Chapter Nineteen: Earth vs Emmet
He reached the spot, and Emmet was standing there, arms by his side. His cape was flapping in the deafening wind. The white mountain tops were an eerie backdrop. Superman felt like he could still smell Helspont's blood on the snow. Maybe he could. Emmet's gaze was steady, menacing. But not aggressive. He was menacing without looking like he'd act on it. Superman was still hovering above, sweeping the area with his super vision. Looking through objects and into them. Making sure no traps were laid. Emmet didn't speak, as if he was allowing Superman his peace of mind.
"Superman, I am in position. The rest of the team is as well. I have masked their psychic presence, he will not know they are here," said J'onn in his mind, his presence was a delicate one, like he was feeling guilty to be inside his head, so he was there in as small an amount as possible. Superman didn't reply, no need to give Emmet a chance to notice the communication.
"Well, brother-"
"Don't call me that, Emmet. I' not your brother."
"Brother. Clone. Replica. It does not matter."
"So am I... a copy of you?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. But I can tell it is, as your expression goes, killing you."
Superman's fists clenched, and he landed on the ground. Shaking the very mountain and sending a barrage of snow in all directions. He stared at Emmet, who was standing there too calmly.
"Why did you go to Luthor?" asked Superman, hoping to get at least an answer before he fights, hoping to delay the clash a bit longer. Hoping in spite of everything that had happened that Emmet will decide to change.
"He invited me to this Earth. He wanted dominion over it. I used him to get here, but then he got what he deserved, and sent me you."
"This ends now!"
"It does not have to, Kal-El. We could do great things together. Think of it, we could abolish evil. Make it a rumour, a myth. We can make it stop existing."
"Maybe we could stop others from committing atrocities, but your world view and its enforcement is in itself an evil. And I will not allow you to do that. You will not destroy this Earth, and you will not corrupt this symbol!" And with that he flew at Emmet and landed a punch right on Emmet's chest. Emmet went flying into the side of the mountains and then through it, landing on the other side, caked with snow.
"You have one chance, Emmet: leave this planet now, and never return." Superman was floating a few paces away from Emmet, who casually got up, as if nothing had been done to him.
Then Emmet flew at Superman and gave him a cross right to his jaw, the power was destructive and sent Superman off his floating feet and falling to the ground.
"Ahh!" Came Emmet's yell, as he held on to his head. J'onn was starting his attack. And here he came, the green might of Mars, he slammed an enlarged fist into Emmet and it sent him into the mountain.
"You thought this could stop me, Superman? How naive," and then he got up, and a great yell of pain issued from J'onn. Superman got up and flew to punch Emmet, but Emmet expected it, and slammed him in a judo flip into the ground. Lifting him up again, he kicked Superman sending him into a mountain's side. Then he flew and grabbed J'onn and used his heat vision on him. The agony that issued forth was terrible. It was so intense it was going to kill him in a few moments.
But luckily for J'onn Wonder Woman was there. She flew in and with one punch sent Emmet flying, sending him deep into a valley in the mountain range. But J'onn was on death's door. It was so much heat, the rocks of the mountain itself melted. It was far more intense than Superman ever used. Superman was fast on Emmet's trail, and so was Wonder Woman.
As Emmet fell down, Aquaman was there, trident ready and standing tall. He leaped at Emmet, trident raised to smack him into the ground. As Aquaman reached Emmet, the trident was caught by the opponent's hand, and with a turn Emmet sent Aquaman into the valley instead, Emmet holding the legendary trident. But he did not miss Wonder Woman coming in from behind, swinging her sword at him, he deflected it with his hand, the blade made a slight cut on his hand.
"Ah, magic. We do not have such things on my world, but I am well equipped to fight this," said Emmet as he deflected all of Wonder Woman's attacks, gaining no more scratches. Then he saw an opening, but was unable to use it as Aquaman leaped at him, and punched him in the mouth, sending him to the ground. Superman was ready, he used his heat vision from point blank range once Emmet reached the ground. It sent Emmet into the side of the nearest mountain. He didn't let up for a moment. Then, silence. Aquaman took his trident that was left by Emmet on the floor and superman stopped using heat vision.
"Magic." Came the voice from, it seemed, everywhere, "brute strength. Technique. All good tactics, but not good enough."
Boom!
Aquaman was on the ground, prone. A quick look told Superman everything: Aquaman was with three broken ribs, a broken arm and a shattered femur, he was barely conscious. A blast of heat vision hit Aquaman before Superman punched Emmet off him. Wonder Woman kept the fight up with her sword, slashing almost frantically at the unyielding enemy. That's two heroes down. Superman flew in and punched Emmet in the jaw, sending a tooth out, Wonder Woman kicked his stomach and was about to strike with her sword, but Emmet caught her wrist and used her as a bat to hit Superman, sending him flying away. Emmet then punched Wonder Woman as hard and as fast as he could. Not letting up for five seconds.
It is said that the Flash is so fast he can punch a person a thousand times in one second. Emmet could do that as well. And he did it for five seconds, carving a cave into the crumbling mountain as he pushed Wonder Woman in further and further into the side of the mountain with every punch. When Superman returned to the small valley between the great mountains, he returned with Shazam, Green Lantern and the Flash. The boulders were piling up, almost covering the entire valley with flooding. Emmet came out, holding Wonder Woman, she was thoroughly beaten. Her body was broken, almost completely. She was barely breathing. Emmet was holding her by her head, almost crushing her skull.
They were all pissed off. This was too far. Three of their friends will be fighting for their lives. Emmet tossed her body aside.
"SHAZAM!" It was a yell that has never been heard before, so intense, so powerful. They had all had enough. A lightning bolt with the thickness of a stone pillar struck Emmet, which made him slightly wobbly. Then a huge green comet came down on Emmet, with all its force, it took something out of him. The Flash ran there and ran circles around Emmet, punching him from every direction.
"Flash, move!" said Clark, but Clark didn't he also said it telepathically to the Flash. The Flash moved and a sonic boom was heard as Superman flew at Emmet and landed a crunching uppercut, which sent him clear through three mountains and landed him somewhere inside the fourth. The mountains were shattering around them. They were going to finish this guy, once and for all. They all went after him.
Shazam reached him first, as Emmet was emerging from the hole he was in.
"SHAZAM!" Another bolt hit him, but Shazam made a mistake: he then went to punch him, and Emmet caught him by the neck and punched him, sending him aside. A plane then came down, a green plane raining down missiles as Superman's heat vision hit him with a blaring furnace. The Flash ran and tossed a bolt of lightning that he was able to create from the electricity around him.
"Shazam!"
And with the bolt of lightning from the sky, they stopped. The smoke cleared away and they saw Emmet. He was standing, he took it all, encasing himself with an energy field: a telekinetic force field.
"Aaarghhh!" yelled Shazam, as he fell to the ground, holding his head. "Shazam!" And with that Billy Batson was there, falling face first into the ground. Mind-controlling telepathy, a power Superman suspected he could have, Emmet said he did have. But Superman never believed him. Not until now.
Next, GL was screaming, wrestling in pain as he fell to the ground. The Flash went to catch him while Superman flew in to beat Emmet. He was going to hit him as hard as he could. Even if it was the last thing he did.
A loud thud behind him told Superman that something went wrong, but he didn't dare to look away from Emmet as he landed his second cross on Emmet's face as the entire mountain range shook. Suddenly Emmet moved aside and something flew into Superman's back. It was the Flash and Green Lantern, both unconscious, both limp.
"How..." Began Superman, as he sat on his knees in front of the two heroes.
"Simple: Green Lantern was taken out and a bit of difficult telekinesis made sure that the energy that the Flash expels hit him. These are all things your body can do. The radiation in your cells has the ability to connect to other energies around it. The more you practice, the better you will be able to control the small energy sources, like a brain. A thorough study of brain biology will then be able to tell you how to make a brain do as you please. Now, do you see that your attack is futile? I am too strong for all of you."
"We aren't done yet," said Superman, getting to his feet.
"Still, you fight. You do not have the capacity to beat me, Superman, and you never will. I am sorry, but this will be your defeat. It was always going to be your defeat."
"Never!" boomed Superman, as he flew at Emmet to land a punch, but Emmet dodged and hit Superman in the stomach. The spit that left Superman's mouth didn't even reach the floor before Superman had a fist in his cheek, sending him to the ground, skidding away.
Emmet flew up a bit, his whole body glowing red. A sonic blast hit Emmet from the back, sending him flying, but Emmet quickly stabilised his flight and looked at Cyborg. The last three combatants were getting up, as well as everyone else.
"Shazam!"
Batman was there, he had a large gun in hand. Wonder Woman got up and looked eager to fight. J'onn was hovering nearby as well, ready to begin again. His eyes as red as Emmet's.
"I see that your healing capabilities are as remarkable as Luthor suspected. I am impressed. Ah, psychic blocks. I assume that is your handiwork, Batman? It will not do you any good."
"It's over, you're outgunned, outnumbered and surrounded. Leave now, and never come back," said Batman, his voice confident and menacing. That was the voice that could break some of the toughest people on the planet.
"Surrounded, true. Outnumbered, true. But outgunned? No, Batman, that I am not. Superman, take note: I shall dismantle all of these useless people with the powers that you have, not the ones you do not know that you have. I shall show you just how powerful you could have been."
And he flew at Green Lantern, it was too fast for anyone to properly react, but they were all converging on Emmet.
Emmet had his hand on Green Lantern's throat and was punching a green shield that protected Hal's face. The shield was starting to break. Superman quickly grabbed Emmet by the neck and flipped him off of GL, sending him to Aquaman who tried to stab Emmet, but the trident, while it didn't break, didn't pierce the skin, luckily that wasn't necessary, as Shazam sent a lightning bolt through the trident that struck Emmet. A lasso found its way tightening around Emmet and in one swift motion he was flung full circle head first into the ground. Without even a millisecond of respite, the Flash landed as many punches as he could within a second and moved out of the way just in time so that GL's train could slam into him. This left Emmet encased in rocks near the side of a mountain. Heat vision, exploding batarangs, lightning and noise blasters all hit Emmet then. For a very long while.
Emmet was on his knees, blood coming out of his nose, but he was smiling. This was not even close to over, and Superman saw it a moment too late. He flew at Superman and charged him to the ground, while Superman kneed him in the stomach. Aquaman and Wonder Woman came towards him from both sides, Emmet was well aware of that, he flew a meter up at the last second, allowing the sword and trident to pass through air. Using speed and their momentum he grabbed their heads and smacked them together and tossed them in front of the armoured car that Green Lantern conjured to hit Emmet from behind. Emmet was flying up now, grappling with a shape shifting Martian Manhunter, as the Flash was racing up the side of a mountain. The Martian managed to keep away from Emmet's heat vision, slamming enlarged fists into Emmet as his body coiled around Emmet like a snake, but this only lasted so long, as finally Emmet's heat vision found its mark, and it didn't let up. J'onn fell to the ground and GL caught him by conjuring a bed while the Flash leaped and punched Emmet, but the Flash made a mistake: he was helpless in the air and his momentum didn't carry him fast enough. Emmet caught the Flash in the air and flung him at Wonder Woman, who was coming up towards him. Cyborg blasted Emmet with his noise cannons and while Emmet seemed distracted Superman delivered blow after blow. The concussion from each blow turned the mountain top on which they now stood into a valley. Snow was falling all around them and rocks were tumbling down. Emmet was being pushed down along with them as Superman grabbed him, flew up with Emmet's neck in his hand and then flew down to the ground with Emmet's head at the front. But at the last second Emmet reversed positions with Superman, so that Superman was the one who crashed into the ground. Aquaman was there to charge, and he did so with Shazam.
But something was different. Emmet seemed to be angrier. His eyes blazing red. It seemed like enough was enough for him. No remorse. No mercy.
Superman had had enough too. No more chances, this had to end as soon as possible. Before Aquaman and Shazam could reach them, Superman jumped Emmet and grabbed him by the neck, then holding on to him in a headlock he dropped them both hard into the ground.
"Batman! Now!" The message was clear, and though Batman didn't hesitate, his mind was reeling. Was there a better solution? They needed to end this quickly. Needed to end this now. It was not going their way. Batman pulled out the gun that was hanging from his side. The Kryptonite blaster. It was capable of taking down Superman within five seconds. It was as lethal as could be made. And he fired the one capsule he had at his best friend. The capsule exploded and a great amount of green smoke filled the area. It was thickest on point of impact. Superman was probably already close to death, but the Flash was fast. He ran and grabbed Superman and ran up the mountain, leaving him there to regain his strength. With the sun high up in this area, it should hopefully not be too long. He ran back down, Green Lantern created a dome so that no air would leave, especially with the vacuum that the Flash leaves while running.
He came back and the smoke was dissipating. At the centre, Emmet was on his hands and knees, bleeding from his mouth. The Flash used his momentum and accelerated, punching as hard as he could. He punched Emmet across the face. Sending another tooth flying. Then Green Lantern hit him with a giant green sledge hammer. Batman sent an array of batarangs that exploded. Then Shazam, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, Flash and GL stood around him and punched him and kicked him, sending him from one to the other, never giving him a moment of respite. It was over.
But it wasn't.
As Wonder Woman was about to deliver what she hoped would be the deciding blow, her fist was caught by the hand of Emmet. It was strong, and in a millisecond he crushed her hand. She cried in pain as he flung her head-first into the dirt, Aquaman then came at him, along with Shazam. A blast of heat vision on Aquaman kept him at bay as he blocked Shazam's electric punch and uppercutted him into the sky, the end of the movement saw Emmet's exposed ribs, which were then punched by J'onn, the punch was perfect. Emmet grabbed J'onn's hand and used it to pull him in. Then he head-butted J'onn, but J'onn changed his density, the problem was that Emmet was expecting this. He used heat vision in the middle of J'onn's body, as the Martian returned to normal density, Emmet's head was inside his belly, blowing heat vision into J'onn's body. Then he pulled out. J'onn was lying on the floor, and no one knew how he'd ever recover from such a blast. His stomach was ripped wide open, his insides almost flowing out into the dirt.
Shazam flew down and smacked Emmet into the ground. He kept punching Emmet further and further into the ground. Then he tossed him up for Aquaman to hit, but Aquaman once again got the short end of the stick. Emmet absorbed his punch and gave one of his own, fracturing Aquaman's skull in a few places, then throwing him to the ground head first. Wonder Woman came at him again, along with Shazam. Green Lantern, the Flash and Cyborg were trying to get the two wounded members away from the fray, but the cacophony was making it difficult. Batman was waiting. Praying the smoke will clear enough soon.
Shazam's arm was grabbed and then he was used as a club to hit Wonder Woman, in a moment of desperation, Shazam made his call, and while it did hurt Emmet, it turned Shazam to Billy. And before Billy could say the word again. He was knocked unconscious, and flung towards Batman, who caught him. Barely. Wonder Woman flew back into the fight, with Green Lantern in tow. But neither managed to land a hit. Then Emmet flew over to Wonder Woman and hit her head with a kick. The skull shook but didn't break. But the two other hits might have done that instead. And then breaking both her arms and a few more ribs before his final punch to her head. She fell to the ground. All this before GL's green metal robot arm could reach him. When it did it sent him into a mountain.
Then it all went silent.
The Flash was constantly moving trying to see where the attack would come from next.
No one thought to look down.
A hand grabbed Flash's leg and yanked him under ground. GL formed a great shovel to try and remove the ground and help the Flash. The ground shifted more and more, and it was unclear as to who was shifting it. Then the Flash erupted from the ground and was sent flying. A few bones protruding from his skin.
Green Lantern lost it. That was the last straw. He created a great hammer and started hitting the ground. Pounding as hard as he could, the Earth trembled with every hit. Cyborg was looking around in case Emmet was playing a trick on them. Batman was looking around as well, but also glancing at his timer. Two minutes and the Kryptonite will clear. It will be a bit longer before Clark is back on his feet, but he could send the other two members of his family in two minutes. If they lasted that long.
Bam!
The speed at which it happened overwhelmed everyone there. If GL hadn't had something protecting him, it would not have been unimaginable that his head would have flown off. No one saw where Emmet came from, but the hit dislocated Hal's jaw and he fell limp to the ground. He wasn't dead. Sonic blasts erupted from Cyborg, as well as every other weapon at his disposal. But it didn't stop Emmet, he flew at Cyborg and ripped his arm off, then proceeded to crush the metal part of Cyborg's face.
That was too much.
System compromised and shut down.
Cyborg was down.
That left Batman. He was all alone. And then he felt something that he promised he'd never feel again. Something he cannot allow himself to feel. Batman was afraid. And he felt powerless.
"Kryptonite. That was a good call. Would have worked on Superman. But you forget that I meditated in the sun. My cells are much tougher than Superman's. You do not have the concentrations to even start to affect me on this planet."
"I don't need the Kryptonite."
"But you do, Batman, you do. I have heard the question of who would win in a fight between you and Superman asked quite often. The truth is, the only reason you could win is if Superman allows it. He could be just as intolerant to Kryptonite as I myself am. And I know you are waiting for the smoke to clear so you can call your reinforcements. It is clever. I only need half a nanosecond to kill you. Less, even." Emmet flew at Batman and grabbed him by the throat with one hand. The movement was so fast, Batman didn't even see it happening. Emmet was choking him and pushing him to the ground. Emmet's face was just a few inches away from Batman's.
"I want you to remember this, Batman. This moment. All your plans and preparations. All your super-powered friends. All your gadgets. You will always be weaker than me. You will never be able to win a fight against me. I want you to remember, Bruce, in your deepest, darkest moments, this hand at your throat, I want you to remember who beat you. And who can beat you, if he chose to. You are nothing but a scared and flawed man in comparison."
Batman's vision started to blur, he was slipping, about to pass out. A gust of wind blew past him and the hand on his neck was gone. Supergirl was hovering in front of him. There were exchanges of blows. The whole mountain range in the area has been destroyed and the shockwaves from the punches didn't help. He looked and saw Supergirl punching Emmet.
Batman's vision blurred further as Emmet punched her.
Black.
Emmet holding her by the throat and heat vision fighting heat vision.
Black.
Supergirl under Emmet's heel, head about to be crushed.
Black.
A hole in the ground where Emmet was. Supergirl shaking, barely able to sit up. The hole was being covered up from inside.
Superboy wasn't going to wait any longer. The Kryptonite was still lingering in the air, but Supergirl went anyway. Probably good thing she did. Superboy was taking care of something else. He was taking care of Superman. Superboy had left him in space, sure. Probably not the safest idea. But at least that way he could get some sun. Hopefully recover. He flew down after staying with Superman as long as he could.
When Superboy came down he saw the situation was dire. The Justice League was totally destroyed. All but dead. Supergirl needed him. She was completely at the mercy of Emmet. He rushed and was there just in time to punch Emmet as hard as he could. Emmet was sent into the ground, and Superboy had an idea. Using all of his power he punched Emmet into the ground. Using telekinesis, Emmet was the victim of blows from all directions. Rocks flying into him in the belly of the Earth. Superboy pushed Emmet further and further into the Earth. They slowly went further down. Down to where there was no more light, the only sense that functioned there was touch. And Superboy had that in abundance using telekinesis. Hurling rocks into Emmet one after another seemed to work, he was not being hit himself and so far Emmet hadn't counterattacked.
A minute later, and they were in a sea. Superboy didn't know what sea it was, but it was a vast body of water. Light still didn't penetrate this far down but he felt the water all around him. And then he saw it. The red figure of Emmet. Superboy went to punch him. But Emmet closed a hand over his fist. He then dragged him up and out of the water. They were next to some islands, but that's all Superboy could tell. He didn't care, he was focusing on the opponent. Emmet didn't move, his whole body was glowing in red.
Emmet smirked and punched Superboy in the face. Again and again and again. With each punch Superboy's face was transforming, becoming less and less recognisable. Then Emmet lifted the body of Superboy up and brought it down, back first, on his knee. The back broke. The deafening crunch of broken bones was undeniable. Tossing him far away towards a small uninhabited island, Emmet looked to the sky, and while keeping his vision focused on one spot, he went to one of the islands and stood. Waiting. Waiting for Superman to recover and fight him. He could see him there, in space. Soaking up radiation.
The real battle was about to commence.