Chapter 12
Metropolis
"Is it me or is Superman running late today?" Jason asked as he and Scorpion stood atop the Daily Planet and stared out across the city.
"Superman won't be joining us today." Scorpion said
"The Big Blue got a hot date or something?" Jason asked
"Not entirely." Scorpion answered, slightly amused by his student's question. "Today is his father's birthday, so we'll be patrolling the city alone."
"Oh." Jason said, when suddenly screams echoed from a distance, alarming the two. "And here I thought it was shaping up to be a nice day."
Without exchanging words, the two Ninja's immediately sprang into action, dashing through the streets of Metropolis towards the cause of the chaos. As they got close to the source, Scorpion began teleporting to civilians to safety, while Jason rushed forward
On reaching his destination, Jason was met with the sight of Livewire who was launching small bolts of electricity at the fleeing people. Before Livewire could fry anyone, Jason sent a massive fireball her way. Livewire managed to stop it by erupting an electric force field, right before frowning as she saw Jason.
"You're not Superman. Where is the Big Blue?"
Jason ignored her question before smirking, "If it isn't the Living Powerbank. Hope you don't mind helping me power up my phone?" He taunted.
"That's it pipsqueak, I'm gonna fry you!" Livewire yelled, as she started to fire multiple bolts of lightning at Jason, who began dodging them
Meanwhile, after safely evacuating the civilians, Scorpion rushed towards Jason's location where he found him struggling against Livewire's constant assault
Whenever Jason tried to close the distance between the two, he would narrowly be hit by a lightning bolt, right before Livewire would just turn to lightning and flash warp a bit further away to keep her distance.
Scorpion was about to help his student when suddenly, a green beam of energy flew through the air, striking him in the back. The Spectre was sent flying through multiple buildings before landing on his back. Slowly getting up, Scorpion's eyes slowly moved towards the direction of where the beam had come from. Floating a few feet away from him was Metallo.
"Looks like Superman isn't here. Oh well I guess I'll have to settle for you then." Just as Metallo opened his chest plate to shoot another beam, Scorpion vanished from his view. He turned around to find his opponent, only to receive a punch to the chest that sent him hurtling into a nearby car, which exploded on contact.
"Challenge accepted." Scorpion said, as Metallo arose from the car wreckage, seemingly unharmed except for a few scorch burns from the explosion.
Meanwhile, the fight between Jason and Livewire wasn't going too well for the Young Ninja. But Despite his current condition, Jason had figured out a way to counter Livewire, Taunts.
"So let me get this straight." Jason said, as he dodged another lightning bolt. "You were planning on fighting Superman yet you're finding it hard to beat me?"
"Shut up!" Livewire yelled, as she sent more bolts at him
"Good, she's getting agitated." Jason thought, but his musing was interrupted by a furious Livewire who used her powers to throw a nearby car at the young Ninja, forcing him to dodge. Livewire glared hatefully at Jason who continued to dodge her attacks while continuing his verbal assaults.
"Easy there Karen, you look like you're about to see my Manager." Jason smirked
"You did not just call me a Karen." Livewire growled
"Why not?" Jason asked. "You pretty much have the whole Karen hair thing going on for you."
In a feat of rage, Livewire warped towards Jason, closing the distance between them.
"Got you." with a bit of effort, Jason managed to dodge Livewire's charge, while simultaneously wrapping her with his whip. But Livewire had other plans, cause she immediately sent a wave of electricity through Jason's whip, shocking him in the process
"How do you like that pipsqueak?" Livewire laughed, as she continued to electrocute him. Ignoring the pain, Jason tugged his whip so hard, he flug Livewire into a truck, causing it to explode while knocking her out in the process.
"Another second of that and I would have been toast." Jason muttered, before falling on one knee. "Where ther hell is Grandmaster Hasashi anyway?"
As though answering his question, Metallo was flung halfway across the street and crashed into a brick wall. He managed to recover enough to see the Scorpion dashing straight toward him. Lunging forward, Metallo slammed his fist into the Scorpion's jaw, but was shocked to see that his fist only met an after image
"Shit." Metallo muttered, as Scorpion reappeared behind him, landing several strikes that rocked Metallo, before slamming him to the ground further damaging Metallo's armour. By the time Metallo recovered, Scorpion was already on him and landed a huge uppercut that sent him flying straight up.
With Metallo sent flying, Scorpion turned to Jason who was slowly getting up. "Are you alright?"
"Rachel hits harder." Jason said, causing Scorpion to nod before leaping after Metallo
Metallo spiraled all the way up the side of a building before managing to stop his ascent. Looking down, he saw Scorpion blitzing up after him, shredding up the side of the building.
"What the Fuck is this guy on!?" Metallo asked, as he flew straight back down toward Scorpion and the two of them collided. The shockwave destroyed the side of the building but Scorpion went flying in the opposite direction toward the top of a building. Metallo recovered and followed Scorpion into the building, but he'd somehow lost sight of him. It wasn't for long, Scorpion suddenly reappeared and landed a hard punch that sent Metallo several stories down.
Metallo opened his chest plate and blasted Scorpion with intense beam of Kryptonite, forcing the Scorpion to raise his arms to block the attack.
Ignoring the attack, Scorpion powered through the beam, dashing straight at Metallo and punched through Metallo's chest, grabbing his kryptonite heart.
"No, wait!" Metallo screamed in horror, already knowing what was coming. "Don't-"
His plea was met on deaf ears as Scorpion ripped out his Kryptonite core. The effect was instantaneous, as with no power source in his body, Metallo dropped to the ground with a loud thud. His glowing eyes slowly faded till they were pitch black. With Metallo defeated, Scorpion crushed the kryptonite before hefting the Cyborg over his shoulder before leaving the building. Getting outside, he saw Jason waiting for him with a tied up Livewire.
"A robot?" Jason asked, studying Metallo
"A Cyborg." Scorpion corrected
"Is he dead?" He asked, not in the mood for one of the League's "no kill" lessons
"There's no need to worry Jason." Scorpion assured him. "I can still sense life in him. His current power source is the only thing damaged."
"That's good to hear." Jason said, right before a Boom Tube appeared before the duo. "Grandmaster?"
"Stay behind me." Scorpion ordered his pupil, as an ape-like beast in light and dark green armor and sporting black hair and fur, stepped out of the Boom tube. "Who are you?"
"I am the New god Kalibak of Apokolips." The creature announced. "And I have come for the one known as Superman."
Clark's Apartment
"Happy Birthday Pa." Clark said, as he handed over a computer to his father. "Ma said you were thinking of buying a computer for the farm."
"Thanks for the gift son." Jonathan Kent said. "But I don't need some fancy gizmo to tell me when the chickens have to be fed. It's your mother who wants one."
"Oh John." Martha Kent chuckled, as she gave Clark some cake
"But it's true." Johnathan said. "You said you were aching to surf the net, whatever that means." Just as he made that statement, the Earth seemed to tremble as the entire apartment began to shake. Luckily for the Kent's, the shaking stopped as soon as it happened
"What was that?" Martha asked, as Clark looked outside his window. About seventy kilometers away from the apartment, Clark could make out Scorpion fighting some creature.
"What's going on out there?" Clark asked himself, while getting ready to head out
Earlier
As the Ninjas stared down their opponent, Jason couldn't help but groan at Kalibak's declaration. "Seriously though, what is it with everyone going after Superman today?"
"You know of the Kryptonians whereabouts?" Kalibak asked, walking closer to the duo. "Take me to him so I might kill him for Darkseid."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Scorpion said
"And you are?" Kalibak asked
"Scorpion." He said, making Kalibak's eyes widen, before smiling from ear to ear
"Forget the Kryptonian, Darkseid will be pleased once I kill you for blinding him." Kalibak said, before dashing forward at a speed that shocked Jason, who did not expect someone of Kalibak's stature to move so quickly.
Acting fast, Scorpion opened a portal underneath Jason and the two unconscious villains, instantly transporting them away from the battlefield right before Kalibak's fist collided with his face, knocking him into the building he just came out from.
Jumping to his feet, Scorpion was then assaulted by various blows from Kalibak. One particularly hard punch rocked Scorpion so hard that he spun and staggered back. Not letting up, Kalibak pressed his assault, landing more blows mixed with body shots to Scorpion's abdomen.
"He's quite skilled." Scorpion thought, before blasting Kalibak with a fireball that sent him flying through the streets of Metropolis. As Kalibak recovered from the attack, Scorpion lunged forward, forcing Kalibak to use an energy beam of his own to attack Scorpion, but it wasn't enough. Scorpion powered through the beam and grabbed Kalibak, hoisted him up and then slammed him into a car before sending him through multiple buildings flying uncontrollably across the sky.
As all this was happening, Superman was flying towards the direction where he last saw Scorpion. As he search through the city, he saw a figure flying with no control, with Scorpion going after it. Superman was about to chase after the duo before his attention was suddenly diverted to a portal opening in front of him.
Immediately, Jason, Livewire and Metallo fell from the portal. "Talk about emergency teleportation." Jason said, before facing Superman
"Jason, who is Scorpion fighting?" Superman asked
"Some dude named Kalibak." Jason said, while leaning on a nearby wall
"Are you alright?" Superman asked
"Yeah, just a little worn out from fighting her." He said, gesturing to Livewire
"Is that Metallo?" Superman asked, as he hesitantly studied the Cyborg for any sign of Kryptonite
"We didn't kill him." Jason raised his hand defensively
"He's not dead, just offline." Superman said, while picking up Metallo and Livewire. "I want you to stay here and rest. I'll head after Scorpion when I'm done locking them up."
"Oh you don't have to tell me twice." Jason said as he watched Superman fly off
After traveling across the city with little to no control over his movement, Kalibak finally crashed into the forest region of Metropolis. With the momentum that came with him, he first slammed into multiple trees, bouncing from them into another set of trees and finally skidding to a halt a few feet from a massive boulder. He rested there for a while before he started to rise to his feet, only to be greated with a fist to his face, courtesy of Scorpion
Recklessly rising up again, Kalibak charged forward and tried to land a straight punch that Scorpion managed to duck below. Without missing a beat, the Spectre wailed multiple blows on Kalibak's chest while pushing him through the boulder. Kalibak managed to catch Scorpion and threw him across the forest, only for the Spectre to quickly returned, slamming into Kalibak hard enough to completely destroy the boulder along with multiple trees. They continued through the forest, with Scorpion landing heavy shots before Kalibak head butted him to the ground.
Kalibak grabbed Scorpion by his head, with the intention of crushing it. But Scorpion quickly recovered, unleashing a wave of Hellfire to break free. Clasping his hands into one big fist, Scorpion hit Kalibak as hard as he could. The New god was literally catapulted into the air and then like a small meteor, Kalibak crashed into the side of a mountain.
It didn't take too long for Superman, who had just arrived to find Scorpion. "So, who's your friend?"
"He calls himself Kalibak." Scorpion answered, as he watched his opponent slowly climb out of the mountain. "Unfortunately he is from Apokolips."
"That's Darkseid's planet." Superman realized, before flying towards Kalibak to interrogate him. "Why did Darkseid send you here?"
Kalibak only glared at Superman as he struggled to stand. "You are not worthy of addressing my father."
"Your father?" Scorpion asked while appearing beside Superman
"I did not see that coming." Superman said
Apokolips
"Where is Kalibak." The stony frame of Darkseid asked as he gazed down on Desaad, Granny Goodness and Steppenwolf
Kneeling to Darkseid, Desaad spoke up. "He is on Earth, currently battling the one known as Scorpion."
Darkseid snarled, "I seem to recall telling Kalibak he was not to go to Earth."
"He has disobeyed you. I know not where he comes by such foolish ideas." Desaad said
"Oh?" Darkseid said, his eyes glowing slightly
"He wishes to prove himself worthy to be your-"
"A technicality of his birth." Darkseid said, cutting Desaad off. "As far as destiny and I are concerned, I have no son."
"Still, I am certain you do not which to abandon him on Earth my Lord?" Steppenwolf asked
After a long silence, Darkseid began walking away from the trio. "Send the Furies to retrieve him." He said, before disappearing into the throne room