Original concept by Korra
Written by MechaG11
Part One: The World of Remnant Arc
-Chapter One: Escape From Home
This is Injustice, the world where Batman's determined Insurgency battles Superman's tyrannical Regime. This may not be world of Injustice as you've previously understood it however. The Multiverse is a structure governed by a series of choices that branch into infinite paths. One such choice being that the Flash never changed sides in this timeline. Superman, with his handful of super-powered lieutenants still allied to the Regime, finds himself on the run from Batman and his alternate-earth Justice League. The dwindling Regime grows desperate with the ever intensifying circumstances of their loss. With Batman's forces rallied and approaching Superman is all but cornered…or is he?
Superman flies alongside Wonder Woman and Hal Jordan down a corridor. Alarms blare throughout the underground base as emergency lights flash. The Regime soldiers, the hundred few loyal who remain, urgently sprint to reinforce their struggling allies ahead. Many marched knowing they would not win this battle, but they were not fazed. The real battle was not to survive, but to secure the safety of their leaders at all cost.
Superman draws a personal communicator and rapidly dials away at the keys. A holographic image projects in front of him which reveals a holo-screen with Cyborg in frame.
Cyborg notices the incoming call. "I can already tell you are not gonna like this." he answers.
"Status, Victor." commanded Superman.
Cyborg replies "We just got the generator to functional capacity, but we need to run a few system checks before-"
"There's no time." Superman interrupted.
Cyborg winces "I can bypass what I can, but running this thing untested is dangerous. There's no telling where we might end up when we cross over."
"We'll have to take that chance" added Wonder Woman.
"Do what you can. We'll be joining you soon." said Superman.
Cyborg acknowledges him, saying "Well if it all goes wrong at least Batman won't have the satisfaction of collecting our asses. Cyborg, out."
Superman's group flies with hastened speed through the various corridors. With each passing moment Batman's forces closed in on them. There was no respite for them in this world. The power of the alternate-earth Justice League was too much for the Regime. The Regime lost, but Superman realized something after his defeat: If Batman sought the help of another earth, why couldn't he do so as well? The same power that tipped the scale in Batman's favor could very well tip it back to Superman's.
The three finally come upon the main chamber where they find Cyborg and The Flash. Once they were in the room the security doors sealed the entrance behind them. Barry was already running at super-speed on a makeshift Cosmic Treadmill. Since the previous one was lost, this model had to be created from parts secretly scavenged or stolen in the Regime's time in hiding. The treadmill is rigged to a machine capable of generating portals, a customized set up devised by Cyborg. When enough cosmic power is generated through the treadmill the Regime would finally be able access the Multiverse and commence Superman's plan. Meanwhile, distant booms rumble throughout the base like a clock counting down the enemy's arrival.
Cyborg informs Superman "We'll be hitting maximum speed in about a minute. Once we get there the generator should be able to reach multiversal."
"We might not have a minute." replied Superman.
The rest of them caught wind of what Superman already detected with his super-hearing: Batman's forces were here. The massive metal door glowed with an intense orange heat. It burst open, allowing members of the alternate-earth Justice League quickly assault the room. Superman, Yellow Lantern, and Wonder Woman sprung into action to battle the other-worldly invaders. In this moment it was imperative that the three of them buy the Flash and Cyborg as much time as possible. While the heroes were distracted, Insurgency militia marched in behind the initial wave of Justice League members. Cyborg, with his eyes still fixed on his screen, converts one of his hands into a sonic cannon. He barely turns before pelting them with several sonic blasts.
"We need a location!" yelled Cyborg.
Superman gets pinned by a hero, and strenuously replies "Lock on to the first signal!"
Cyborg inputs several commands before slamming the final key. A multiversal map displays several planets onscreen. A grid isolates a world and zooms in towards the first target it detects: A planet with a shattered moon. The computer registers the world-data, sending the machinery in the room into a whir. Electricity sparks out from the portal generator as it spawns a successful portal through mutliversal space.
He alerts the others "Portal is a go! It's now or never!"
Superman and the others manage to push back the alternate-earth Leaguers and make for the portal. Cyborg converts both of his arms into sonic cannons and provides cover-fire for their escape. One of his arms is suddenly struck however, penetrated by a bat-shaped projectile. Cyborg looks up to spot the Insurgency leader himself, Batman, gliding towards him. Victor is kicked by the Caped Crusader, the impact so strong that it knocks him off his feet. He recovers before the two engage in close-quarters combat. The other three Regime members all find a momentary opening in the battle. They launch themselves at full speed to the portal. Each of them pass through, the portal sparking after a body plunges into the abyss. Flash breaks away from the treadmill, also making his way in.
"No!" shouts Batman.
Cyborg swings away at Batman, but the Insurgency leader's reflexes were too quick. Batman back-flips, gaining some distance from Cyborg, and proceeds to perch himself on a nearby railing. Cyborg arms one of his cannons and fires at him. The Dark Knight's instinctively leaps away, allowing him to clear himself of the energized projectile in one go. The shot zips past and impacts a working turbine. The resulting explosion causes a chain reaction across the local machinery. The portal began to tremble as it vacuumed the surrounding debris, clear signs that it was destabilizing.
"Everyone, clear ou-!" Batman shouts before being pulled off of his feet.
The other Leaguers take leave, though some hesitate to leave Batman behind. Cyborg contemplates making for the portal, but fears that the severe malfunction may very well destroy him. His hesitation allowed a stray explosion from the nearby machinery to knock him away, burying him in debris. Meanwhile, Batman's grip was faltering. He attempted to reach for his grapple gun, but the force of the vacuum pulled him in. He slips through the portal, causing it to show visible strain after receiving him. The portal quickly implodes, and then releases a massive explosion. The force of the blast causes the entire chamber to collapse.
Superman courses through a bright blue tunnel filled with streaking light and energy. His path shot him into an unknown darkness ahead. He braces himself as he travels faster and faster through the tube of energy. Vibrant sparks of light flash all around him, becoming louder as he increases velocity. The intensity is so bright, even for his super-senses, that he is forced to shield his eyes. He experiences what could only be described as several crashes that thundered through and around his body. He reaches remarkable speeds coursing through the sense-dampening portal, and then suddenly…Silence.
He floated adrift above a forested land in the darkness of night. The stark silence clashed with his previous experience through the portal, leaving him a bit dumbstruck. Looking up, he was greeted by the luminous but unsettling sight of a shattered moon. He gazed, shocked by the dramatic imagery before him. This was not his moon, let alone his earth. Kal had entered another world.
A voice calls to Superman from below. Wonder Woman, Yellow Lantern, and The Flash all stand some ways beneath him. They all arrived before him, seemingly with no complications. Kal is relieved to see them, and descends towards the group.
"Glad to see you're all safe and accounted for." spoke Kal. He moved to briefly hug his partner, Wonder Woman, before facing the others.
Yellow Lantern replied "Safe? Sure, but I might need some therapy after that seizure-inducing portal trip."
The Flash responds "Let's just be glad we made through in one piece. Which reminds me: Cyborg still hasn't arrived."
"We'll give him a few minutes to regroup with us. For all we know he could be delayed or at worst captured." said Kal. "Meanwhile, Barry scout out what you can of the surro-"
A blood curdling screech echoes across the sky, catching the heroes off guard. Superman turns with the rest of his allies to face the origin of the noise. Silhouetted against the sky was the shape of a dragon, soaring above a city in the far distance. Using his super hearing, Kal detects screams accompanied by the sounds of monsters and gunfire.
Superman faces his allies and urgently orders "Victor will have to wait. The people in that city need our help!"
The handful of heroes sprung into action, soaring and running towards the city in need. They make their way through the forest and into some rocky fields. The border of the city is now fully visible. They spot the tall stone wall assumedly covering all sides. Crawling through and onto the wall were a horde of pitch black creatures of varying shapes and sizes. It didn't take much for the Kal and his allies to see that this horde would spell doom for the denizens within.
"I'm on the wall!" yelled Yellow Lantern.
Using his power ring, he projects a giant yellow hard-light shovel. Its wideness allows him to scoop the monsters off of the wall effortlessly and block the entrance. He flips it, casting several monsters off into the distance. The other three heroes pass Yellow Lantern, and cross into the city. The Flash encounters several monsters on the ground, but his speed allows him to avoid then dispatch them. Seeing as the monsters intruded further into the city, the Flash decided to continuously fight his way from monster to monster. Superman eyes the dragon and notices several projectiles falling from its body. They impact the floor below, spawning more monsters ready to attack. Was it the source of the other monsters? He didn't know. All he knew was that it needed to be stopped.
Superman signals to Diana "Barry and Hal got the ground covered. We need to take down that dragon!"
Wonder Woman draws her sword. "Gladly!" she says, enthusiastically.
The two of them fly together to face the creature head on. Along the way a pair of smaller winged monsters closes in on them. Wonder Woman spins into an attack with her sword, slicing a wing off of the attacking winged beast. Superman jets forward. His sheer momentum and his invulnerability allowed him to simply pierce directly through the other monster. With the two intrusions out of the way Superman and Wonder Woman were free to engage the larger beast.
The dragon finally notices the pair of flying heroes, and turns to face them. The two heroes and the dragon fly at each other head on. It attempted to ram them with its head. The creature may have been fierce but its sheer size made it too slow for the pair, and such a weakness left it vulnerable to a counter attack. Together they avoid the creature in a spinning maneuver. Diana, now above its wings, plunges her sword into the red membrane. A large tear is carved into its wing. The dragon screeches with a pained cry. They constantly out-maneuver the monster, striking it over and over again with blunt attacks and sword slashes.
The beast makes a sudden course-correction, knocking Diana away. It begins to climb further upwards into the sky. Superman was quick to pursue it, and coated it using his freeze breath. The temperature grew colder as the dragon climbed, allowing it to freeze even faster by Superman's attack. Ice overcame the entire creature, forcing it to a stop. Superman then flies down towards Wonder Woman. The creature falls, unable to move, while the two heroes wait for it below. They reel back their fists, and punch upwards in unison. The frozen beast shatters to pieces from the unified attack.
The pair smiles at each other, feeling accomplished by their victory over the dragon. Together they had stopped this major threat. Superman turns his head away slightly, distracted by the distant cheers from various people below. Suddenly, he is caught off guard by the angered shout of a woman's voice.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" she yells.
The Creatures of Grimm, the greatest blight to humanity in the history of Remnant. The various monsters bent on destruction are opposed by the brave Huntsmen. Qrow Branwen, General Ironwood, and Glynda Goodwitch stand among many today to fight for Vale and beat back the near-endless Grimm. Qrow leaps into the air and cleaves a Griffon in two with his massive scythe. Upon landing on the ground he is flanked by an Alpha Beowolf, who pins him to the floor. Qrow's exhaustion from fighting and the strength of the beast render him unable to break free. He puts his weapon between the Beowolf and himself, its jaws snapping at him.
Suddenly, a red streak flashes before Qrow's eyes. In a split second, the Alpha Beowolf is no more. Qrow recovers, but look around puzzled. Ironwood and Glynda, also battling Grimm, are additionally interrupted by the mysterious red streak. In a matter of seconds the street was clear of Grimm. It zips over to Qrow, and what was initially a blur now stand before him as a man dressed in red. The stranger offers his hand to help Qrow up.
"You alright?" the stranger says.
Qrow gawks at him, baffled by the realization that the blindingly fast red streak was in fact a man.
He responds "Uh- I guess I am." He takes the strangers hand and stands up.
The man gazes towards the rest of the city, stating "Looks like I got my work cut out for me. In case you don't mind, I'll be heading off."
The stranger suddenly bolts away, kicking up dust and loose papers in his wake.
"Right." replied Qrow while scratching the back of his head.
"Who was that man?" Glynda asked.
Ironwood meets the two, stating "Looks like he's on our side. I'd say that's all that matters."
Qrow speaks up "As the uncle of a Huntress in red that speeds around, I'd know a thing or two about speed semblances. That though? That was…something else."
"We'll worry about it later." replied Ironwood. "It's like the man said: We've got our work cut out for us." He gestures to the combat happening distantly in the rest of the city.
Glynda nods in agreement. She and Ironwood make their way to wherever they are needed. Ironwood reloads his pistol with a cartridge of dust. Qrow in kind converts his scythe into its sword form, making travel with it easier. He thought about how easily the stranger dispatched the Grimm, almost trivializing any reason for them to be fighting there in the first place. With help like that tonight's outcome certainly might be just a bit more hopeful.
Just then, Qrow caught a glimpse of happenings in the sky. He squints at a fast falling object bluish in color. It was the Grimm Wyvern that invaded the city, frozen and descending. Two flying figures closed in on the falling creature. Climbing at full speed they met with a large impact and shattered the Wyvern into pieces. The pair hovered as the ice fragments fell like snow around them. Qrow, awestruck at the spectacle, began to question his sobriety.
Professor Ozpin's office lay in ruins. Lying near a wall was the defeated Pyrrha, still injured by Cinder's arrow lodged into her ankle. Cinder, looking furious, stares from the edge of the room out towards the night sky. She could hardly believe the Wyvern was destroyed, and curses at the open air.
"How?! This wasn't supposed to happen!" complained Cinder.
Pyrrha began to chuckle at Cinder mockingly, prompting Cinder to turn to her furiously.
"Y-you've lost! I don't know how, but it's over." gloated Pyrrha, relieved.
Cinder turned to approach Pyrrha, but stopped at the sound of someone arriving in the room. Ruby Rose had leapt onto the tower, finally meeting with Pyrrha's assailant. Ruby was determined to help her friend, but her stern look was traded with confusion.
"…Cinder?" Ruby questioned while squinting.
Cinder wasted no time casting a fireball at Ruby, sending the would-be-hero flying back. Ruby impacts the wall which causes some small debris to fall upon her. Cinder smirks after having put the naïve girl in her place. She prepares another fireball to finish off the huntress-in-training.
A shard of Pyrrha's sword zips past Cinder, barely grazing her cheek. The injured girl had managed to muster up the strength to use her semblance and strike in Cinder's moment of distraction. It was a temporary win however as Cinder quickly snapped to face Pyrrha. Using her polarity semblance, Pyrrha attempted to pull back the sword shard only for Cinder to deflect it. The treacherous Maiden summons her glass bow, and fires a single arrow into Pyrrha's chest. The impact pushes the girl back some before she starts to curl in pain.
Cinder smiled. "The next one will be for your head." she promised.
She spawned a second arrow and aimed it for the dying girl's head. She looses it, but the projectile would never find its mark. Upon release the arrow glows and disintegrates, all of which occurring as if it was instantly incinerated on the spot. Cinder gazes in confusion for a moment, then felt the wind get knocked out of her. Ruby recovers, and spots a blue streak sweeping Cinder off her feet. The villain found herself pinned to the wall by her throat.
"You won't be hurting anyone else." claimed her assailant.
Cinder's aura began to spark intensely as the man's fingers clenched further and further. She struggles to break free, growing weaker and unable to focus from getting choked. She wasn't the strongest Huntress, but this man possessed superhuman strength far beyond what she understood. In one desperate attempt, Cinder brought her hand to cast fire onto her attacker. His reflexes were too fast however, allowing him to easily divert the blaze away from himself. His grip continues to tighten until he finally crushes her windpipe. Cinder's eyes grew wide from the shock, and then slowly relaxed as her life faded away. The man loosens his grip on her neck and allowed her to fall to the ground with an unceremonious thud.
"I need help!" Ruby desperately cried.
Their rescuer, the man unknown to them named Superman, rushed to Ruby's side where Pyrrha also lay. Ruby held Pyrrha's face in hand. Tears ran down Ruby's cheeks at the sight of her mortally wounded friend.
"I-it's too late." uttered Pyrrha.
Ruby replied sharply "No! Don't say things like that! We-"
The girl couldn't even finish her sentence, and cried more knowing nothing could be done. It was rare to ever see her totally hopeless. There was something wrong about seeing the girl who embodied positivity appear so glum. Noticing her sadness, Pyrrha barely raised her hand in an attempt to grasp Ruby's. Understanding her intent, Ruby quickly takes Pyrrha's hand.
Pyrrha coughed "I-it's okay Ruby." She wore a smile and continued to speak. "Smile. The Ruby I know, that's the Ruby I want to see…"
Ruby hesitated, oppressed by the overwhelming feelings bearing down on her psyche. She suppresses her fears, and slowly turned her frown into a smile.
"Thank you Ruby…" breathed Pyrrha, relieved at the fulfillment of her last request.
Pyrrha panted several times before slowing to a stop, releasing one final breath. Ruby closes Pyrrha's eyelids, signifying a proper rest. Superman once again bore witness to the death of a youth, and a brave one at that. His grip tightened after having seen evil committed once again upon a good person, an evil he deeply desired to purge from the world completely. Superman's thought was interrupted after hearing Ruby break down into full-on sobbing. Superman lowered himself to her level and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"What's your name, little one?" he asked.
Ruby wiped her face the best she could manage. "R-Ruby." she replied.
Superman nodded. "Well met Ruby. Listen, we need you to be brave right now." He moves to take Pyrrha's body into his arms and adds "Just as she was."
He glides forward with his back facing Ruby. She looks up to him from her place on the ground.
He continues "Monsters like that murderer over there took my family, they took this girl, and now monsters out there are trying to take this city." He turns to face Ruby, stating "I'm not gonna let that happen. I refuse to let anyone else suffer and die at the hands of monsters. Something tells me you won't let them either."
He frees one of his hands and reaches out to Ruby, waiting for her to take it. The girl stares at him, his stance confident and cape flowing heroically in the wind. She looks to Pyrrha in his arm, and then to Cinder elsewhere in the room. She looks back to him in her moment of contemplation.
Superman nods. "Together, we can stop them." he promised.
The girl sniffles one last time. Her sadness replaced with a steeled resolve. Ruby takes his hand.
End of Chapter One