Chapter 12

Mental Link


Dinosaur Island

May 21,2011

Conner and the floating little man in purple suddenly appeared atop a mountain. He quickly looked around and saw many dinosaurs. Everything seemed to be impossible.

"What… Who are you?"

"Hello! Hello! Didn't your old man tell you about me?" The imp asked, knocking on Conner's head.

Conner shook his head. The imp snapped his fingers, and some newspaper pages flew into Conner's face.

Conner grabbed the papers and saw a comic strip describing who this imp was.

Mxyzptlk

A brilliant, godlike life form from a dimension twice removed from yours.

You make me say, spell, or otherwise my name backward, and I'll spill until our dimension comes into alignment again in three months.

"Mixel-pick?"

"No! Repeat after me, bright boy. It's Mix… Yezz… Spit!" The imp said, turning into a blender, artwork, and spitting into his face. The imp soon turned into a dog and licked him.

"What do you want, Mixel-pick?" Conner asked, not wanting to provoke the very powerful imp.

"For the hundred time its… Oh, I see what you were going to do. I ain't going to fall for that, Supey."

"Again, What do you want?"

"I got bored with your old man. I thought I could cheer you up. We're gonna have many merry games, you and I."

"Why would I need to be cheered up?"

"You look down all the time. You need to liven up. Wait! I know just the place."

Suddenly he and Mxyzptlk were on top of the Daily Planet in Metropolis.

"Why did you bring me here?!" Conner yelped.

"You need to liven up. That island wasn't the best, and your cave is too drab." The imp said.

Before he could respond, the imp snapped his fingers yet again.

"What did you do?"

"Brought something here to turn that frown upside down."

A loud explosion went off nearby before Conner could ask what that meant. Conner walked over to the railing and, using his telescopic vision, saw a robot with some flesh causing mayhem. Before Conner could react or argue with the imp, he saw Supergirl and Superman intercepting metal man. Both Supers argued about who would deal with the metal man and evacuate the civilians. Conner soon grabbed and fired his grapple, launched himself to the streets of Metropolis, and evacuated the bystanders. Both Supers continued to argue about who should do what. Supergirl's eye caught the 'Bat Boy' from Gotham helping civilians. Before she could react to him, she and Superman soon collapsed when the metal man opened a panel on his chest.

"You think you both got me? Surprise!" The metal man said as he blasted both Supers.

Both Supers tried to crawl away. The metal man soon strangled Superman.

"Who are you?" Superman asked weakly. The flesh metal man was to answer until he heard a clank on his back. The metal man saw the explosive, and his back soon exploded, and 'Batboy' feet collided with his face and sent him flying. Another explosive went off when the metal man collided landed in a building.

Conner offered a hand to both Supers to help them up. Supergirl instead pushed it and Conner to a car afar. While Conner's body was primarily covered in two layers of armor, he could still feel what he had to assume was Kryptonite. A robot powered by Kryptonite, what are the odds?

"Are you okay?" A child asked, tugging Conner's hand to see if he was okay.

"I'm fine. You should be with your parent." Conner responded, pretending to be in pain as he got up.

"Why did she hit you?"

"She thought I was the bad guy. It's alright. I get that a lot." Conner said, reassuring the child.

His thoughts were soon interrupted when he heard a roar. Using his telescopic vision, he saw where the metal man landed and was replaced by a massive grey monster with spikes and claws. The monster got up, leaped, and immediately punched Superman into several buildings. Realizing what Mxyzptlk had transported and seeing Superman thrown around like nothing, Conner grabbed the child and yelled at everyone to evacuate. Conner quickly reunited the child with its parent and fired his grapple, and was off to evacuate more by-standards.


Both Kryptonians fought the beast. Supergirl was more violent, directly engaging the monstrosity, while Superman tried to use his powers from afar, both getting thrown around. Conner could tell they hadn't thought of a plan to work together. It showed they were bloody and bruised, and their costumes were ripped.

Conner shifted from evacuating civilians to engaging with said monstrosity by rescuing an injured Superman while throwing high explosive batarangs into the monstrosity's mouth. The explosive had no effect, and after grabbing Superman, Conner was rewarded with a car barreling towards his direction, snapping the line on his grapple, and letting himself and Superman fall. M'gann and the team arrived, catching the two and using her telekinesis to pick up and throw the creature afar.

"What took you so long?"

"Had to convince B to let us out of the cave." Robin said.

"What exactly are we dealing with!?" Aqualad asked.

"A Godlike life form from the 5th dimension who wants to cheer me up by causing all this."

"That's a jo- SCATTER!" Robin yelled as the monstrosity leaped and nearly crushed them. They were soon saved by a green lantern construct pushing the monster into another part of the Metropolis.

"Six of you evac civilians. The rest of us will deal with that thing." John Stewart said.

"Understood." Aqualad said.

The entire team remained silent after getting their orders from Green Lantern. When they originally started the team, they would be furious if they were given orders to act like sidekicks, but in this situation, no one argued, seeing the devastation firsthand.

The team assisted Metropolis Emergency Services with evacuations. Batman tried an aerial bombardment, and Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter were on frontal assault. Flash worked with Hal Jordan, Aquaman, and Green Arrow to contain the creature. At the same time, Hawkman and Hawkwoman, Captain Atom, and Captain Marvel were on rear assault. The attack failed, and every other attack that followed.

Batman ordered Supergirl to help the team with the evacuation. But stubbornly opted not to and tried to fight the creature as well. She was hellbent on killing the creature. Her technique was still sloppy, and it showed when it punched her blocks away, colliding with a building and its rubble, almost landing on civilians trying to escape. She crashed and landed on the ground. Robin continued directing everyone. Conner tried to help Supergirl. When he got to her, he only heard one word coming out of her mouth.

"Doomsday"

She kept repeating that word weakly. Conner picked her up and laid her on a gurney.

A quarter of the Metropolis was destroyed. League was doing everything they could to contain the creature now known as Doomsday. Many Heroes were tired and injured. It was a miracle that they weren't dead. The fight has lasted long enough. The team regrouped and needed a strategy to go against Doomsday.


A good chunk of the League was injured and barely able to fight. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, both lanterns, and Martian Manhunter were giving their all. Superman was the first to go down from exhaustion, and his injuries J'onn and the Lanterns followed. Both Wonder Woman and Batman were about to be pulverized by Doomsday before being rescued by the team. Superman got up with all of his willpower and continued their brawl, determined to destroy this creature. On a rooftop, Batman and Wonder Woman were recovering while mentally discussing how to fight this creature with the team.

"We threw everything at this creature. But it overpowered us." Batman said.

"It knows how to fight. It was able to take me, J'onn, and Superman." Wonder Woman said.

"We need a new strategy." Robin said.

"Was J'onn able to get into its mind? Maybe shut it down?" Conner asked.

"He tried. He said nothing was inside of it except for hatred of everything." Batman responded.

"Let's try a different version of the attack." Aqualad declared.

Superman was tired and bleeding all over. This creature was so powerful it almost killed everyone. He collapsed after a punch to the chest sent him flying into a building. He was about to blackout before seeing Diana, Aqualad, and another figure in Black and Red taking down the creature. Then darkness.

The new plan was simply to trip Doomsday and kill it on the spot. Aqualad, Conner, Kid Flash, and Wonder Woman pushed Doomsday off balance before being able to pound down on Superman. Robin, Artemis, and Batman were on a long-range attack with arrows and bearings. M'gann would reinforce Aqualad, Conner, Kid Flash, and Wonder Woman by holding down Doomsday. The attack was nearly successful, with Wonder Wonder almost able to decapitate Doomsday. Doomsday punched Wonder Woman while Aqualad, Conner, and Kid Flash were thrown. Conner got back up and tried stabbing and strangle Doomsday using his lasso and telekinesis. He was successful in the stabbing but was flung across. Batman threw multiple explosives into Doomsday's mouth, hoping for anything. Doomsday's violent jerking threw Batman to the ground, and he was almost stomped on before Wonder Woman quickly pushed him away, taking the full force herself.

M'gann shifted her attack and opted to get inside Doomsday's mind hoping to find a way to shut it down. But all she saw inside was nothing but pure anger and hatred. Doomsday wanted nothing more but to destroy everything. Conner then used his lasso to anchor around the sword inside Doomsday. The lasso soon electrocuted Doomsday shocking him. M'gann began to scream as she, too, felt Doomsday's pain. Kaldur joined in and used his magic to electrocute Doomsday. Doomsday was stunned enough where at the same time. Conner jumped and used his sword to decapitate Doomsday; simultaneously, M'gann was able to break Doomsday's mind. The body and head fell separated. Doomsday was dead.


Tornado, Icon, Plastic Man, and Red Arrow soon arrived to secure the area and assist injured leaguers and team members in the following hours. Tornado brought all injured leaguers to the WatchTower to tend to their injuries. One of the Green Lanterns had enough strength to transport Doomsday to the Watchtower. Artemis, Robin, and Wally were each patched up and went along with Conner, Kaldur, and M'gann to return to the Metropolis to assist with emergency services. On the way back to the city, the team saw the massive devastation that ensured Metropolis. Half of the city was destroyed, and the other half was shambles. They met up with emergency services assisting them in locating those trapped in buildings to providing medical aid.

The day had passed. What started the day as a supposedly harmless way to cheer Conner up has destroyed many lives and livelihoods. Conner felt guilty; he should've tried harder to convince the imp not to do anything. His inaction led to so much that he only wished those around him could forgive him. The team helped as much as they could. Emergency services told them to rest while they could, given how much help they provided. Artemis and Robin were sitting on the ground, backs against a wall, their bodies aching. Kid Flash was next to join them. Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Conner soon came by with some water and food. They were about to enjoy their quick break, but the supposed peace and serenity was shattered by the bellow of a wild animal.

"So, what's your team name?" Lois Lane asked.

Everyone looked at the reporter and number one Superman fan with annoyance. However, they didn't catch a redhead with a camera capturing their likeness. Soon an armada of reporters joined Lois, and the team was immediately surrounded. Multiple reporters began asking them all questions.

"What do we do?" Wally asked.

"We can't say we're a team. I mean, we're supposed to be covert." Robin said.

The team continued to panic until Kaldur got everyone's attention by saying the most dreaded words.

"Yes, we're a team."

The immense silence was deafening until the floodgates of questions broke. More questions were asked Kaldur panicked at what he had unleashed. Robin stood up at got the reporter's attention.

"Yes, we're a team. Big Surprise. You'll do realize we hang out with each other, right?"

"We know the three of you. But who are the other three, and what's your team name? Junior Justice League?" Cat Grant asked.

"We aren't the Junior Justice League!" Kid Flash yelled.

"We're… We're Young Justice, and I'm Miss Martian."

"I'm Artemis."

The cameras and mics turned to Conner. He outright refused to answer. Despite everyone's contribution except for Dick's, they didn't have to live and be punished by Batman himself. Everyone awaited a response.

"I hate you guys so much right now."

"I'm Apollo."

After answering more questions and being saved by emergency services, thanking them and scattering the press, the team retreated to the WatchTower, where Leaguers congratulated them on defeating Doomsday.

The night ended with questions and a retreat to the WatchTower. At the WatchTower, many leaguers congratulated them for destroying Doomsday. They were on their way to Batman for a debrief Mxyzptlk suddenly appeared before them.

"Ha, ha, this is great." The imp said, making a bucket of popcorn appear.

The imp looked at Conner and noticed he wasn't happy.

"Hey, what's with the looks?"

"That thing you sent destroyed half a city and severely injured many people!"

Before Conner could explain how Mxyzptlk almost destroyed everyone, a Woman with a peach top, a purple hood, blue sunglasses, and white gloves appeared before them.

"Mxy."

"Hiya, Gspie."

"Baby, you know you shouldn't be here again. I'm not going to save you from the tribunal again."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Conner asked while the team and leaguers nearby were puzzled.

"Gsptlsnz."

"Are you married to him?"

"Yes."

"You tried saving him from a tribunal, and he still appears here?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how many lives you destroyed with your act? I didn't want to be cheered up. I just wanted to be with my friends." Conner cried.

"Yeah, you're right. I've gotta bug you till I die." Mxy said, snapping his fingers and making himself and Conner disappear.

"Conner!" M'gann cried.

"Mxy." Gsptlsnz cried.

The WatchTower was left in shock, and Gsptlsnz was alone with many angry three-dimensional people.


Authors Note: The metal man with flesh is Metallo.