combined his sticks into one electro-staff and did upwards swing slicing Duke Thomas the Signal nearly in two.
"Looks like you'll have to settle for severance pay." Said Nightwing with payrolls as he brandished his electro-staff over the dying Duke Thomas the Signal with up-to-eleven charge.
"You cannot do this to me! I was destined to be best member of Batfamily there ever was! I am Duke Thomas the Signal dammit." Cried Duke Thomas the Signal with disbelief.
"Sorry but there's no service in this area. See if you can get a better reception in Hades." Taunted Nightwing with mocking jest as he fried Duke Thomas the Signal with electricity reducing him to a skeleton. Kicking the skull away, Nightwing then turned to greet Superman and Garfield as they applauded his killing prowess.
"Nightwing it is good to see that you are on our side. But why did you betray Batman your very mentor?" Asked Garfield with much interest as he and Nightwing shook hands.
"Batman may have been like father to me once but I could not stand by idly while he razed the planet with his madness." Nightwing explained with rebellious idealism. "That is why I have started the rebellion against his reign, in hopes that we might be able to destroy him and restore America to its rightful place in world."
Nightwing then Garfield and Superman into Bludhaven. It looked like the amalgamated clone child of Hong Kong Las Vegas Bangkok Atlantic City and several more famouser cities but even damaged by the brutal fight it took the Resistance to retake the city it had its charms. The downcast looks of resistance fighters suddenly brightened up as they saw the trio of heroes passing them by and for the first in forever people began to believe that defeating the Bat might be possible.
They then arrived at the world famous Bludhaven Lasagna Boardwalk, which was currently shrouded in mist. Just like how Gilroy is famous for garlic or Philadelphia for cheesesteak in its heyday before the fall of America the Boardwalk served attractions such as lasagna on a stick and deep fried lasagna that gathered crowds from across the Multiverse. But in this current wartime of bloody attrition, it had been converted into the main base of the Resistance.
"It is reassuring that in these dark times lasagna is where the spark of hope comes from." Garfield commented as Nightwing reached his office. Inside there was big desk full of maps and secret plans, and sitting on the desk in a seductive pose was a blonde woman wearing leather jacket and fishnet stockings. The woman had forlorn look on her face that instantly shattered into agape and dazzled longings when she saw the lighting bouncing off of Garfield's muscles as he walked in.
"Hey Garfield my name is Black Canary." Said Black Canary with nervous greetings as she timidly strolled up to Garfield. "I have heard so much about you from the grapevine but in person you are more than I even imagined."
"Why hello there sugar cookie." Garfield did a gentlemanly bow and kissed Black Canary's gloved hand as Nightwing and Superman whispehred in his ears encouraging him to go for it. "I had not expected to run into something this pleasant in the middle of war. You are like strawberry bush in the springtime and I cannot wait to harvest you."
Black Canary blushed while Nightwing added to introductions. "Black Canary is not just accomplished martial artist with seven tenth-degree black belts but also singer with killer voice."
"I cannot wait to be hit by your high note then." Flirted Garfield suavely as Black Canary tried to stifle her giggle.
"The sooner we get rid of Batman the sooner you can get to that. Lets plan a revolution." Said Nightwing with priorities as he laid out plans like conspiracy nut on whiteboard but suddenly alarm began to blare throughout the facility. Soon screaming came from outside like a church choir on fire.
Everyone ran outside and saw that something had hacked into Bludhavens security and turned its defenses inward. Resistance fighters were being cut down left and right by their own turrets and drones. Steam pipes and traffic lights were exploding, wild fire and electricity raging across the streets and alleys. Superman and Garfield rushed into action destroying machines left and right but they were too late. All the Resistance fighters except for Garfield and his closest crew were dead.
"No how could this have happened!" Cried Nightwing with tormented anguish as he fell to his knees seeing the dead sprawled out and Bludhaven burning before him.
"You left your backdoor open and that was enough for I, Oracle." Said a hateful female voice over the intercom. "There is no firewall that I cannot extinguish. There is nothing left now to plan but your own funerals." With that threat made Oracle logged off, and the machines began to gravitate towards one another. In a twister of metal and electricity, they combined to constitute the Grid, the machine monster who was once Cyborg!
"Oracle sent out the invitations now it is time to begin the Annihilation Party." Grid announced with emotionless robotic voice, no sign of the hero Cyborg that he once was.
"You cannot hope to beat all of us!" Garfield challenged as Nightwing and Black Canary leapt into a defensive position behind him and Superman. Garfield made a gatling gun with his Lantern arm and fired, while Superman unleashed heat vision.
"Foolish superheroes I do not need to hope. Because I know." Grid replied as he advanced shrugging off bullets and his arms turned into death-beam cannons. Grid then fired on a skyscraper making it about to collapse on a box of kittens and puppies.
"Oh no not the kitties and doggos!" Superman cried out with animal friendship and he abandoned the battle to rescue them.
"We do not need Superman's help to take you down!" Nightwing yelled as he and Black Canary jumped at Grid with martial arts kick, but the blows bounced harmlessly off his reinforced titanium shell. Grid then hacked into Nightwing's electric sticks taking control of them and made blast that tazed Black Canary.
As Nightwing looked on in horror as Black Canary fell, Grid made mockery of him. "Feeble fleshling, I am the Grid. Master of all technology. Your technology in my presence is like aluminum in the microwave." Grid snapped his fingers and acting on his volition Nightwings electric sticks turned on their master with full shock leaving him out cold.
All hope seemed Lost as Grid advanced on Garfield whose lantern arm had run out of juice but suddenly Grid was sniped in his head by an EMP bullet.
"ACCCKPHT." Grid sputtered as he shut down temporarily. Strolling out from the shadows, whistling a tune, was a man in black and orange armor holding sniper rifle with katanas strapped to his back.
"In the feast of war, always save a few bullets for desert." Advised the black and orange man as he removed his helmet to show that he was a white-haired bearded man with eyepatch. It was Deathstroke!
"Deathstroke you got my text and have arrived just in the nick of time." Garfield said with jovialness as he walked up to Deathstroke.
"I would never stand up an old war and drinking buddy, Garfield." Deathstroke said with fond memories as he high-fived Garfield.
With the defeat of Grid the attack on the Bludhaven by the forces of Batman had at last ended. But lifting the siege came with heavy toll as all members of the Resistance except for the five gathered were all dead. Garfield and company took a moment of silence for respect for their fallen comrades, before turning to the issue of their new prisoner of war.
"What will we do with the Grid?" Asked Nightwing as he kicked the inert machine twice.
"I say we dismantle him and dump in the garbage where he belongs." Black Canary suggested with no mercy.
"No. As much as I would like to do that this metal machine monstrosity was once Cyborg, a valued friend when I was in Justice League." Garfield picked up the dead machine and carried Grid off to the computer lab. "If I can find way to save him I will take it. If not I will burn his circuitry myself."
"I hope you know what you are doing, my friend." Superman said with caution as everyone went to follow Garfield to the computer lab, wondering if Garfield could salvage the man known as Cyborg that had been consumed by machine or if making Cyborg relevant again was a task that not even the great Garfield could accomplish.
To be continued…