Justice League vs The Avengers Story

Illuminater

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(Link to the writers work )

Disclaimer: This is a piece of fictional writing and borrows heavily from the Superhero characters from DC and Marvel. This is not a commercial piece of writing and is intended to be a work of art for completely non-profit purposes. I do not hold any rights to these characters and do not intend to publish it anywhere. Kindly refrain from reproducing it elsewhere.

Prologue


It was this day that Damian had long feared. He had warned Bruce time and again to put down the mantle he had been carrying for years. Damian had never found a father in Bruce, only a teacher. He was strong headed just like his father, willing to save lives. He had inherited this flair from his father. Bruce had adopted darkness as an ally and even in this lonely cell, he found consolation in it. He remembered how he had been on cloud nine when he first picked up his little boy in his hands and how he imagined a normal life for him, one unlike his own. It brought smile on his face every time he remembered the image of his little champ playing around in his room, building castles with pillows. Then came the horror that he had to witness, the death of his own son.


His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the footsteps and got up slowly, walking towards the cell door. The officer opened the door and outside it were 5 guards, heavily armed. Their job was to get a heavily chained Batman to the Court house, a few miles away from the prison he was kept at. Bruce knew what was going to happen. He had accepted it long ago. But he still could not accept the death of his son. The secret was out and everyone awaited the fate of Batman at the court of justice.

As Bruce walked through hordes of angry mob surrounding the entrance of the court, stones and curses were flung at him. But Bruce was broken from inside, had lost all hope and lost his will to survive. Soon the proceedings began and so did the Justice League’s watch to protect Bruce and the others at the court room. Bruce stood there all along, listening to every charge that the Prosecutor put against him, then followed the eye witnesses and their description of what had happened. Bruce was asked if he wanted to say something against the charges. He raised his head slowly and looked at the judge. Before he could say anything, his hand started trembling, his trepidations turned severe within seconds and he collapsed on the floor. There was widespread silence in the room and Flash rushed to Bruce. He picked him up and ran as hard as he could to get to the hospital, a couple of blocks away. Superman plummeted from the sky towards the courthouse roof and smashed through it, right to the center of the room. He stood there fuming, staring at the judge.


“ I had warned you. All of you. There will be no more rules stopping me from carrying out the Justice.” He turned towards the mob behind him and said, “ Get back to your homes and do not get out till I tell you, if you want to live. I lost a friend (Martian Manhunter) to your corrupt Legal system. None of my team members will have to go through that humiliation anymore. This ends now!”

He flew straight towards the Stark tower, other league members followed him. He burned a hole with his heat vision through the walls to Tony’s 100th floor office.


As he entered it, he was surprised to see the Avengers waiting for him. Before any words could be spoken he moved swiftly towards Tony to punch him. He mustered all the power he could in that punch straight towards Tony’s heart. His fist met with the unbreakable hold of the Hulk, standing next to Tony and all that power in the punch seemed to have no effect on this green monster. Superman was stunned and Thor used the opportunity to jump toward Superman to strike him with his hammer. The flickers of lightning mustered up around him as he got closer to deliver his fierce blow.


What appeared to Thor as a silhouette accompanied by golden lightning, jumped into the room from the hole Superman had created. Mjolnir was arrested in the Trident’s hold on its way by Aquaman, who was now kneeling on the ground between the motionless Superman and the thundering Thor, protecting his friend. The clash resulted in a massive blow that flung all the superheroes in different directions. A cloud of dust covered the room. As the dust cleared, Thor was found fallen at the other end of the room. He got up to see Aquaman stand dauntingly at his place.


Aquaman smirked looking at Thor and said, “ You aren't the only god here!”

While Aquaman reveled on pulling off a spectacular move, he was oblivious of the Hulk standing behind him. The Hulk raised his leg and kicked Aquaman from behind, slapping him on the wall in front of him, and knocking him out of consiousness. Tony walked up to the Hulk, who was still holding a weak Superman.

“I knew you would flip out. Just like you did a few months back and destroyed an entire city. You might have a god complex but you are nothing more than an Animal. These walls have Kryptonite crystals embedded in it.” Said Tony while walking towards the wall nearby and caressing it gently.

“Beautiful isn’t it? Clark Kent.”


Superman looked at Tony, startled.

“ What? You thought finding where you hung your cape was difficult? Oh come on! I have my satellites and drones tracking you in stealth mode. It took them only a couple of days to uncover your identity. I have to say, you do amaze me with one stupid act after another. I would have killed you long ago but I wanted to see you turn into your real self.”

“ I swore never to kill another person. But you I will gladly destroy” said Superman in his feeble voice.

“It is such a shame Clark. A few months ago I actually believed that you were a good guy. But then you decided to snap and kill a million people. You need to die ! ”, Tony took out a small broken piece of Kryptonite from his desk.

“Friday, do me a favor and shape this into a really sharp bullet please. “, he placed the piece inside his hand module.

“ Stark! Don’t do it! “ shouted Thor, getting up slowly at the corner of the room. “ We don’t need to kill him. We will imprison him. He will be kept in check”

“ It’s war buddy. Plus Hulk agrees with me as well, right Hulk?” said Tony turning towards Hulk.

Hulk grunted and broke Superman’s arm with a jolt and said “Kill!” . Tony looked at Thor with a smile and then turned towards Superman, aiming with his finger on Clark’s forehead. The front end of the finger gave way to a pistol shaped cylinder.


A moment later, the bullet left the barrel, rushing towards its target. As it drilled its way through Superman’s brain, a flabbergasted Wonder Woman saw it happen while flying towards the Stark tower. Superman fell to the ground without a hint of sound, the Kryptonite bullet lay there stuck inside his brain.


Before Wonder Woman could close in to the hole on the Stark tower, a bolt of lightning ripped apart the roof and in came Shazam.


He saw Superman lay dead on the floor and mustered up a huge swell of lightning to chuck everyone away from Superman. Wonder Woman hurried inside and picked up Superman in her arms, tears flowing down her gorgeous cheek. A sense of rage was boiling up within her. She wanted to kill all of them. Destroy it all. But Bruce had made it clear. He had asked Wonder Woman to save Superman and bring him back. He had specifically told her not to engage with anyone. She never took orders from anyone, but at this moment she realized that Bruce was right. She rose, Superman in her arms and flew out.

Shazam looked at the Hulk and electrified him with all his might. Thor raised his hammer and hurled it at Shazam. The hit was hard and Shazam felt the thrust pushing him towards the wall. As Thor called Mjolnir back, Shazam was back on his feet. There were no exchange of words. They saw each other and lunged at each other delivering blows after blows.


Thor was stronger but Shazam was irate. The humongous surge of energy from Shazam had rendered Tony’s suit incapable. Hulk grabbed Shazam from behind and threw him at Thor who swung his hammer and hit Shazam in the face. Shazam knew he could not tackle both of them at the same time. To his advantage Aquaman got up behind him, picking up his Trident.

“High time you proved yourself useful”, said Shazam turning an looking at Aquaman.

As Thor swung his arm holding the hammer towards Shazam, he dodged the blow and skid towards Hulk. He flung a bolt of lightning at the green giant who seemed angrier now. The bolt pushed him back but hardly hurt him at all. Aquaman caught Thor in his follow through and grappled him to the ground. Hulk used his thunder clap to blow Shazam moving towards him. Shazam was unperturbed by the gush of force. He moved swiftly like a snake and hurled a punch at Hulk. Hulk was quick to respond and caught the punch midway. They were at loggerheads now. Arm to arm, strength against strength. While they both tried to overpower each other, Thor clinched the Trident from the floor and threw it to the other end of the room. Aquaman saw Thor distracted and tried wielding Mjolnir. He was unable to move it at all. Thor turned and punched Arthur in the gut and then slammed him on the floor.

Shazam uttered the magical word and a bolt of lightning from the sky struck Hulk. He turned around and saw Thor lifting Mjolnir to strike a deadly blow on Aquaman. He came from behind and pushed Thor away. Aquaman got up quickly and lunged towards his Trident. Shazam knew what Arthur had in mind. He moved out of the way and let the Hydrokinesis take control.


Arthur pointed his Trident towards Thor and engulfed him in a whirlpool of water. It was dense and powerful. Thor was incapacitated by the sheer force of the whirlpool.

“Shazam! We need you and Arthur back here. Right now! ” buzzed the earpiece in Shazam’s ear. He could not believe the stern voice commanding him. It was Bruce. The last he had heard was that Bruce collapsed in the court room and had lost consciousness. He was relieved to hear his voice. He had spent year fighting alongside Bruce and that had helped him understand and trust Bruce. Although he wanted to finish his adversaries today, he knew better. He listened to Bruce and signalled Aquaman.

Aquaman released Thor from the whirlpool and left, soaring through the roof. Shazam looked at Tony in a sense of victory.

“You should have kept yourself safe and away from the Justice League when you could. You have no idea what you have done.”

Tony looked at Hulk getting up behind Shazam and signaled him to stop.

“If I were you, I would act smart and get away from him. You don’t want to see him any more angry.”, said Tony in a cautious tone.

“If I were you, I would kiss my family goodbye because Batman is back and he is looking for vengeance. Not even god can save you now. Sayonara Tin man.”

Chapter 1 : Chasing the Hunt


He was seated in the dark, alone, behind the desk, staring unseeingly out of the large office window at the setting sun. He was a man' who was at home in a dozen capitals of the world, but this city was his city, where he grew up to be the man he is. He was destined to be at this position. His waiting had the patience of a hunter, the quiet stillness of a man in control of his body and his emotions. He was American, with the dark, stormy good looks. He had a bald head and a strong face, and quick intelligent eyes that were a deep blue. He was over six feet tall, with the lean muscular body of a man who kept himself in good physical condition. As his phone buzzed to break the silence in the large room, he patiently received the incoming call, “Send him in!” commanded the heavy voice. As the men in black suites entered, and secured the place, a short but strong looking man in an army uniform entered. He looked at the large figure in front of him rise from his seat and felt his piercing stare.

“ Did you find it?” asked the larger one looking down at the general.

“I am sorry Mr. President but he is nowhere to be found. His abilities have kept him a step ahead of us all this while.” said the General, trepidating.

“General, Do you know who I am?”


“You are the President of this country, Mr. President.”

He smiled and raised his hand slowly grab the box on his desk. He opened it and picked out a large cigar. As he placed it between his lips and lit it, he turned his back on the General, facing the large window, his eyes concentrated on the setting sun, lamenting at his own failure in the natural setting. He calmly turned towards the General and in a firm voice said, “ My name is Lex Luthor. I am th most influential Businessman on this planet and now also the President of a Superpower. That’s two great men combined in one. Yet all I can see now is disappointment. My company provided you with the most high tech equipment and technical support.” Said Lex as he puffed out the thick smoke.

“And you tell me it’s difficult for you to find one goddamn alien!” said Lex, slamming his hands on the large desk in frustration. “Do I need to go out there on my own and find him while you celebrate your inefficiencies, General? ”

“No Mr. President. We will find him, I promise you that Sir.” said the General, trying to muster confidence in his voice.

“You won’t be needed anymore General. I want you to stop this hunt and burn all the files. I will take care of it. Your recurring failures have only disappointed me. Why don’t you take a holiday with your family and relax, for a long time?”

“Sir, I promise you we will find him. I will –

“I insist! I will not say this again Go on then. You will take a long leave and go far away from this city. Your position will be vacant by the end of this day and so will be all your drives that have information regarding this Martian Manhunter. You have served your country long enough. Your position will get its rightful successor.”

Lex turned to the secret service operatives in the room and said, “Please escort the General out and make sure he does not lose his way.”

“Yes Mr. President.” Replied one of the operative, moving slowly towards the General. The General left the office without another word. As the door closed behind the leaving operatives, Lex called his secretary and asked her to cancel all his meetings for the day.

He walked towards the balcony to see a large gathering of the reporters, crowding close to Superman and Wonder Woman who were waiting at the entrance. Lex looked and the Security next to the main entrance and signaled them. One of the guards approached Superman and escorted him to the entrance. Superman saw Lex and flew towards the balcony. Diana followed Superman, turning on her way to see if the reporters had a good view of the meeting. Superman landed in the balcony next to Lex. As they came face to face, they slowly raised their hands to shake them in the clear view of the reporters, who were busy taking pictures of the historic handshake. Lex and Superman smiled at each other and turned to greet the reporters, waving their hand in a friendly manner. Wonder Woman joined them with a smile and waved as well. Then they all walked into the large office and closed the Balcony door behind them. Lex pulled the curtains down on the windows in the room. As he walked towards Superman, his eyes turned blood red and he transformed into his real self, the Martian.

“I have to tell you Clark, it is very difficult to maintain this charade. One truly has to be heartless man to truly portray Lex Lutor.”

“You are clearly doing a great job. You are the President this country deserves. It’s just a matter of a few more weeks. Once the historic pact is signed, it will all be over.”, said Clark turning to look at Diana with a smile.

“Clark is right John. We have to make sure that we can keep things calm till then.” Said Diana.

“I still fail to understand why Lex ordered the General to hunt me down. There has to be a reason behind it. Lex never does things unplanned. I am surprised how I could not read anything in his mind related to this. It is as if he did this as a routine process., There has to be an underlying reason.”, said John in a cautious tone.

“Don’t worry about that John. He is a threat to no one now.”

“How is he doing now? Is he still in coma?”

“Yes. Doctor Carter told me, he is stable but she does not know when he would wake up. Just a few more weeks and then he would fail to be a threat to this country ever again.

We should leave now and let the President do his work.” , smirked Clark casually. Diana gave John a warm hug, “You are a good man John. I know you will do the right thing. Just stay strong for a little longer.”

Clark and Diana left the office through the Balcony and John shape shifted back to Lex.

While 200 miles from the capital, Steve Rodgers was in pursuit of a gang to robbers. He leaped from terraces of the large buildings, focusing on the rampant van driving through the streets. He noticed a spot where he could intercept them. He rushed through the roof, sprinting towards the edge of the building. As he reached the corner, he made leap and plummeted towards the speeding Van. Landing straight on its top and rupturing the roof of the vehicle. He jumped down and tore the door off the vehicle and pulled out the perpetrators wearing a mask and dressed in complete black. He removed the mask off the face of the driver. He was baffled to see the face with the make-up of a Joker.

He had heard about the notorious criminal but this was the first time he came face to face with one of his men. A speaker in the car made a screeching sound, disturbing enough for Captain to drop the criminal to protect his own auditory senses. An eerie laugh followed the noise, “Captain America! Welcome to the city. Has anyone ever told you how boring you look?”, giggled the Joker. “ You would have already heard about me, I am a famous personality in this twisted city. How about we play a little game? I am going to tell you exactly where I am and you have the chance to catch me and be the hero people expect you to be. I have a cute little girl here with me. She finds me, well quite scary to be honest. You see people are shallow, they judge me by my looks. I am funny, and love making people smile. So I am going to make here smile, smile with pain and scars and make her like me. Don’t you just love the idea! I am still at the same bank which my men robbed, inside the main safe. I am a very impatient man Captain and I just cannot wait to put that smile on this little face. You have exactly two and a half minutes, starting now, to catch me. Run fast Captain, the clock is ticking.” Joker ended it with a shrill laugh.

Steve looked at the street and thought of the shortest route to get there. He ran and jumped to the top an incoming car, leaping from roof to roof. As soon as he reached the end of the street, he jumped towards the small café at the edge of the street. Holding up his shield, he crashed through the glass door and ran straight to the wall ahead. His shoulders thrusted the hard shield against the wall and broke through it to the next lane. He sprinted towards the dumpster, as he raced to the fence behind the dumpster, he calculated his way over it. He hopped towards the parallel wall, kicking with one foot and landing on the other on the opposite wall and then straight over the fence. As he reached the main street, he saw the entrance of the Bank with the alarm sounding out loud. He dashed through the entrance. The flickering lights inside the main safe gave away the horror that could be witnessed. He could see the Joker’s back and the little girl’s leg struggling in mid-air as the Joker made his signature scar. He instantly threw his shield with all his might towards the mad men dressed in a purple overcoat in front of him. As the shield sliced through the air and raced towards Joker, a dark figure made its way behind the Joker. He turned around and stopped the shield on its way with his resilient grasp. Steve looked at him, it was the Batman, holding up the shield and looking at him. Batman threw the shield to the ground and turned Joker around. It wasn’t Joker. It was someone else dressed as the Joker with his mouth taped and a child sized doll attached to his coat button. Batman took the tape off the man’s mouth.

“ I am the bank manager. Please don’t hurt me. I only did it because he threatened to kill my family.” Said the man, distressed.

“Your family is fine. Joker already took what he wanted.” said Batman in an unsympathetic voice. He turned to the Captain America who walked in to pick his shield. As he leaned and picked it up, Batman smacked it to the ground with his foot, along with Steve’s arm fixated in it. He leaned towards Steve,

“Gotham already has a Joker, it does not need another one running around, destroying things and throwing shields at innocent civilians. Stay away from my city!” exclaimed Batman in a dense voice. He raised his foot to allow Steve to pick up his shield.

“I was trying to help – “, said Steve as he picked up his shield but was startled to see Batman gone. He looked around but could not find him. He turned to the Manager who smiled at him and said

“He does that often.”

The door gently opened to the dark cave, Alfred walked inside in his usual demeanour. He had a tray in his hand that gave refuge to a plate full of carefully cut salad and a glass full of a dense liquid. The crushing noise of free-falling water on the ground echoed in the cave. As he placed the tray on a table next to the Batmobile, he noticed the hordes of blueprints and pictures of space, focusing on a particular pattern of stars.

“ I suppose if you took out more time from your schedule to explore the night skies, you will have a better view of the constellations. You should enjoy nature more. And now if you are done ruminating, hanging from that ceiling, I would ask you to come down and have your meal Master Wayne.” said Alfred without a hint of expression on his face and yet delivering his message with subtle poise.

A clicking sound followed and Bruce glided down using his winged cape. He landed exactly next to Alfred, who watched patiently as Bruce took off his mask and placed it on his palms. “ Get it upgraded would you? I need something lighter and with a longer range for the night vision. Mr. Fox said he had another one made.”

“Of course!“ said Alfred as he turned and began moving towards the door. As he reached the handle of the door, he swiftly turned around and said, “Master Wayne, Is there something bothering you?”

Bruce paused his search through the pictures and looked up at Alfred briefly and answered, “ Something isn’t right Alfred. People are relying heavily on beings they don’t know too well.”

“It gives them hope Master Wayne. A common man can now feel safer with watchful eyes over them. They know that criminals are scared now. Criminal activities have reduced drastically ever since Avengers and the Justice League started co-existing.” explained Alfred, still holding the door open.

“Steve could have hurt an innocent man today. We have too many Superheroes crossing each other’s path. A clash of any sort would be catastrophic.”

“I would not worry about a clash Master Wayne. A few of them have already started bonding well. It is only a matter of time.” said Alfred pointing towards the Bat computer, where a yellow button had lit up. He walked over to the computer and switched on the communicator line by pressing the blinking switch. As soon as it turned on, he could hear sounds of giggling.

“Lantern!” said Bruce in a stern voice to get his attention.

“Hey Brrr....” Lantern paused and corrected himself, “Batman. I have tried contacting you a while back but—“

“Who else is there with you?” asked Bruce, interrupting Hal midway.

“Oh hey Batman. I am a huge fan, dude! I love your gritty voice and that bat suit. I am completely in love with your—“ said a voice less mature to either of the other men, and then stopped midway.

“I am so sorry, I can blabber all day. How rude of me! I am Spiderman, the saviour of the day. But definitely not the night, you own the night man!”

“Lantern this was supposed to be a solo trip!” exclaimed Bruce ignoring all that he had just heard.

“Yeah, I just met him like a week ago and realized he is a genius, especially in Biology and chemistry and I thought I could use some help on this trip.”

“You have your ring to help you.” Said Bruce sternly.

“Yeah but he is a great—“ Hal was interrupted before he could finish how much he liked hanging out with Spiderman.

“Did you find something?”

“Yes. We found a few drops of some green stuff. Looks like a weird chemical. Spidey here took the samples and we will get back to earth in a few minutes. Just gonna enjoy the beautiful view from up here for a little bit.”

“Send them to me today.” commanded Bruce and immediately switched off the line.

“Wow. He seems really strict.” said Spiderman looking at Hal.

“Yeah. He is a bit weird. How are you feeling in that suit?”

“Well I just feel so awesome. Like Neil Armstrong felt when he walked the moon. But it is to big for my size.”

“Yeah well I took it from a friend. I have to make sure we do not damage it.”

“Yeah I am being careful. Plus I still have my spidey suit on.” Said Spiderman in a low tone.

“I love the view of Earth from here. It is so beautiful. I come here every time I need some alone time. Mars is peaceful that way.” chuckled Hal.

“You never told me we were here to look for something?”

“We aren’t. I just noticed something here the last time. I thought maybe it’s a bacteria or something. How cool would that be !”

“Whoa! Very cool. Hey you still have to introduce me to the man of steel.“ said Spiderman, clearly giving away his excitement.

“Everything in its own time kid. Let’s go then. I cannot believe you are still wearing that tight suit. How do you even breathe in it?” asked Hal, flabbergasted.

“Gotta protect the secret identity. After this trip I am gonna call it my Intergalactic Space Suit!”

“Like the pants . I love that guy. He is my favorite. Little guy but a big brain! Tyrion all the way.” Laughed Hal.

“Natasha likes that show as well. She is glued to the T.V every Sunday.”

“That reminds me, you have got to introduce me to her. I love Russian women.” said Hal eagerly.

“Everything in its own time, Dude!” replied Spiderman. Hal cheerily nodded his head and turned to face his home planet. He pointed his fist towards open space, the green rays emanating from his ring created a crystal green F-35 that shined heavily under the uninterrupted rays of the sun. Spiderman hopped into it and they left the barren planet.

Back on earth

Steve and Tony were seated across the table from General Becker, in his office. They looked forbidding, yet calm, paying attention to what the General was saying. He ended his discussion with them and handed them a heap of papers. Tony looked at the General and said, “I don’t understand what the President wants. First he asks to collect all the information on this Martian Manhunter, a very lame name I may add, and now he wants it all destroyed. What the hell is wrong this guy? Does he even know what he wants?”

“The president believed he was dangerous.”

“Then why destroy everything that we have done so far? Wait, he was dangerous? What do you mean?” asked Tony, rising from his seat.

“I don’t know. I have my orders and so do you. Just get rid of it all. Maybe he believes otherwise now. Look, officially I am not even allowed to divulge any details to you, let alone using your help. I trust Steve and that is why I asked for the Avengers to help me. If the President finds out I collaborated with you, my job will be at the line of fire.”

“Cap I smell something fishy here. I think we should go meet him.” Said Tony looking at Steve.

Steve calmly looked at the General, evaluating his expression, and then said, “ It’ll be done General. I will let you know when we have deleted everything. You should get some rest. We will make sure that it gets done discreetly.” He turned to look at a stunned Tony and said, “Let’s go Tony. I don’t see the point in arguing about this. We should do what needs to be done. We signed up for this knowing we won’t have the access to all the answers.”

Tony realized what Steve was getting to. He threw a little bit of tantrum and gave in to Steve’s request. They walked out of the office without another word. As they walked down the empty stairs, Steve looked at Tony and said, “ You were right.”

“When am I not! So how are we going to do this?”

“I tried meeting the President on Monday but he seems to have cancelled all his meetings and is not meeting anyone. Except for Superman and Wonder Woman.”

“This seems very wrong. Do you think he is – “

“I don’t know. He may be. I just know that it’s very odd for him to start acting like this. He despises Superman. and it all points at the same thing.”

“May be its just a politically motivated move, considering that we are just days away from the Treaty of Justice.” Said Tony.

“It could be. It might explain his sudden change of heart!” exclaimed Steve, realizing that he had arrived at a logical suspicion.

“We should give him a surprise visit.” Said Tony with a sneer.

“We can’t. Not against his will and definitely not without alarming everyone and being declared as terrorists.”

“You often forget that you hang out with a genius Steve. I will take care of it. I will set it up. Neither Superman nor Wonder Woman would be there. It’ll be a quiet visit. I have a plan! ” said Tony with a smirk on his face.

“Something tells me it isn’t quite what I expect.”

“Oh Cap, you worry too much! What’s life without some action?! ” said Tony as they walked down the stairs.

Chapter 2: Right to wrong


18 hours later

Lois had had a terrible day so far. She missed out on her daily caffeine intake since her favorite coffee shop was still under renovation. She could not believe that it took the coffee shop and entire week to renovate. Clark had been a wonderful person to live with. He had made coffee and breakfast for her every day. But it wasn’t what she needed. She needed her coffee as she liked it from the store. She wished she could ask Clark to use his powers to finish up the rest of renovation with an hour but she knew that was ethically wrong. She had to pretend to be in love with a normal man, all the while knowing it well that Clark was much more than a normal man. Her car broke down on the way. She had to get it to the garage and take a cab. But she knew that is exactly what Clark would have done as well. They had both agreed to keep the struggle real. Every cell in her body wanted to her to convince Clark to use his powers to make life easier for them but she knew better. Clark had never seen his parents and the only way for him to blend in with people and feel at home was to act like any other guy. She was late for her meeting with her boss that day and had to listen to him complaining as to how she had been very irresponsible this entire week. He refused to buy the coffee shop excuse. There were tons of paper on her desk that needed her attention and yet she was distracted and troubled. These everyday problems had ceased to exist for her but today all of them had decided to pop up one after the other. She could feel the chaos around her. And then the door opened and Clark walked in. He had a gentle and calm face. He greeted others with a smile and moved towards a now smiling Lois. He kissed her on the cheek and that was exactly what she needed. She felt instantly better. She felt relieved, knowing that Clark was there for her when she needed him. Clark was holding something in his hand that Lois had failed to notice so far. He took the cup of coffee and gave it to Lois. She looked at it pleasantly surprised and love gleamed through her eyes.

“Don’t ask me how I got it, but I did and from your favorite coffee place.”

“you know exactly what I need and when I need it. How do you manage to be so wonderful?” asked Lois, lovingly caressing his hair.

“Kryptonian genes I guess.” chortled Clark

There moment of love was disturbed by the news flash and chief walking into the main floor to see what it was.

Clark and Lois looked at the T.V mounted on the pillar behind them. It presented the breaking news.

The news flash showed how a plane full of foreign delegates had gone missing in the middle of the Ocean. The report cited that the plane had been missing off the radar for a couple of hours and that the probable reason could have been a crash. Clark looked at Lois and she looked back at him, in spite of absence of words, their communication was clear and well understood. Clark softly walked towards the restroom and a few seconds later, Superman was flying across the city in the direction of the missing plane. Superman buzzed through his com and was greeted by Barry on the other side. Barry had taken the shift at the command center, currently orbiting the Earth, and positioned over the Pacific ocean.

“Barry, can you give me a location?”

“You are heading in the right direction Clark. Turn south west after 250 miles and the last known position should be 2 miles from there. Diana is also headed there. She can help you in the rescue operation.” said Barry, fervently hitting the keys on the keyboard.

“Good. That should be enough. Once I find something, I’ll send you the exact coordinates so that you can alert the authorities.” said Clark before exiting the com line.

Clark broke the sound barrier and dashed towards the spot. When he got there, he could barely see anything on the surface, he focused his X-Ray vision and started to hunt for any debris. Diana flew in behind him and was now gliding next to him. Clark noticed the plane at some distance, diving quickly towards the bottom. It appeared that it had started plunging a few minutes ago. Clark saw the opportunity and thought he could save lives if he hurried. He dived hard and fast into the water, piercing through the water like a bullet. The next moment he was under the plane, lifting it with his arms and guiding it out of the water. He sprung out of the ocean lifting the plane high over his shoulders. The water rushed out of the plane through various openings in its bid to reconnect with the ocean again. Diana pulled the door apart and threw it away, gently entering it. She was stumped to see the plane empty. The checked it thoroughly but could not find any trace of people. When she conveyed this to Clark, he used his X-Ray vision again to see if someone was still drowning. But all he could see was fishes and trash. Diana went into the cockpit and noticed a small drenched robot in the pilot’s seat. She flew out and went to Clark.

“This seems to be a sick joke. There were never any travelers in the plane. Just a small robot controlling it.” sighed Diana.

Clark placed the plane gently over the water and looked around. It did not look like they were being lured into a trap. He looked at Diana in bewilderment. “Diana, where is your lasso?”

Diana had not realized it till now that her magical lasso was missing. She was shocked to find it missing from her waist. She looked at Clark, clueless. It was then that it struck her. “I was helping this old lady cross the street when Barry told me about the plane. Is this a trap?”

Clark shook his head in disappointment and said,” No. It’s a diversion! We need to get to the capital, now!”

A few minutes later Clark and Diana were flying through the Capital, heading towards the President’s house. As they approached the main gate, they saw Lex walking out on the lawn with his secretary, engaged in discussion. At the very next moment, Iron Patriot hovered above the main building while Iron man flew in towards the President. The whole compound was cordoned off and the army and special forces had closed in on the President. Captain America led the special forces towards him.

“What is happening?” asked a bewildered Lex.

“Ma’am please get away from him right now.” said Steve looking at the secretary.

“She is my secretary. She is of no threat. How dare you enter the premises without my permission?” yelled Lex.

“She isn’t the problem Mr. President. You are! Your cover is blown. You can now transform back to your true self again.”

“I am the President. You will regret this move.” He looked at the commander of the special forces behind Steve and said,” Stand down! And get off this area. Right now!”

Unexpectedly, a lasso overwhelmed Lex and he could feel its grip and power. At the other end Natasha Romanov was holding the lasso firmly, leaning away from the group. “ The lasso compel you to reveal your true identity.” said Steve firmly. Rapidly, Lex transformed into the Martian Manhunter to everyone’s disbelief. The special forces officer was now pointing his weapon on the Martian’s forehead.


“On the ground. Kneel on the ground. I will shoot you if you make any sudden movement!” said the commander in alacrity. John slowly kneeled, looking Steve straight in the eye, without a hint of expression.

“Martian Manhunter. You will be arrested and go through a trial for kidnapping and possibly murdering the President. This is your only chance to save your life. Tell me what did you do to the President? Is he still alive? Where is he?” asked Steve. There was no answer. John just continued staring at Steve.

“If you are trying to find an escape, let me tell you that there is none. The bullets in this gun were made specifically to hurt you. Don’t try anything stupid. Just tell us what you know and I’ll get you off the death row.” said Tony slowly leaning over to the Martian. There was barely any response from John.

“Do your thing Natasha.” said Tony, realizing that there won’t be a willful response from John. “ The lasso compels you to tell the truth. All of it!”

Clark knew he would have to get involved now. He landed heavily in the compound with an impact, followed by Diana. All the eyes were suddenly now on them. It gave John a brief moment. He could now feel the compulsion riding through his nervous system. It would soon take control over him. He realized that he only had a moment of free will left. Without a second thought, he jumped up and tossed himself towards the special forces officer. Sensing the sudden movement, the officers did what they were trained to do. They turned around and sprayed the bullets on the Martian. He lay there in a pool of blood, gasping for breath, shuddering violently. As Clark wrestled through the soldiers, Diana soared and struck a blow at the Natasha, kicking her towards the wall of the building, instantly knocking her out. Clark gently raised John’s head and placed it on his lap.

“John! We will get you fixed. Just stay with me” said Clark in an emotional and concerned tone. John was looking at the camera that one of the reporter at the gate was carrying. He slowly raised his head, still quivering in pain. The camera man noticed it and was zooming in on the Martian. He yelled, “It was my fault. They are innocent.

They did…not…know…about…it.

Lex…was ….evil.

I….. killed…. him!” With these last words, he closed his eyes and let the pain take over him.

Clark was devastated by John’s death. He was in tears and a sense of agony prevailed. But the emotions soon turned to rage. His eyes were burning, red and , ready to unleash its wrath through raw energy.

As Clark scanned the crowd to find his target, Diana gently yet swiftly placed her hand on his shoulder. Clark had seldom felt this rage but he knew, in his heart, that hurting any of those people will not help him feel better, He let it all sink in and closed his eyes. A moment later he opened them again and as if nothing had changed and no one had moved. Tony and Captain knew Superman wouldn’t hurt innocents. They had studied him long enough. They maintained their distance and let Clark have the moment of grief that he deserved. Diana picked her lasso from the ground and rolled it slowly to eventually place it on her belt. She looked at Natasha, who was puzzled at the turn of events. Natasha could feel the sorrow in Diana’s eyes. Diana retracted and turned to look at Superman.

Superman stood up with John’s carcass in his hands and let himself levitate from the ground at a gentle speed as Diana followed.

The next day, an entire nation woke up to ranting of Newspapers and Television news channels against the events of the previous day. Clark and Lois were having a slow morning. Lois gave Clark time and space to mourn the death of his friend. She had made him breakfast and served him but Clark was no responsive. His eyes were glued at the newspaper in front of him on the table. He looked at the picture of John’s body and could only feel himself powerless.

“It wasn’t your fault Clark. You could not have done anything without hurting people others. Stop blaming yourself for his death.”

“I could have saved him Lois. If I wanted, I could have saved him.” asserted Clark.

“But you had no idea he was going to….”

“Why would he do that? John was a reasonable man. A man with intellect and conscience far greater than anyone on this planet. He was a reasonable man and yet he confessed to a crime that never happened and especially the one he did not commit. I had asked him to do this. I had asked him to be Lex. I pushed him to that end.”

“Where is Lex?” quizzed Lois.

“He isn’t in the cave where we left him. Batman is looking for him.”

“Without Lex, alive, there is no way to prove anything. Maybe he did –“

“No! He would have never done that. He isn’t a monster that people think. You knew him well Lois, how can you even think of him doing something inhuman like that?” asked a puzzled Clark, raising his head and looking at Lois sitting on the chair next to him.

“I knew him well and he also never tried to attack government forces. But he did that yesterday. I am not accusing John but circumstances change people and make them do what they had never thought they could.” Explained Lois in a tender voice.

“I don’t—“

Clark was interrupted by the noise of the crowd emanating from the Television in front of them. It was broadcasting the swearing in ceremony of the Vice President. It managed to attract everyone’s attention and the entire nation almost stopped whatever they were doing to witness the moment. Clark and Lois had their eyes fixated on the screen as well. As the Vice President finished his swearing in ceremony, he moved towards the podium and leaned into the microphone.

“Dear Countrymen. I regret to break to it to you that we could not find any trace of the President so far even after our intensive search missions. I loved Lex as a friend and as a leader. He did so many wonderful things for the country. He helped millions of people through various reforms and aids. He made our country strong enough to face any challenge that we may encounter. His policies and stance in favour of equal rights for all was truly a reflection of his true self. Even when these aliens and Superheroes made their way to the country he welcomed them and supported their acceptance in the society.

Yet, the very same people whom he treated as friends and the citizens of this country have decided to wrong everything he stood for. The confession that we saw yesterday from the Martian is a testament to the fact that these people with abilities can never be trusted. These monsters who think of themselves as above law, have now also turned into self-proclaimed executioners. They have no regard for the government and the people of this great nation.

And now it is time to show them that we aren’t weak! To prove that they are not gods but mere enhanced living organisms! They can be stopped and they will be !” , the crowd roared and cheered as Maven Norton, the sworn in President made his resilient stance clear.

“As the President of the greatest nation on this planet, I will use everything and every measure to make them pay for their gruesome crimes. The Avengers have already been in contact with the government and they have been ordered to remain inactive until further notice. I will ask all the other self-declared superheroes and vigilantes to surrender themselves. As for the wretched Justice League, who concocted this plan of treason, I am issuing an order, effective immediately to be hunted down. I announce a bounty of $1 million for each of the members of Justice League, dead or alive.” Norton finished his speech with a sense of rage and ruthlessness. The crowd cheered in favour of the announcement.

Lois slipped her hand on Clark’s. She looked worried.

“You are not going to become Superman again. You are Clark Kent. That’s all.” said Lois in a stern voice.

“Lois I have to be there to help people –“

“No! We have had enough. Over the years you have devoted your life to saving everyone and sacrificing everything. But not any more. You deserve a normal life. This is essentially a death warrant against you. Everyone is going to look for that opportunity to get you. All the bad guys you have fought so far will lunge on you, to kill you. Promise me, there will be no more Superman now. No matter what happens. I love you and I will not see you sacrifice yourself for people who do not care about their saviour.”

“But Lois—“ Clark tried to reason with Lois but she was adamant and signalled him to try reasoning by holding her hand against his face.

“You have to promise me. I deserve my Clark in my life” she said, slowly placing her palm in front him. Clark gently placed his palm over hers and said, “Okay.”

The following days saw a steep rise in violent crimes. With no Superheroes to help, the Police found it increasingly difficult to contain the violence erupting in various cities. The Justice League had completely vanished without a trace. It was as if they never existed. Numerous crime lords went out of their way to commit violent murders so as to lure the Justice League members out. The Avengers were having a difficult time trying to convince the President to let them help. The President was unyielding and maintained a strict no Superheroes policy. He had more than once, threatened the Avengers against doing anything. Bruce Banner and Hawkeye were being monitored continuously, while Tony had to give up his access to his suits in order to show his support for the government. Natasha had been ordered to gather information about other vigilantes and was ordered to be in no contact with other members of the Justice League. Thor had been busy fighting the war of other worlds. Every single one of these members had signed an accord to follow the government orders and was bound by it vehemently.

The Justice League members on the other hand had gone back to being their normal self in the world. With the government on a lookout for them, they had been careful, not to engage into any kind of action. Batman had made that clear to everyone during the death service of John that was held in his secret lair. “I will find Lex. He is still alive. The cameras in the cave have been damaged. Someone helped him escape. Until we find him, none of us are going to reveal ourselves.” had been his words.

The days went by and Clark had slowly but painfully learnt to stop himself from wearing the cape. He had witnessed robbery and violence in his vicinity and yet decided to stay put. It was exactly opposite of the principles he held close to, helping the people in need, Every time he saw something horrific, he wanted to help but Lois’ promise and Batman’s word tied him down. Barry and Hal started hanging out together more often. He missed meeting Spiderman, who was now also getting rid of his heroic instincts. Even after meeting several times in past, Hal and Peter had maintained their respect to each other’s privacy and secrecy. Neither of them ever revealed their true identity to the other, although that never bothered them. Hal had finally figured a way to unwind himself through flying jets and getting his job back. Barry had the privilege of helping through his work in solving crimes. On a few days when they could not help being heroic, Hal and Barry would head out, dressed like normal guys and would end up fist fighting with the bad guys. They felt good then. But they were careful not to frequent such escapades.

Chapter 3: The voice of humanity

It was just a regular day for Clark and Lois on their way to office after lunch. Things had been getting better with the police finally getting a control over the daily crimes. Violent crimes were decreasing and the world was getting ready to live now without the influence of Superheroes. Two months after his order to hunt down the members of Justice League, there was no clue to be found of the members and the government agencies’ tireless effort was in vain. Batman had essentially wiped all traces of the existence of the Justice League. The President had, in an interview said that looking at how things are, the ban on Superheroes might be on the verge of ending. he said the government might find a way to work with the Avengers on missions outside the country and thereby creating an opportunity to bring back soldiers from other missions. This could help many a Soldiers’ lives and the Avengers could be kept in check that way. A re-telecast of the interview was being played at the television in the lobby of the Daily Planet’s office. Clark and Lois stopped on their way to hear the President speak. He said, “I have met and talked to people from various walks of life and they all have one thing to say- this world without the intervention of Superheroes is much more peaceful. I think the mandate is clear. We could use the help of Avengers to tackle international problems. But they would not be allowed to use their skills within the country. Our police and justice department are doing a darn good job. I, myself, feel that people now only have to handle normal day to day problems. It is a relief not having to experience a flying monster breaking through the city creating havoc. I think the Justice League members have understood their mistake and left. There is no evidence of them being here.”

“So then is the hunt for JL members over?” quizzed the interviewer

“I would say it looks like that. I mean we should be focussing our resources more towards development and let the feeling of revenge and rage pass. By the end of this month, if our agencies haven’t found any clue of them, I will reallocate most of those resources on other areas. But the hunt will always be on. We will make them answer for their crimes one day. But I am more focussed on helping the country grow.”

Lois turned to look at Clark with a smile. “ I think it is for the best. I get to spend more time with my Clark now.”

“It feels good to live like a normal man” replied Clark with a smile.

“How about we have a date night tomorrow? It’s been so long since we did something romantic.”

“Sounds good” said Clark Jauntily.

As they walked towards the elevator, the Television buzzed loudly to disturb the calm environment. The program feed had been interrupted by the emergency channel. But surprisingly, the Joker greeted the audience watching. The camera focussed on his grinning face with a view of the clear blue sky in the background. As the camera zoomed out, he could be seen in his usual attire at the edge of a terrace, holding a man upside down in the air. The man, wearing, a deep blue suit, looked skinny and was struggling to keep himself stagnant.

“Howdey do my fellow crazies. Did you miss me? Of course you did.” said Joker with a grin.

Clark looked at the man’s suit. He was wearing a badge on his suit that said The voice of humanity. Clark immediately recalled his connection to this man.

“This man here calls himself a philanthropist and activist. His name is Carl Maine. He has been working tirelessly to help support children in poor countries. Look at his cheeks, so skinny. The man clearly works too hard. So I thought, being the Joker, I should make him happy. Put a smile on his face and let him have a flying experience. Sounds fun right?”

Joker took out a knife from his pocket and gave it to Harley, who now entered the frame. She perched and held the knife against the man’s lips.

“My darling will put a broad smile on his face and then I will let him fall to his death. A truly wonderful way of experiencing death. Not only him, I have here many of his work partners who will be gladly following their boss. Now I know, the butts of all you officers would be itching to get in action. But let me give you a small hint, don’t do it.” saying which he burst into laughter.

“I have laid teeny tiny bombs in a 4 block radius. If you try to sneak in, it’ll go boom! If you try to use a chopper, my RPGs will be ready to greet you, Boom! Boom! Boom!” he said as he panned the camera towards his men wearing the mask of Joker and holding RPGs on their shoulders.

“Why don’t you pop some corns and just watch the show. This will be a live telecast. So this is how we are going to play. I am going to slowly let them all fall from here, which is around 60 storeys high, and watch them all turn to ketchup. Unless one of the Justice League lunatics show up. hmmmm… let me see….something tells me, someone is going to show up today. Lets see if the Justice League is truly extinct or you President is just lying to you. Let the fun begin”

Clark knew the man. He had helped Carl last year get out of his depression and showed him the way to happiness by helping others in need. Carl now remembered his encounter with the Superman, his saviour, who had saved him from jumping to his death from the roof of the very same building and assured him that all is not lost. He remembered how Superman had given him hope to live and do good for others. he almost broke into a smile thinking about the irony of life. He was now going to fall from the very same spot. Life had come to a full circle for him.

Other league members were watching the horror show on the screen of the command centre in Space. Barry realised that Superman was the only one on earth now. He looked at Batman and Diana, standing behind him. Batman said firmly, “ We made a decision together. We cannot risk it. Instead let’s work to find a way out for the police and get them the required information through different channels.”

“Bruce, Clark is on earth. He saved the man’s life last year. He told me about this guy. Joker is trying to lure him out.” said Barry worringly

“Then let’s hope he isn’t a stupid enough to fall for this.”

But Clark could not resist the urge. For months he had worked to control his instincts taking over him but at this point he could not push them down any more. He rushed towards the elevator and got into one. As the doors closed, Lois got a glimpse of him. She knew he wouldn’t listen this time. She knew he was right.

As Harley pressed the knife at the edge of Carl’s mouth, she felt a breeze pass by her. The Joker grinned and turned the camera towards Superman who was now towering over them in the sky with the sun behind him. He focussed his energy in his eyes and the heat vision was ready to act.

“Give me one reason why I should not just obliterate you and your junkies right here.”

The Joker broke into a laugh.


He chuckled to control his laugh and then out of the blue his face lost all its humour. He was serious and staring at Superman. He leaned to his left and looked behind Superman and said again with a smile, “ Because I will bathe in your blood tonight.”

Superman felt a surge behind him as the Abomination lunged towards him, kicking him straight towards the park below. As Superman fell on the ground, he created a crater with his impact. He could feel the immense strength that was put into the blow. He recovered and slowly got up. Abomination landed in front of him with a thumping impact.


As Clark got ready to take him on, he was surprised to see other figures jumping towards the park.

Black Adam landed with a fierce impact


, followed by Metallo.


Clark was now facing three adversaries in front of him. He took a step forward, clinching his fist, ready to take them head on but to his surprise two more impacts were felt behind him. He turned to find the Venom, in his black suit with his monstrous look,


standing next to the giant Solomon Grundy.


Surrounded by a number of adversaries, Clark got to thinking. While Joker continued his commentary over the microphone, “Dear crazy audience, I have here for you the match of this century. On one side we have the Man of Krypton, the defeater of General Zod, the master of strength and the Super hero with a very poor sense of fashion, Superman! “ which was followed by a lousy expression and halfhearted applause from his goons in the background.

“And on the other side, we have the beast who almost killed the Hulk and a bunch of his mates from the most dreadful places on this planet, the Abomination! Let the fight begin. You can vote for your favorite contestant by calling the number on the screen”

The Abomination was peering into Clark’s eyes. Clark looked ridiculously calm for his current situation. He felt the surge of power, knowing that Clark would die today. He snorted and said, “ I will have a great time, smashing your bones and inflicting enormous pain before I decide to kill you.” The others broke into a laugh, except for Grundy who could be seen nodding without any form of expression on his face. Lois was horrified at what she was looking on the television. She was shocked and had not moved, a drop of sweat rolling down her beautiful cheek.

Diana also stood cold at her place in the watch tower. She grabbed her sword and said, “ I don’t care who says what, I am going there right now.” She turned around to find the watch tower empty.

While the others had enjoyed Joker’s foolery for the past minute, Clark has examined the position of each of his adversary. Five of them had positioned themselves unevenly around him. The Abomination was the closest to him, in front, next to Black Adam. Behind him was Solomon Grundy and the Venom. Metallo stood the furthest on the right. He had remembered each of their strengths. Metallo was clearly there to use the Kryptonite on him, making him weak. While, Venom would use his webs to arrest him in his position, Grundy and Abomination would land blows after blows. Black Adam would use his magic to keep him from escaping, while the others use the opportunity to get even with him and Adam would finally strike the final blow. He heard intently and noticed that Abomination’s heart beat was faster than the others. He could hear his muscles twitch. He could feel how badly the Abomination wanted to strike the very first blow. His feet were firmly grounded to help him generate enough power. Grundy, hunched, was in the right position to strike from behind. They had discussed how to go about it. Clark found it remarkable that these beats of sorts thought they could trick him. He appreciated their effort. He also noticed how he had some space to his left. They had discussed their moves but they were no good at team work. Clark calculated the distance between him and Metallo and approximated his traverse range in a split second. He knew exactly what he was going to do, planned strategically to the last move. He almost broke into a smile, noticing how unprepared they were to take on him. They had failed to take into consideration, his I.Q and speed.

He clenched his fist, ready to finally unleash his powers. These unprepared bunch of morbid would be his punching bag. The Abomination looked at Metallo, who understood the signal. Metallo ripped open the chamber on his chest to reveal the shinning green rock. The moment, Kryptonite was revealed, a gush of wind rushed past them. A second later Flash had brought Clark out of the danger and they were standing a mile away on a rooftop. “Are you okay?” asked a nervous Barry.

“Why did you do that? You should have stayed hidden and safe at the Watch Tower. I can handle this on my own.” said Clark with a hint of restlessness.

“Of course you can. But I need you to help me save lives. Your X-Ray vision could help us locate all the bombs. Once it is out of the way, you can go back and kick their asses. But first we should make sure everyone is safe here.”

“And you think they would not pursue us? That would cause more damage.” said Clark furiously.

“Don’t worry about them. They are being taken care of.” said Barry slyly.

“Come on! Not again. I hate him!“ remarked Clark.

“Yeah I know that feeling. Let’s go.“

Back in the Park, the five villians were baffled to see Superman gone. A jet flew in from top and a dark figure jumped to the center where Superman was, a couple of seconds ago. Smoke brewed from the center and blurred everyone’s vision. As the smoke and dust settled, there stood in the middle, a fearless and emotionless Batman. “Why don’t you fight someone your own size!“ said Bruce quirkily.

Bruce used the element of surprise and swiftly grabbed the Kryptonite, replacing it with a EMP device. He then turned to land a kick on Venom’s face, plunging the blade in his shoes on his ribs, which were followed by the shriek of pain. He saw the shadow of the big man behind him move closer. He dodged the Abomination’s punch and gently paced a thruster from his belt on the beast’s back on his way out. The thrusters hurled the Abomination heavily on Solomon Grundy as he was positioning himself to strike the Batman. The sudden impact dumbfounded the two giants who fell a few feet away. In a split second, Bruce was standing straight looking at a stunned Adam. Adam reacted swiftly by throwing punches at Bruce with all his might while Bruce dodged and escaped every single one of them elegantly as if he was performing a gentle form of dance. Then Bruce stopped, “Gotcha!” A huge metal enclosure fell from the sky and trapped Adam inside. A surge of electricity could be felt inside with occasional sparks of blue lightning emanating from within the enclosure.

Superman flew high and fast. He soon reached a considerable height for his vision to cover the entire area. With his back against the scorching rays of Sun, he focused his X-Ray vision on the ground and started scanning the area. He could soon see a number of bombs, some in the sewage network, another one under a car, one by one he pointed the location of each one of them to Barry, as he rushed through the blocks, collecting each of them. In under a minute, Barry had collected them all and placed them on the roof of a single building. Clark sped down towards the roof and landed next to them. All of them had a timer on them and that ensured that they would go off, even if The Joker had won. Clark picked them all and zoomed towards the blue sky. A few seconds later he returned without them.

Diana landed firmly next to Clark and Barry. “Are you okay?” asked a worried Diana, placing her hand gently on Clark’s broad shoulder.

“I am fine, raring to get back in action. Let’s take this fight away from the city and have some fun.”

Barry and Diana nodded in agreement and rushed towards the park.

Bruce had effectively incapacitated the five but he knew that they would not need much time to get back on their feet. The Abomination pushed Grundy off him and got up. Adam used his magic spell to escape from the cage and Venom slowly healed back. The road to recovery seemed long for Metallo but he regained consciousness and saw Venom use his webs to arrest Batman in his position while Adam soared high and plummeted down to land a powerful blow at Bruce. A moment before it could materialize, a gush of wind whizzed past and Adam was suddenly gone. Another breeze followed and Venom and Grundy vanished in it. Abomination saw in disbelief how his comrades were suddenly gone. He noticed Bruce struggling to escape from the webbings. He ran towards Bruce, raising his fist high, aiming at the helpless crusader. As he brought down his arm to hit him, a green wall stopped his blow midway. Above him, Lantern was gliding in the air and his ring shone even in the broad daylight. Bruce used the blade in his shoes to slice the webs on his calves and rapidly released himself from the captivity of the black webs. Lantern entrapped the Abomination in a ball of green energy and placed it at the pad of a catapult, also bearing the same constructive force, and launched him high towards the sky.

“I suppose you would want to take on the crazy one” said Hal teasingly

He looked up at the roof where Joker stood, laughing and still holding on to the helpless man. Joker looked at the camera and said, “ The Justice League is out of its cave. You uniformed baboons should get to work while I carve out a smile on the Bat’s face.” Joker dropped the man who was falling fast towards the ground. Lantern made a slide in mid-air and guided the victim safely to ground.

“Go help the others. I will be there in a bit.” commanded Batman. He pressed a button on his utility belt and the Bat-mobile came screeching through the corner. He hopped in and roared the engine to life.

Metallo witnessed everything while still lying on the ground, baffled at the sheer apathy towards him by everyone at the scene, “I guess people forgot me completely. Can this day get any more embarrassing!?”

Far away from the mainland, on an island, Flash was busy landing blow after blow on Adam, his extreme speed leaving the grand magician clueless. Clark was fighting the Abomination and behind them Diana was already beating Solomon Grundy to unconsciousness. Hal was enjoying the beautiful day, lying on the beach and soaking the sun while the Venom was getting restless and violent inside the giant green bubble that Hal had trapped him into. Flash used nerve attack to target the soft spots on Adam. He used his fist to strike the nerve gathering in Adam’s armpit. Then he struck a blow right above his knee cup, then on the neck and ending the circuit with a blow on his nose. It was a recurring drill and Barry knew that even with his magic, Adam won’t be able to sustain these strikes for long. On the other end of the island, Clark was finally able to flex his muscles and unleash his full strength on the Abomination. He grappled the monster in the air and punched him down towards the ground. As the colossal demon landed on the ground, Clark came down at supersonic speed and landed a blow on his chest, cracking the ground beneath them. He let the heat vision loosen its restraint and marked a deep wound on his chest. The sweltering pain made the gargantuan beast scream while he tried to struggle out of Clark’s unbending grip. Diana got punched by Grundy and it was a colossal blow. She landed far away, on the relaxing Hal, essentially breaking the stream of energy from his ring and releasing the furious Venom.

Venom landed a few feet away from the duo and immediately used his webs to cover Hal’s hand. As he tried to find his way out of it, Grundy tried to punch an unprepared Diana. She crouched to avoid the strike, leaving Hal in the path of impact. Hal felt the sharp impact on his spine and the force tossed him into the water. Venom ensured that WonderWoman could not stay dynamic through his web splutters, Grundy finally got the opportunity to get even with her. Venom poured out his webs, essentially mummifying Diana and Grundy made it difficult for her to escape. Soon the webbing completely covered her body and Grundy started digging in the sand to bury her. Venom picked up the, now stagnant, cocoon and flung it in the sand grave. Grundy and Venom chucked sand on it and to her horror, Diana found it impossible to breathe inside and the thick shell of the cocoon did not provide her any room for movement. Clark was oblivious of Diana’s condition, busy thrashing the Abomination who seemed to recover from any and every blow of his. Diana embraced herself for the worst. She wasn’t claustrophobic but the nature of an enclosure so rigid and constricted would make a Claustrophobic out of anyone. Yet she struggled, trying to turn and twist, her sword on her back was out of her reach. She had conquered worlds of demons, fought the Devil himself and yet it was remarkable how she fell for this trap. Trapped in complete darkness, she lost all hopes of trying to free herself. She let the reality sink in and closed her eyes to feel the sweat swerve down her forehead rapidly, landing on her face and then continuing on its journey. In the waves of the ocean, drowning gently to the bottom, Hal lay unconscious. He was transported back to his childhood to the day he was to go and see his father fly the enormous jet. The fateful day when he lost him, his anchor, his mentor, his friend and his only family. He wished he had never woken up that day, for his father would have never gone without his little champ. He felt like he was floating on the bed, with a gentle breeze blowing on his face, oblivious of the waves that had transformed into the breeze within his dreams. As he lay on the bed asleep, he could hear the footsteps of his father, entering his room and walking towards the bed. His father would gradually caress his hair, give him a hug and whisper into his ear, “Hal!”

And Hal would playfully smile with his eyes tightly shut. He would feel the strong yet gentle hands waft through his hair, the feeling of weightlessness and unconstrained motion. He could hear his father call him out again gently “Hal!” as if the words echoed from a distant mountain while he lay on his bed in the valley. He could suddenly feel the voice getting stronger and closer with every passing moment. He could the worrisome tone of his father’s voice, trying desperately to get his attention. The voice grew stronger and the bed grew lighter as if it was beginning to melt. He did not want to be woken up. He wanted time to stop, He wanted it all to remain, so he could save his father. He wriggled his way out of his father’s grip and on the bed again, but the grip grew stronger and pulled him away from his bed. He knew that his father would wake him up and the horrific day would begin again. He knew what was going to happen and he was terrified at the thought of witnessing it again. Suddenly the force holding him grew strong enough for him to experience the pain on his ribs. The bed melted away and he lay their screaming but no sound came. He heard his name again, this time loud and clear and he had no other option left, he had to give up and open his eyes because the searing pain became unbearable. He screamed and opened his eyes to realize he was in the Ocean, drifting towards the surface and a strong arm holding him tight just like his father did. He turned and saw the familiar trident shining and leading its path to the surface and hordes of sea creatures following him. Then he turned to see the face of the man, he had not seen in years, a friendly face. He was relieved to see Arthur swimming at a fast yet gentle pace. Arthur looked at Hal with a smile and said, “Didn’t I tell you to stick to swimming pools for your practice sessions?” Hal could not speak in the water as he realized that his ring was low on energy. He gladly smiled and nodded.

Clark was having a tough time dealing with Grundy and the Abomination simultaneously, with Venom guiding the fight and striking opportunistic blows. Grundy wrestled Clark to the ground and held his face, smeared into the sand, essentially nullifying his heat vision. Venom strategically spread his webbing around Clark and stood on his back, forcing Clark from getting up, while Grundy and Abomination flexed their muscles, ramming punches on his back. The Abomination used his bone to inflict wound on Clark but failed to penetrate his skin. The sudden impact brought out the reflex from Clark who kicked Grundy in the air. An octopus lunged in the air and gripped itself against the Venom’s face. Clark saw the opportunity and turned around swiftly to halt the Abomination’s punch midway. He used his strength to break the monster’s wrist and kicked him stalwartly towards the Ocean. Arthur appeared out of the water holding the giant by his neck and pointing his Trident towards the water, producing a whirlpool. He tossed the beast in the eye of the whirlpool and it powerfully slurped the Abomination to the bottom, rendering him unconscious. Clark got up and thanked Arthur while Hal reminded him of Diana. He used his vision to find her. Arthur called upon the king tide that washed away the sand and lay the cocoon on the moist ground. Clark used his heat vision to cut through the mesh of webs and released Diana from it.

“It’s been long. Good to see you Arthur.” said Clark

“Atlantis is had its own share of problems and as the king, I had to guide my people and serve them. But haven’t changed a bit Clark, still getting beaten up like a school kid.” Chuckled Arthur

“Your timing was bad though” retorted Clark

“I actually came seeking your help. I need the Justice League to help me with something. I feel it could be a hint of an impending danger. I suppose Bruce hasn’t told you about this yet”

“I don’t think so. What is it?”

Their friendly reunion was interrupted by a sound boom. Moments later, Iron man appeared from the sky and plummeted his way to the island and landed heavily, followed by his Iron legion and the Armed forces.

“I am sure you were the good guys today but I still have to bring you guys in. Nothing personal.” Said Tony in a soft tone. The choppers had surrounded them with the Iron legion strategically positioning themselves. Captain America zipped down from one of the choppers and approached them.

“I guess you are here to convince us too” said Diana looking at Steve.

“Superman, I hope you understand that the law needs you to surrender. You proved yourselves today. Just yield now and help us avoid a showdown here. Law is equal and fair to all.” reassured Steve.

“You are making a mistake. It isn’t how it appears. Martian Manhunter was a good man.”

“I know. But we have to show everyone that we aren’t above the law. You can explain yourself in the court and to the Jury. They will listen to you. But only if you surrender right now. The entire Justice League needs to surrender.” Said Steve

“I am sorry Captain. We mean no harm but this is not the time. We have something bigger to worry about. Unfortunately, you will have to let us go now.”

“Sorry pretty lady but can’t do that.’ Said Tony without a hint of expression.

“Then I suppose we will have to make our own way” said Arthur and called upon roaring tide, 100 feet high, racing towards the island.

“ Yeah I thought so. Let’s get to work boys!” signalled Tony, to his Legion of autonomous bots as they took the aggressive stance. Before they could clash, the Bat hovered above them and Batman sprung out of it. Arthur calmed the waves and watched Batman walk to the centre. He looked at his team mates with his back towards the others. He slowly raised his hand to grab his mask. He lifted it off his head slowly and took it off. He turned his face away from the flabbergasted team members to turn around and reveal his identity to the others.

“My name is Bruce Wayne and I am the Batman. I have been the vigilante in the city of Gotham and I have committed numerous crimes. It was my plan to assassinate Lex Luthor. The Martian Manhunter helped me with this plan and all the other team members of Justice League were unaware of this. They played no part in it. I accept all the charges against me and surrender wilfully to the government.” said Bruce in a rigid voice.

Chapter 4 : Face-off



The members of Justice League gathered inside the Batcave, Bruce serenely waiting for each member to arrive and gather around him. There were curious eyes all around him with questions lurking in the air. He knew it was time to explain it all to his colleagues but it needed to be discreet.

“I want you all to listen to me very carefully and make sure that this stays within these walls.” He looked at the Clark’s corpse which lay on the ground and gently caressed his hair. “Clark died a martyr, trying to do the right thing. He understood what was important and sacrificed his life for it. It’s time I bid adieu to all of you as well. I was poisoned in the courtroom and it will slowly consume me. I want you to go and fight the Avengers, inflict pain and make sure you hit them hard.”

Three Hours later

Aquaman went back to the island where Bruce had revealed his identity. It looked secluded as always, with no sign of any humans anywhere close. He looked at the vast sea behind him and raised his Trident towards the sky, calling a giant wave towards him. As the wave approached him, casting a shadow on the scorching sand, it grabbed the attention of many as Arthur had expected.

A few minutes later a news helicopter was flying over the island, broadcasting Aquaman in the middle of it. It advanced at a landing spot close to him and landed gently. The reporters followed by the camera man quickly reached Arthur. Arthur used the opportunity to convey the message that had decided upon in the Batcave, to the Avengers.

“Superman died a martyr, trying to do the right thing. He understood what was important and sacrificed his life for it. Batman was poisoned in the courtroom and it slowly consumed him, killing him painfully, and the Avengers have to answer for their wrongdoings. I ask them to come and fight me here, away from the city so that we do not endanger innocent lives. And as the king of Atlantis, I say this to your government, stay out of it!”

In just a few minutes, the Avengers landed their jet on the island and walked out of it together, Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Thor and Bruce Banner, towards Arthur. They stopped a few feet away from the Trident wielding Arthur. Arthur was focused on Tony with raging eyes. A couple of helicopters were hovering around over the island with spherical cameras mounted in the front, panning from above, broadcasting the face-off.

“ You, I will certainly enjoy killing.” Said Arthur in a heavy voice, pointing at Tony.

“I have heard that before. You must to be crazy to actually think you can fight all of us alone.”

“Who said I am alone?”

The next second, a gush of wind blew towards them and Thor disappeared. “Oh I don’t like this.” Said Hawkeye worriedly, scanning the area of others. Tony turned around and positioned his sight towards the other direction as the suit automatically sealed itself, protecting Tony. A bolt of lightning struck him from above, perplexing the suit and Shazam dived towards him. Hawkeye loaded an arrow and shot it towards Shazam, who just landed on the Iron suit, smashing its armour with his strength,


ripping the arc reactor out of its socket and throwing around the pieces of the suit around and exposing Tony’s face to his plummeting fist.

He felt the arrow race towards him and stopped it midway, crushing it and dropping the crumbled pieces on the sand. He stepped on the head of the arrow as it exploded, containing the effect of explosion with his foot. “ You like tricks I see. Here, try this one.”


Shazam threw a both of lightning towards Hawkeye, who dodged the attack, unmindful of the second bolt that followed it. He was caught off guard and the energy shocked him to the ground. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner realized that it was time to transform and the Hulk ripped through the clothes and was ready to take on his adversaries. WonderWoman smirked and struck a blow by clashing her bracelets together, producing a strong wave of energy that pushed the Hulk further away from the team.


Captain America launched his shield towards Aquaman, who deflected it using his Trident. Steve swiftly moved towards Aquaman and struck a blew on his abdomen. Aquaman felt it like a pinch and smashed his knee against Steve’s face, crashing him on the sand. Lantern showed up from behind and created an enclosure around the black widow that had barely a small opening for her to breathe, rendering her ineffective. On the far side of the island, flash was landing blows after blows on Thor, so quickly that Thor could hardly see him. Each blow grew stronger and stronger and broke through the armour on his chest. He hurriedly raised the Mjolnir and let a bolt of lightning from the sky hit him and an aggressive Barry was left momentarily subdued. Hulk soared in the air to strike down a blow on Barry with his hammer but the speed force allowed Barry to react with all the time in the world. He comfortable escaped the strike and ran away from the point of impact. He looked at an agitated Thor, tightening his grip on the hammer. Barry started running around Thor in circles, generating the static electricity within him and in a split second used this enegery to throw a bolt of lightning at Thor who was unaware of Barry’s abilities. A baffled Thor could not anticipate this move and got hit, the bolt of lightning hurling him towards the ocean.

Barry rushed to the other side where he saw Hawkeye carefully dodging Shazam’s attack and firing hordes of arrows at Shazam. One of them temporarily blinded the wizard hero and gave him an opportunity to carry out his assault. Barry saw this and ran towards Hawkeye, grabbing him instantly and escorting him to the green enclosure to accompany Black Widow. He looked at Hal sitting under the shade of a tree far away enjoying the view of the fight from a comfortable distance. He ran towards Hal and dropped the bow and arrow next to him. “Looks like you are having fun.”

“Well, what can I say. It’s a beautiful day and live action is best enjoyed from a safe distance.” Chuckled Hal.

Their conversation was interrupted by the impactful Mjolnir finding its adversary from behind and striking a solid blow on Barrry’s back. As the impact withdrew its effect, Barry got up and looked at an enraged Thor walking towards him.

“I got this buddy!” said Hal looking at Barry. Green lantern used a second beam emanating from his ring to create an enclosure around Mjolnir that lay on the ground.

“No!” exclaimed Barry, realizing how Mjolnir reacts to Thor’s call.

Thor called back Mjolnir raising his arms towards it and the force took the enclosure with it, forcing the Hal’s arm sideways. The force and speed of Mjolnir broke Hal’s concentration, rendering his power ineffective and pulling him towards Thor. Green lantern flew towards the hammer wielding Thor who was ready to strike Hal now. In a split second Barry knew he had to save Hal from that blow and rushed towards Thor.


Thor, mindful of the approaching speedster, turned sideways to hold Hal by his neck with his left arm and use the cover to hide behind Hal for that very moment. As Barry got close to him, he turned again, getting Lantern out of the way and striking Barry on his face with the Mjolnir. The effect was strong enough to knock a couple of teeth out of its place and Barry flew towards the far side of the island, unconscious. Thor grappled Hal down with one arm and placed his Hammer on his chest. He left his hammer there and walked towards the others. Thor saw Aquaman fighting a struggling Captain America. He sprinted towards the duo, which was immediately noticed by Aquaman. He kicked Steve away and turned towards the juggernaut and raised his Trident to strike him. Steve exchanged a brief look with Thor and threw his shield towards him. As Thor neared Aquaman, the Trident turned away and came down heavily upon him.


At this moment, the shield made its way into the hands of Thor who obstructed the fierce Trident. The clinging of these two created a shock wave of blowing sand in the air and inhibiting everyone’s vision. Steve saw the opportune moment and rolled towards Arthur, punching him in the guts followed by a blow from the shield wielding Thor on his face. Steve positioned his foot behind Arthur and Thor pushed the shield against the colossal figure. Aquaman tumbled and fell to the ground losing control of the Trident.

Far away, Hal had already tried lifting the Hammer with all his strength and even the ring felt the infinite weight of the Hammer impossible to lift. Hal created a giant shovel with his ring and used it to dig himself up out of the ground and dumped himself next to the hole upside down. The hammer, feeling the effect of the gravity fell on the ground and Hal fell on top of it. He got up and saw Thor and Captain America overpower Aquaman. He flew towards them, creating a vacuum cleaner behind Steve that sucked him in and distracted Thor’s attention towards Green Lantern, giving Arthur an opportunity to kick Thor in the face. The vibrant green vacuum cleaner threw Steve from the other end towards the sea. Meanwhile, Diana and Hulk were battling each other restlessly, yet neither could overpower the other. Steve ran back towards Hal who waited for Steve to get closer, oblivious of the two Avengers he had released from his grip. Black widow lurched towards Hal from behind, Hal noticed the movement and created a shield to stop the Black widow from punching him. Natasha rose higher and from under her, an arrow found its way to a baffled Hal that had precariously hid itself from his view taking Natasha’s cover. The arrow elongated into a band and wrapped itself around Hal and electrocuted him, rendering his concentration weak and the final blow from Natasha on his neck knocked him out for good. Aquaman created a whirlpool and threw it towards Steve which entrapped him.


Thor turned to look at Arthur trying something similar at him and the instantly called for lighting, raising his Hammer towards the heaven. Arthur failed to notice that he was in water now and a bolt of lightning hitting him would be fatal. He tried to move out but was late to realize his disadvantage. The sparks of lighting meandered through Arthur’s body and he fell right back into the water. Thor released Mjolnir towards Steve which broke the rhythm of the whirlpool. They turned towards Hulk and Diana, punching each other hard. Steve positioned himself against Thor who struck the shield with his hammer, creating a shock wave that separated the two combatants.

“It’s over Wonder Woman. There is no need to fight any more.” Said Steve lowering his Shield.

“It isn’t over as long as I am standing.” Said Diana getting back up.

“I was afraid she was going to say that.” Said Thor and hurled his Hammer towards her.

To everyone’s amazement, Mjolnir was stopped in its trajectory by Shazam. The Avengers were bewildered. Never had they seen Mjolnir being arrested in its way before.

“Didn’t your mom teach you not to hit a women?” said Shazam, deflecting Mjolnir from its course. Hulk got up from the other side, while Thor called Mjolnir back as they prepared to strike down the last two. Steve, Natasha and Hawkeye backed off, leaving enough rooms for the titans to fight. As Thor approached Shazam, Hulk loped towards Diana, with her back against Shazam.


Thor got closer and Hulk was inches away from punching Diana when unexpectedly Shazam turned around and swapped position with Diana who was now holding up the shield against Thor’s Hammer while Shazam called out the magic words and rained lightning over the oblivious Hulk. So powerful were the lightning that they instantly rendered Hulk insentient and the giant lay on the ground with fumes emanating from his body. Diana stopped the strike from the Hammer using her shield and the was kept from drifting away by Shazam’s support against her. Thor struck again which was blocked for the second time by Diana’s shield. He swung his Hammer with force as Diana ducked and dodged. Shazam found an opportunity and kicked Thor in the foot shaking his balance and making him fall. As he fell on the soft sand, Diana grabbed her shield and pressed her body behind it, covering the hammer in Thor’s hand. Shazam jumped up and landed his knee on Thor’s chest mooring it in place and subsequently punching Thor’s face fiercely.


He had enough strength packed in each punch to make Thor bleed from his mouth. It took Steve a couple of seconds to sprint and come to Thor’s rescue but he was too late to move Diana and free Thor’s arm for Thor was already unconscious. Shazam and Diana now stood against the three Avengers.




Story isn't finished by the author
 

Illuminater

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Yepp you did post this thread hoping to get feedback so yea you really should give a shit.
I'm not going to argue with you. If you don't want to read the book that's fine. Someone else has shown interest in it so I'm not worried about you at all. Just don't be so pretentious.
 
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