One Year Later
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana, Leon/Crisis, and Bast.
Chapter 29: Going Ape Part 8
John Stewart was leading a team of League members into the chaotic battle of Gorilla City. With him were Mary Marvel, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Ice, Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, Tigra, and Metamorpho. Grodd had taken over Gorilla City and, installing a powerful mind control device, made all the gorilla warriors his personal slaves. The simian telepath unleashed them all on the Justice League. Guy Gardner charged an emerald shot from his ring into one of the gorilla's gun placements,
"Yeah! Kiss my ass, you walking shag rugs!"
Skeets, Booster Gold's robotic assistant, hovered near Booster and John,
"Sirs, the mind control device is at the castle. Grodd has his most elite warriors protecting him."
John directed,
"Mary, take Hawkman and Hawkgirl with you and keep the troops busy. Metamorpho, you and I are going to find the device at the castle."
Ice created a freezing shield of frozen water as she got to cover,
"There are too many of them."
Metamorpho took a gaseous form and whiffed by the gorillas that had Tora pinned down. Soon, they all began hacking and coughing. The element changing hero then became sold and, forming a hammer with his arm, slammed one gorilla warrior with it into the others. Rex said,
"It's all clear, Ice."
Tora smiled,
"Thanks, Rex!"
Hawkgirl was holding her own against several of the warriors. One of them tried to grab her, but Hawkman came barreling in. Carter slammed his mace into the Gorilla City Warrior and sent the controlled simian away. Shayera smirked,
"Thanks, Carter."
John looked at the exchange and frowned slightly. Booster taunted,
"Oooh! Someone's jealous!"
John grabbed the fame-seeking hero from the future and snarled,
"Get to work. Now!"
Mary sped around several of the warriors as she approached the castle. The naïve heroine looked around,
"Now, where is Grodd?"
Several of Grodd's elite troops came at her with blasters. One fired and managed to hit the mystical powerhouse. Mary fell to her knees, but then looked up, clenching her fist. She said,
"That was not very nice."
The teen heroine then sped around the troops, smashing their weapons. The gorilla troops looked at her and tried charging at her, but she fought them all off easily.
The Legion of Doom was within the castle and Nyola shouted,
"Those fools have breached the perimeter!"
King Shark flexed his muscles,
"Hah! None shall defeat me, the King Shark!"
He boldly, or stupidly, opened the door and got leveled by a rocketing Guy Gardner. The red-headed Lantern grinned,
"Oh, look! And I'm in the mood for seafood!"
Parasite jumped up, attempting to drain the Green Lantern. However, because Guy had a force field surrounding him, the leeching villain could not drain Guy's powers. Guy grinned,
"Oh, this is gonna hurt."
Forming a baseball bat, the Green Lantern shouted,
"Batter up!"
The emerald-colored bat slammed right into Parasite's head, sending him flying out of the castle. Guy cheered,
"And he's gone! Home run, Guy Gardner!"
Blackfire hissed,
"You won't be so lucky, Lantern!"
Hawkgirl took her mace and slammed it into the exiled alien,
"Don't bet on it!"
Ignition cracked his knuckles,
"All right, who wants some?"
Just then, Superman dropped down in the middle of the castle and hovered in front of the engine of destruction,
"Need help?"
Ignition blitzed the Man of Steel and attempted to perform a powerful punch. However, Superman grabbed the villain's hand and threw him aside like he was nothing.
That victory did not last long as Nyola unleashed a magical bolt of lightning,
"Hah, you're still weak against magic, Superman!"
A tap on her shoulder caused the Aztec priestess to turn around. Blue Beetle pointed his BB gun at her,
"I think it's wrong to hit a woman, so I'll let her do it."
Nyola looked back and saw Tigra deliver a powerful roundhouse kick, knocking out the priestess.
Overhead, Firefly was battling John Stewart. The architect was holding his own against the upgraded pyromaniac. Firefly lashed out with his flame thrower in a bid to hit John, but John quickly encased the armored villain in a bubble. As Firefly tried to ignite his way out, he burned through all his oxygen and fell unconscious.
Meanwhile, Grodd and Scavenger were putting the finishing touches on a weapon. Vandal said,
"Absorbing Man is all alone out there. That device must be ready now!"
The simian telepath said,
"You could always help."
The immortal smirked,
"I could…"
He pressed a button on his cane,
"But, I would much rather watch and see you fail, so I could learn from your mistakes. Tally ho!"
With that, Vandal Savage escaped through a secret passage way. Scavenger scowled,
"Fool. He will be missing out on a moment of greatness when I rise to become a true hero!"
Grodd rolled his eyes,
"Right. The device is ready."
As soon as that was said, a mist formed in the room. Metamorpho grinned,
"Well, isn't that convenient?"
He turned to water and slipped into the circuit boards, shorting out the weapon. Grodd shook his head,
"Oh, well. Time for my back up plan."
He was ready to unleash his telepathy when the door burst open and Absorbing Man landed right on top of Grodd. John smirked,
"Good work."
Scavenger shook his head,
"No! I won't let him win again!"
The technology thief began pressing several buttons, and a low hum began to emerge from the telepathy machine. Superman ordered,
"Everybody out, now!"
Metamorpho looked near the machine,
"I think I can stop it!"
He seeped in as a mist. John shouted,
"Rex, this is not the time! Get out of there!"
Hawkgirl said,
"He's dead, John! We have to move now!"
The African-American Green Lantern did not want to leave his friend behind.
The Justice League got out of the palace as it exploded. Rubble showered them as both Green Lanterns created emerald barriers to protect the no so invulnerable heroes. Mary Marvel and Superman protected some of the others and, as they got a safe distance away, saw almost nothing left of the palace.
As all seemed like the hero Metamorpho was gone, a part of Rex Mason came at them like a meteorite. He landed in a heap in front of them as his body was regenerating from the explosion. He said weakly,
"I always did want to go out with a bang."
John smirked, shaking his head,
"You're crazy, you know that?"
Rex laughed,
"Like Persiana?"
Hawkgirl said,
"Not quite, but close enough. But, we let Vandal Savage get away."
"No, we did not."
J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, was hovering above the ground with the villainous immortal under heavy restraints. Superman smirked,
"Nice one, J'onn."
Vandal glared,
"And I would have gotten away too, if it wasn't for you stupid League heroes!"
Next Chapter:
Going Ape concludes as the Howling Commandos square off against the Red Skull and his Axis America. Stay tuned, fellow readers!