FIC: Faith Wayne (25/?)

The White House, Washington

Uncle Sam smiled as he watched the Fallen obliviously land on the White House lawn as he and his team hid in the building's lobby. Thanks to a succession of corrupt, self-interested politicians, American idealism was lower than it might have been impacting adversely on his powers, but despite that he was sure he was never going to allow a godless monster desecrate a monument to his nation's greatness.

Rising, he looked towards Firebrand, Black Condor, Ray, and Human Bomb. "Let's show them invading the US. was a big mistake."

Kilowog spun to face the attacker from the rear, directing his gaze towards the four Earth Lanterns. "Listen up poozers!" He roared as he directed emerald energy at the rampaging winged demon. "Give that monster everything you've got!"

Energy burst from the Earthers' rings, hitting the monster from every direction, but Kilowog was dismayed to see the demon effortlessly ignore their attack to tear through the nearest of the Green Lanterns. And then the monster was fighting his way through their attacks to knock them flying and further into their wildly struggling ranks.

Hall Of Heroes, 30th Century

Brainiac rushed into the Hall, Garth rising at his fellow Legionnaire's unusually ruffled expression. "What's wrong?"

"Seconds ago we received a signal from Kal-El," Brainiac reported. "The Dark Times have arrived, our assistance is required."

Garth stiffened and swallowed before nodding brusquely. "Inform the others, tell them I'll meet them on the teleportation pads."

Xander shook his head as he headed out of the planet's orbit, the stars blurring around him, eyes fixed on the carnage before him. Suddenly he'd leapt up from the Minors to the World Series in a single bound. "This is a very, very bad idea."

San Francisco

Cyborg shivered inwardly as an unnatural and untimely night shrouded the west coast city, vast shadows spreading over the entire area, swirling, impregnable darkness that only added to the fear cloaking the hushed municipality.

Even as he realised the darkness' secondary purpose, Cyborg forced the trepidation away, and glanced at his companions massing behind him. "Okay, they'll be here in a moment but be -."

"No," Static interrupted with a shake of his head and a look and point up, "they're already here."

Cyborg's stomach twisted as he looked up to see a winged horde descending on them. "Don't fall back, remember we're here to defend people!"

Firestorm glanced left and right, despair filling him. To his right Red Tornado sent Fallen flying and to his left Steel tirelessly swung his hammer, crashing it into the skull of any Fallen foolish to get within range of his swinging hammer. They at least held their line, but all around the rest of their lines were being swamped over by the Fallen, Green Lanterns falling in their dozens.

New York

Hawkman landed by the over-turned car, the panicked screams of the woman inside and the stench of oil leaking from its engine filling his ears and nostrils respectively. "I'll have you out in a minute," he growled in as comforting tone as he could manage. Reaching out, he grabbed the driver's door and pulled, the thick sinews in his arms writhing mightily as he wrenched the door open, ripping it away from the car. "See," he rumbled as he reached in, snapped the woman's seat belt in two, and wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulders before easing her out, "you're-."

THUD!

Hawkman's gaze snapped up to see a Fallen land on the car's exposed under-carriage, its talons clinging tightly to the car as it peered down malignantly at him and his rescuee. And then two huge hands grabbed at the creature's ankles and head, and pulled it apart, blood spewing everywhere.

Hawkman's gaze turned to his companion. "Thanks for the save, Atom-Smasher."

Atom-Smasher smirked down at him from a height of twenty feet. "Glad to help, Hawkman, how about we get your companion to the nearest hospital?"

Hawkman scooped the shocked into unconsciousness woman into his arms. "I'll fly her to St. Mary's. Meet you and the others at the police station on 6th and 8th."

J'onn J'onzz snarled as he grabbed the nearest of the Fallen around the throat and flung him into the Watchtower's smouldering ruin, smoke whafting off the wrecked satellite, orange flames flickering around it. Another two swooped in, but he blasted them away with a concussive eye blast, their broken, torn bodies swirling off into space.

And then Lucifer himself crashed into him, fists thundering into him with incredible force. Blood flew from his mouth as his ribs shattered under blows capable of downing planes, his own attacks seemingly ignored by the pulverising monster. J'onn gasped as the creature grabbed him by his throat and flung him into the moon. J'onn grunted as he crashed into the moon's surface, dust flying everywhere as the force of Lucifer's fling propelled him deep into the moon.

Central City

Barry Allen blurred around a passageway, his arms zooming out to land a dozen blows on each of the trio of Fallen busy tearing strips off a family estate. Each of the Fallen spun to face him, but was unable to catch him with claw or talon, his super-fast reflexes allowing him to bob and weave under the attacks while hitting the creatures again and again, flickering between them with effortless ease.

Garth gasped as he came out of the portal to see the Green Lantern Corps besieged by the hordes of the Fallen. "Everyone!" he snapped through his communicator ring to his companions spilling out behind him. "Spread out, plug any holes you can!"

Garth swallowed as he dived into the raging battle. They should have brought more bodies.

"Son of a bitch!" Harvey Bullock spat out his cigar as he sent his car weaving through GothamCity's cluttered streets, tires screeching and blue sparks igniting under the car as he jammed down on the accelerator and dragged his car towards a pair of Fallen ripping through a barely twitching corpse.

The police vehicle bounced as its front tires hit and mounted the sidewalk, the Fallen having barely begun to turn towards him when his car's steel-girded grille slammed into the duo. The force of the collision lifted the two Fallen off their feet and sent them crashing into the wall, the vehicle slamming into them a second later.

His own bones still rattling from the collision, Bullock kicked his door open, stepped out of the sidewalk, turned towards the struggling Fallen, their caws echoing in his ears, and put a pair of armour-piercing, and very illegal shells into each of the monsters' heads, smirking slightly as their heads exploded, skull bone and blood decorating the wall behind them. "They weren't so tough."

"Yeah?" Bullock spun around, eyes snapping up to see the faceless brunette clad in a fedora and trenchcoat land on his car's roof, automatics clasped in each hand. "So you figure you can handle those?"

Bullock's mouth dried as he followed the Question's gaze to see a horde of Fallen swooping towards them, the air filling with the sound of their flapping bat-like wings. "Hell," Bullock licked his lips as he strode to the car's trunk, flipped it open, dragged on a Kevlar vest, and pulled out the two pump-action shotguns he had there, "I'll give it a damn good try."

Watertown, Boston

Electricity lanced out of the shadows, incinerating several of the Fallen in one fell swoop, then Black Lightning let out a ragged gasp. "Take them!"

Metamorpho, Katana, and Grace Choi burst out of the shadows at the opposite side of the street, laying into the rest of the Fallen, their carefully executed ambush rapidly turning into a vicious battle for life. Black Lightning slumped back against the damp wall behind him, rainwater trickling down the cracks in the brick. His eyes remained fixed on the battle as he regained his energy, waiting for an opportunity to aid any of his companions or destroy any more of the monsters.

A Fallen raced away from the thrashing melee only for Black Lightning to turn it to ash with a single blast. The rest of the Outsiders, the heavy hitters, were in space, aiding with the defence of the planet as a whole, but it was his experience that the little people, the working class, the elderly, and the disabled got forgotten at the best, never mind, the worst of times. But he'd grown up in the slums, and would never forget the people that hadn't his skills, luck, or opportunities.

Someone had to stand up for the underclass while the people in the mansions and penthouses hid behind their high-priced security details.

Superman's breath gusted from him as he flew up into the atmosphere and joined the pitched battle around his adopted planet, JLA, JSA, Teen Titans, joining the Green Lantern Corps and others in desperately defending the earth from the cawing horde of Fallen.

Suddenly a Fallen, larger and more monsturous than all the others was in front of him. "Superman!" Its hissed voice grated upon Kal-El's ears, its tone filled with hatred as it dived into the attack, long, wide wings flapping, and claws lashing viciously at him.

Kal-El twisted inside the first slash then ducked under a follow-up back-hand slash, his own fist snapping out to crash into the creature's leathery belly. The creature grunted but drove its own knee up into his side, ribs creaking under the assault. And then the creature had hold of him by his forearms.

Kal-El gasped as the creature flung him through space, the force of its throw ensuring millions of miles passed in a second. Kal-El grunted as he crashed into Mars' surface, red dust billowing all around the mile-deep crater he'd been dumped in. A snarl escaped his lips as Lucifer appeared in the sky above him.

In a nano-second he was up and leaping at his adversary, heat vision burning a vanguard before him. The demon ducked between his infra-red assault, wriggled around his attack, and drove a fist hard into his forehead.

Pain exploded with a blinding fury, but Kal-El gritted his teeth, and responded with a blurring flurry of blows to his rival's torso, forcing him back a few feet. "Power," the creature growled, amused fires flickering in its malignant orbs, "but not enough."

A back-handed slap caught Kal-El in the jaw, snapping his head back. And then the demon's leathery hands were around his throat. Kal-El ignored the monster's vice-like grip, pulled his knees up into his chest, and drove his heels up into the Fallen's thick upper torso. The creature's eyes widened in shock as his feet made contact, the blow's impact flinging the monster hundreds of miles away.

Kal-El had barely begun to straighten himself with the monster crashed into him with all the force of a battering ram. Kal-El grunted as he crashed back down onto the planet surface, then rolled away from an attempted double-foot stomp to the face. A foot crashed into his ribs as he made his knees, lifting from the ground, and flinging him over a dozen miles and into a several mile deep ravine.

Kal-El reversed his descent less than a mile from the bottom, flying out of the red planet's ravine and back into the battle. The creature's blows thudded into him, but he ignored them to deliver blow after blow of his own, teeth gritted with the effort. And then the beast drove its forehead into his face, shattering bone. His vision blurred with pained tears, the beast tore at him with fist, teeth, and claw, ripping at him until he crashed down onto the planet's red sands. "And now it ends, Earth's greatest hero dies here."

Kal-El shook his head clear in time to see a blurred emerald figure land beside him and between him and Lucifer. "Earth's greatest hero? Have you never heard of Kermit the Frog?"