บท 267: Chapter 267
Chapter 267:
–Batman–
He was currently trapped behind an impenetrable energy barrier that he had designed himself. He was starting to regret making this prison inescapable. It was designed to hold powerful members of the Justice League in the event they ever went rogue. The irony that the majority of the League did end up going rogue and locked him away in the prison he designed for them was not lost on him.
"Alright Bruce, it's time you give up the location of the rest of your team. It's over, you've lost. Superman is on his way to Themyscira. Within hours, there will be no one left to oppose our rule," Cyborg told him. "Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. Your little insurgency has ended."
"You know I'll never talk." Bruce would rather die than ever give up his team. No amount of torture in the world would ever break him. He wouldn't even give up Harley… She had admittedly grown on him. She could actually be a pretty good hero when she wasn't under the influence of the Joker.
Cyborg shrugged indifferently. "I suppose it doesn't really matter. We control every security network in the world. Your friends can't hide forever." He seemed pretty sure of himself, but Batman knew the remaining heroes on his side wouldn't be caught so easily.
"It won't be so easy," Batman replied. "They will never stop fighting until Superman and his corrupt Justice League are overthrown. After all the innocent lives he's taken, someone is going to bring him down eventually. Even if it's not me."
Cyborg scowled at Batman in annoyance. "That's where you're wrong, Batman. All the scheming in the world cannot overcome absolute power. And all of the most powerful beings in the world have joined our cause. There's no one left who can so much as lay a scratch on Superman."
Batman was never one to allow the villains the last word. He was about to give one last witty response when the alarms all around the facility started to flash red and blare loudly. The automated warning system he had installed to detect global threats was going off.
"Warning! Massive radioactive energy surge detected over the Atlantic Ocean!"
"Shit, did some terrorist get their hands on a nuke? I thought Superman destroyed the world's supply of them," Cyborg cursed. "Computer, bring up a satellite visual!"
"Now bringing up visual on the main monitor," the automated voice said, and an image popped up on the largest screen.
From inside his cell, Batman's eyes widened at what he saw. Superman was engaged in a fight with a winged woman Batman didn't recognize… And Superman was losing.
"Shit!" Cyborg started to panic when he saw the same thing. "Who is this woman!? These energy readings… She's giving off more power than the average star! What the hell is going on? Dammit, I can't contact Superman. All that radiation has fried his communicator. I need to contact Diana." Cyborg sounded panicked as he muttered out loud.
Batman listened in as Cyborg attempted and failed to bring up Wonder Woman's communicator as well. All Cyborg ended up receiving was static. She didn't look like she was a part of the battle, had she already been defeated?
"Looks like Superman isn't as invincible as you all thought," Batman said with a smirk. The Justice League's spy satellites were even better than most governments. Batman and Cyborg were both watching in High Definition as the woman with 14 black wings made the man of steel bleed.
Cyborg spared a second to send one last glare Batman's way before he sent out a distress signal to all the other members of the Justice League.
"Attention all members of the League! This is Cyborg. Superman and Wonder Woman are engaged in combat with powerful foes on the Island of Themyscira. All available League members need to get there as fast as possible to back them up!"
Cyborg ran a quick diagnostic on himself to make sure he was combat ready. "I'll leave the TV on so you can watch us kill this woman. Whoever she is, we'll make sure any future rebellions die with her," Cyborg said vindictively as he left Batman in his cell and headed towards the hangar.
Stuck in the prison cell, Batman kept his eyes locked on the screen as the satellites continued tracking the battle. He didn't know who this woman was, but he was praying she'd be able to succeed where he had failed.
CRASH!
His prayers were interrupted when the ventilation grate on the ceiling fell and loudly clattered against the floor. A familiar figure dropped out of the vent.
"Sheesh, I thought robot-boy would never leave," Harley Quinn said, dusting herself off. "This prison needs a better ventilation system. You wouldn't believe how much dust I had to crawl through to sneak in here." She walked over to his prison cell and smiled at him through the force field.
"Hello, Harley…" Batman said with a sigh. He could admit that he was glad to see her, but he was also annoyed that Harley Quinn, of all people, was the one currently rescuing him.
"Hiya, Bats! That's a fancy cell you got yourself stuck in. How do I get you out?" she asked, examining the biometric lock to the side.
Batman sighed. "It's a biometric lock. The only way to open the cell is if we get one of Cyborg's eyeballs or–"
WHACK!
Harley completely ignored everything he said as she swung her baseball bat and completely smashed the fancy tech-lock. A second later, the force field flickered before fading away. Harley looked at him smugly as he exited the now open cell.
"Looks like you got a bit of a design flaw there, Batsy," she said with a grin. Her signature weapon was resting on her shoulders. "How much money did you spend building this prison again?" she teased him.
Batman proudly did not admit to anything…
He walked over to the computer that Cyborg had arrogantly left on and signed in. That was nice of him, Batman didn;t even have to waste any time hacking in.
"Watcha doing there, Bats?" Harley asked curiously while peeking over his shoulder.
His fingers were furiously typing as he brought up numerous commands and overrides. "I'm hacking into every single TV station on the planet and broadcasting this feed. It's time to show the world that Superman isn't as indestructible as they think he is," he said while pointing to the live video.
Wow, that girl is smoking hot and she is kicking ass and taking names. Harley likes~" she purred behind him. "Who is she? She looks like an Angel, and not those fake Alien Angels either," she said, referring to Hawkwoman and Hawkman.
"Angel's aren't real," Batman replied immediately as he finished hacking every TV station in North America. It would only take him another 30 seconds to get every other continent after.
"Does this video have any sound?" Harley asked. "It's kind of boring not knowing what they're saying."
"The satellites are in space, they obviously can't pick up sound. However, they can accurately simulate it by measuring the vibrations in the air," Batman explained.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if it means we can hear Supes whining as he gets his ass beat, then turn up the volume!" Harley said enthusiastically.
"Raaaaagh! Damn you, bitch! Just die already!"
"Wow, Superman has quite a mouth on him. So much for being a boy scout…" Harley commented. They heard Superman yell a few more curse words as he failed to land any meaningful blows on his opponent.
Batman considered adding a censor before he officially broadcast the battle across the globe, but he decided against it. He wanted to let the world see what kind of man Clark had truly turned into.
Batman pressed the Enter Key for the final time. "It's done, the battle is now being broadcast around the world in real time. The entire world can now see Superman losing. We should probably get out of here before Cyborg realizes what happened and comes back," Batman said as he made his way towards the hangar to steal a jet.
"Awwwww, I wanted to stay and watch," Harley whined but followed after him regardless.
"We can watch it on the ride to Themyscira," Batman said while climbing into the cockpit of one of Wonder Woman's spare Invisible Jets. She had multiple because they tended to get shot down pretty often.
Harley grinned at him while hopping into the copilot seat. "Now that's the Batman I know! Never backing down from a fight! Hold on Beautiful Angel, we're coming to help!" Harley cheered as the plane flew out of the hangar.
…
–Layla–
'Cosmic Energy is absolutely crazy! It feels like I'm jacked up on all the caffeine in the entire world all at once and I still want more,' I thought to myself.
[That's an interesting way of putting it. You're definitely going to have to work on your control because you are leaking SO MUCH radiation right now. You're lucky you're currently fighting above the Stratosphere, or a lot of people would be getting super cancer.]
'How come Jean or Carol don't leak radiation like this when they power up with Cosmic Energy?'
[Jean gets her power filtered directly from the Phoenix Force and Carol's powers come from the Space Stone. You, on the other hand, are channeling unfiltered pure Cosmic Energy. It's much more potent and has no restrictions. You're going to have to learn to control it yourself though.]
'That sounds like a problem for later,' I thought while dodging a wild haymaker from a glowing yellow Superman. His eyes were brimming with hatred and his lower face was covered in blood. I had broken his nose less than a minute ago. It had already healed, but the blood covering his face proved to Superman that he wasn't as invincible as he thought he was. That's what was making him so scared and angry.
[And predictable!]
"I'm not going to lose here!" Superman's eyes glowed bright red. He fired his searing heat vision at me a second time. This time, the red beams were powered up by his Yellow Lantern ring.
"Using borrowed power from that pathetic ring isn't going to help you," I taunted him while throwing my hands in front of me.
{-500 HP}
A massive explosion erupted around me as the twin lasers slammed into my skin. I could have blocked the attack with another Susanoo, but that didn't have the same psychological effect as taking his attack with my bare arms. I loved Gamer's Body! Never having any of the damage inflicted upon me show up really did mess with my opponents heads.
Superman was breathing heavily after firing his heat vision at full blast at me. "H–How… How are you not hurt at all?" I could see a flicker of despair on his face.
Spending so much time with Hela must have been rubbing off at me because I found myself smirking at that expression. "You were acting so arrogant earlier. Didn't you just slaughter an entire pantheon? Aren't you supposed to be the strongest? Then why are you struggling so much against me?" I pouted at him mockingly.
"You haven't seen anything yet," Superman said. The Yellow aura around him started to grow even brighter as called on even more Fear. I had a feeling he was about to hit me with everything he had left. I prepared myself for our final clash.
My attention was so focused on him that I didn't notice the lighting bolt that slammed into my back!
{-300 HP}
"We're here to help, Superman!"
"Wow, it looks like you got your hands full!"
Two more members of the Justice League had shown up. They flew past me and hovered in the air next to Superman. Black Adam and Shazam. A Hero and an Antihero who both, ironically, carried the power of the gods as their chosen champions. It was ironic because Superman just slaughtered all the gods hours ago.
"Thanks for coming, you two. she's a lot tougher than she looks." The yellow aura around Superman dimmed slightly. He decided to hold off on unleashing his final desperate attack.
I think he thought that two more people on his side would turn the tables.
That wasn't going to happen.
{Black Adam, Teth Adam: Level 80}
{Shazam, Billy Batson (10 years old): Level 75}
Neither of them were a threat to me. 'Why is Observe telling me Shazam's age though?' I wondered.
[I threw that in there because I know you don't like hurting kids.]
'Thanks, System!'
"Surrender, evildoer! You've committed enough foul crimes!" Shazam said while pointing his fingers at me. He really did act like a 10 year old kid in a man's body. It was pretty silly to see up close.
I tilted my head slightly. "You know, I haven't actually committed any crimes," I said to Shazam.
"H–Huh?" He quickly lost his bluster and put his finger down. "Then why are you fighting Superman?" Shazam asked me with a look of confusion.
"Honestly, I have no idea. He attacked me completely out of nowhere. I was just trying to get a cheeseburger and he tried to murder me and my girlfriend," I said while leaving out a lot of details.
[Meh, that's basically the gist of it actually. You've gotten into some petty fights before, but this one might be the most petty yet.]
Shazam turned to Superman and looked at him expectantly for an explanation. "The pretty lady is lying right?"
Superman did not answer…
Black Adam scoffed. Black colored lighting arced around his body. "Who cares whether or not she actually committed a crime. Superman demanded her life and she dared to fight back. That's crime enough to warrant her execution!" he declared. He was an obvious zealot who would follow Superman to the end of the world at this point.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're kind of a dick?" I asked Black Adam.
"All the time!" he replied while raising both of his palms towards me. Twin arcs of dark lightning surged through the thin air up here. "Now die for your transgressions!"
Before they could hit me, I raised both of my hands and snatched the two thunderbolts out of the sky. I held the crackling energy in my palms for a few seconds.
And then I squeezed!
The lightning in my hands shattered. Black Adam and Shazam let out simultaneous gulps of fear.
[You caught lightning and then shattered it… You just broke so many laws of physics.]
I snickered, cosmic energy was awesome like that.
"W–Who the hell are you?" Black Adam asked me nervously.
I placed my hands on my hips and struck a dramatic pose. I channeled more Cosmic Energy in my wings. They started to glow even brighter, giving me a transcendent appearance.
I took a deep breath before projecting my voice loudly. "BEHOLD MORTALS, I AM LAYLA OF THE FALLEN! THE FINAL DAUGHTER OF GOD AND THE GODDESS OF ANGELS! I AM THE ANGEL OF HOPE WHO STANDS AGAINST EVIL AND THE ONE WHO CUT THE HEAD OFF OF THE DEVIL HIMSELF!"
{Faith Energy +10,000,000!}
"…Oh crap," Shazam muttered. After my declaration, he was clearly the most afraid. He was only a 10 year old boy after all. One who had followed Superman out of hero worship and was now in way over his head.
"Billy Batson…" I said his real name while staring at him seriously. "Go home. I have no interest in fighting a child."
"W–What!? You know my real name?" he asked me nervously. "Are you really an A–Angel?"
"Yes," I replied, my voice becoming more stern. "Go home, Billy. Your foster family probably misses you." I told him as I sensed more beings quickly approaching us in the sky. Superman was getting even more reinforcements soon.
Shazam looked conflicted. He started to drift away from us before Superman stopped him.
Superman gnashed his teeth. "Don't you dare leave, Shazam! I thought you wanted to be a hero? I thought you wanted to follow me and save the world!?" he asked angrily.
Shazam trembled under Superman's glare.
Black Adam spoke up. "Just let the useless whelp go, Superman. He's clearly too scared of the false Angel to properly fight anyway. We can discipline him later, after we deal with her."
As he said that, a jet flew by at high speeds. Three people hopped out of it as it flew by. Cyborg, Hawkwoman and another Yellow Lantern all flew over and took Superman's side. It wasn't the full Justice League roster, but other than the Flash these were the strongest members on Superman's side.
"Thank you all for coming," Superman said to them. He seemed to have gotten a second wind now that he was no longer fighting me alone.
"Always, Superman," Cyborg replied.
"I'm always happy to bash some skulls in!" Hawkwoman said while leveling her Nth metal mace at me.
"The corps stands with you, Superman," Hal Jordan said while holding up his Power Ring.
Superman nodded at them all proudly. He spread his arms out wide and smirked at me. "You might have given me some trouble on my own, but do you think you can beat all of us?" he asked arrogantly.
"Yeah," I replied bluntly.
None of his new allies were strong enough to make a difference in this fight…
Superman scowled at my blunt response. "We'll see how confident you are when facing all six of us at the same time!" he declared.
"…Four," I corrected him.
"…What?" Superman paused.
"There's only four of you left," I said again and pointed my finger down. Hawkgirl and Cyborg were both unconscious and quickly plummeting tens of thousands of feet to their deaths. Neither of them had any protection from the ambient radiation I was emitting. It had quickly overwhelmed both of them.
I was honestly surprised. I knew Hawkgirl was basically a muscle-brained idiot, but I would have thought Cyborg would have remembered he was still technically half human, and therefore still susceptible to radiation.
[Guess not…]
"Oh crap!" Shazam rapidly flew downwards to save the two of them from going splat. Something told me he probably wasn't going to come back and join the fight either.
Superman's team of six quickly went back to three. Black Adam and Hal Jordan were glancing at each other awkwardly while their leader seethed from the embarrassment of what just happened.
That was rough. He literally called me out and then lost half his team without me moving a muscle. I don't know if I'd be able to recover from something so embarrassing.
[Emotional damage!]
"GRAAAAHHH!" Superman screamed. "Fuck, I'll just do it myself! Sinestro taught me how to channel the full power of this ring. I will use it to destroy you!" The yellow aura he had dismissed earlier quickly returned as he powered up and prepared to hit me with everything he had!
"Shit, he's going all out!" Hal Jordan exclaimed. "That could end up damaging the ring!"
"I don't think he cares. Quickly, we have to back away or we'll get caught up in his attack!" Black Adam panicked. They both flew away just in time.
"You won't stop me!" Superman exclaimed. The Power Ring on his right hand was glowing like a star. He was channeling all of his power into his fist for one final punch. A blow that would be 10 times, maybe a hundred times even stronger than anything he had hit me with so far!
I felt myself growing excited at that prospect! He wanted to end this with a final clash of our ultimate moves? I was down for that. I regret not bringing a camera for this! This was turning out to be an anime moment come-to-life. I focused on the Cosmic Energy in my body and started channeling it into my own fist. My right hand started to glow bright purple as I clenched it tightly.
"Bring it on, Superman!"
"Die!" He flew towards me so quickly that the air ignited around him. He threw his fist forwards and delivered a punch that was approaching the speed of light! I reciprocated and punched forwards with everything I had as well! Both of our empowered fists clashed and I prepared myself for a clash of power of epic proportions!
NOM!
There was no epic clash…
YUM…
BOOM!
"Noooooo!" Superman let out a scream of agony as his entire right arm was completely shredded and blown to pieces. He flung backwards dozens of times faster than the speed of sound. He quickly disappeared over the horizon.
"Well shit. That happened…" I muttered in disappointment. Right before our fists had clashed, I felt the familiar inside of me. My Orb of Infinity woke up… It had woken up hungry and devoured Superman's Yellow Power Ring the second our fists made contact with each other. He was immediately stripped of his borrowed power and subsequently blown away by my Cosmic Punch.
[That's not the first magic ring your Sacred Gear has eaten. Also, please don't call that move Cosmic Punch. That sounds so cheesy…]
I puffed up my cheeks in indignation. 'It's my super awesome anime punch! I can call it whatever I want!'
XXX
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