Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kara Zor-El wished she could wake up now.

The day had started off peacefully and quietly, she had it all planned out. She would spend most of the day in town with her friends, and then later, she and her parents, Zor-El and Alura, would go see some family. They’d see Jor-El, the brother of Zor-El, and his wife Lara – and their baby son, Kal-El.

However, before any of that happened, they came. Just as she had gotten into town, meteor showers began crashing onto the entire planet – and from those crash sites came the robots. She was witnessing death and destruction unlike anything Krypton had ever seen before, and all she could do was run. She was running back to her house, to make sure that it was still standing and her parents were alright. She prayed to Rao that they were alright.

As she ran, the meteors kept on coming. It felt so much like a bad dream, and that’s what was tearing Kara apart on the inside – that it wasn’t. She ran towards the statue of some historical Kryptonian figure whose name she could not think up at the moment, and watched as it was destroyed by a meteor. She hid behind it, looking around for any of those robots. She peered her head out, and saw civilians running for their lives. They were screaming in absolute terror, for not even the bravest or the boldest of them could do nothing but run from the robots raining down death upon them.

It took her aback that they were all running in the opposite direction from where she was heading, but she refused to stop now. She was determined to go back home, and if she was to die, she would die trying to make sure her family was okay.

She peered her head out again, making sure the coast the clear. When it was, she made a run for it. She ran as fast as she could, but she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long. More meteors came crashing down, in the direction she was heading in. Sensing great danger ahead, she slid towards a large rock nearby and hid.

Once more, she peered her head to take a look at what was ahead – but this time, she did not see helpless civilians running for their lives. Instead, she saw…them. The robots. Towering machinations, colored purple and blue with what looked like gray skulls for faces. She saw one of the robots scanning the area, and turned her head as quickly as she could. Unfortunately for her, it was too late. The robots began walking towards the rock she hid behind, and she could hear it coming. She breathed heavily as the robot neared. She had no way of escaping, so this truly felt like the end.

Just as the robot reached it hand out, it was shot at by an armored individual, who wore a red cape and a silver helmet that covered his entire face. He was a member of the Kryptonian military, who were being sent all around the planet in a desperate attempt to repel the robot. Kara felt a brief moment of relief, before watching the robot knock the soldier over a hundred feet into the sky. She then watched as another robot launched a hook from its hand that pierced through the skull of another Kryptonian soldier.

Kara could not bear to watch any more of this, and she had to make sure her parents were alright. She made a break for it, but almost immediately after she dashed off, she tripped. As she got up, her attention was stolen. A giant shadow engulfed Kara and the entire surrounding area, and she could only look up. There was a giant ship in the sky, shaped like a colossal skull. At the bottom of the ship were four giant tentacles, and Kara continued to stare. That ship was no doubt the source of all that she had to endure today, and as she gazed upon the daunting ship, she could only wonder: Who was raining down all this carnage upon Krypton, and what did they have to gain from it?

Just then, four of the robots turned around, their attention on Kara. She was terrified to see them descending upon her, and she felt like an idiot for not getting up to run sooner. She tried to run as fast she possibly could. She suddenly heard the footsteps getting louder and stronger, and turned her gasped. She gasped as she saw the robots picking up speed and running towards her. She turned her head forward, and could not have been happier to see the giant pipe amidst the rubble ahead. She crawled into it, and one of the robots tried to get into the pipe to get ahold of Kara. Fortunately, the robot was too big to fit into the pipe, and Kara got to the other side without any trouble.

Upon getting out of the pipe, she stopped and took a moment to breathe. There were no robots in sight, so she didn’t feel the need to bolt for her life just life. She got up and took a good look at her house. At the very least, the home she grew up in was still standing. Now it was time to see if her parents were alive.

To her displeasure, the house was barren. Zor-El and Alura were nowhere to be found, worrying Kara greatly. She feared that they had gone into town, only to find themselves unable to escape the wrath of the robots. She walked to the balcony, and was stunned to once again see the giant skull ship in the sky.

The true surprise was yet to come. For a minute, the skull ship just floated there, right above Argo City. Then, a blue light descended from the ship and onto Argo City. The light was so overpowering that she initially had to turn away, but then she faced the skull ship again, she was horrified to see what was happening to Argo City. It appeared as if whoever was in the skull ship had the capability of digitizing entire cities, and that seemed to be the fate Argo City would befall to. She was further stunned to see the entirety of the city digitized and absorbed into the ship in less than a minute. Then, right after it absorbed Argo City, the skull ship bolted into the sky and vanished.

Kara was frozen in place as she gazed upon the wreckage that remained before her. She had no idea what to make of what she had just witnessed. It appeared that whoever was behind all this terror had come to absorb Argo City, and presumably other cities as well. Kara was only left more confused than ever. Why were they absorbing these cities, and why were they out to destroy everything else?

She was in such deep thought about it that she initially failed to notice one of the robots slowly walking to her. Kara turned around to see one of the robots extending its arm out, ready to do away with Kara. Kara only stood there, closing her eyes. She saw no point in running, as the android was already too closer for a chance of escape, so she decided to just accept her fate.

Right as the android was about to kill Kara, someone blasted towards it. She turned her head, and her eyes widened at who it was.

“Mother! Father!”

Zor-El and Alura In-Ze were alive and well, and she couldn’t have been happier about it. This was no time for rejoicing, however.

“Kara! Come quickly!” Alura said while Zor-El continued to blast towards the robots. Kara oblidged and dashed towards her parents. The remaining robots all tried to go after the family and finish them off, but Alura and Zor-El continued to keep them away by blasting at them. Once Kara had gotten back into the house, Alura and Zor-El closed the door, blocking out the robots and ensuring they couldn’t come finish them off.

“Stay with us, Kara” Alura said as the robots slammed against the door, determined to kill of the family. Kara felt very torn – she felt happiness at seeing that her parents alive in the invasion, but the horror that consumed her when Argo City vanished was still there. She wondered if her parents knew anything more about what was going on.
“Mother, father. The ship! It just….Argo City’s gone! Millions of people!”

“That’s only the beginning” Zor-El replied, shocking Kara. She didn’t think that it could possibly get any worse than it already was, so to hear that it could and would gave her an unbearable sinking feeling.

“Brainiac’s destabilized the planet’s core. Krypton won’t hold together much longer” When her father said those words, the horror within Kara intensified tenfold. This day had already felt like the apocalypse, but the grim confirmation that it was indeed the apocalypse hit upon her like a mountain. She tried to hide how terrified those words really made her.

“But all your research….isn’t there something you could do?!”

“That’s why we’re here” Alura replied. Kara was relieved to hear that there was something her parents could do, though she would find the solution bittersweet. All three of them went into the room where Alura and Zor-El did a lot of work and research in. Kara had not been down here in a long time, so she was surprised by what she saw.
“A spaceship? That’s what you guys have been working on?”

Zor-El would be the one to answer that. “Your uncle Jor-El discovered a planet that can sustain Kryptonians, far away from Brainiac. He’s built a ship just like this for your cousin Kal”

Kara was surprised to hear that. She could totally understand Jor-El and Lara wanting to save their son and putting his life above their own, but to send him alone…Kara knew she hadn’t heard the entire plan. “But, Kal....he’s just a baby”

She turned around to face her parents, and this time, Alura answered as she and Zor-El walked towards their daughter. “Which is why you’ll need to protect him. Teach him our ways.”

Kara was dumbfounded. Why did her mother say that she alone would raise Kal-El on the new planet. “Me teach him? What about you?” And then it hit her: her parents weren’t coming. Zor-El and Alura were going to die with their home planet, while saving Kara so that she could raise Kal-El. “No…No! I won’t leave either of you!” She began tearing up at the thought of her parents leaving her life so soon. “Please! Please don’t make me!”

Sadness and solemnness colored the expressions on Alura and Zor-El’s faces. They understood Kara’s grief. Still, they felt it had to be done, and Zor-El tried his best to reassure his daughter. “We can’t come with you. But you’ll never be alone. You belong to the House of El” Zor-El and his daughter embraced. “A house of hope. Never forget that. Never give up hope!”

Then the robots began barging on the door. There was no more time for goodbyes. Alura and Zor-El rushed their daughter into the rocket before it was too late. “Get in!” Alura said as Kara got into the rocket. The rocket powered on, and the window began to seal. Kara took one last look at the people who had raised her as the robots dawned upon them. “No! NO!!!” she banged onto the glass. She knew there was nothing she could do to change Krypton’s fate, but emotion was clouding her mind. Grief and horror were tearing her apart.

She watched helplessly as her parents were killed by the robots – and to Kara, it still felt like a nightmare. She tried desperately to see if she could wake up, but as the rocket blasted into the sky, she could longer deny the reality of the situation. Her parents were gone, and her planet would soon follow.

The rocket launched into space rapidly – it was designed to travel at startlingly fast speeds. As Kara let it finally, completely sink in what had happened, she began sobbing inconsolably. She had lost everything – her friends, her entire family, even her entire world.

Everything, that is, except for her cousin Kal-El. As she continued to sob and sob, his rocket passed by hers – and Kara took a good look at baby Kal-El. He looked very precious as he slept, unaware of the carnage his people had suffered through. Kal-El was all Kara had, and she would give her blood and sweat raising him. Whatever the people of this planet would end up like, she would do everything in her power to protect her cousin and bring hell upon anyone who dared to wrong him.

What she didn’t realize is that Kal-El would grow up without her. Kryton finally exploded, and Kara had no time to grieve over the fact that it was finally all gone. Kal-El’s ship was spared, but all the debris came down upon her ship.

“Hold on! Hold on!” she yelled in vain. But the damage was done. Her rocket had been knocked off course, away from her cousin’s. “No, no! No, please! KALLLLLL!!!” she began panicked. She couldn’t think this day could get any worse, but it had just done so. Now Kal-El would be forced to grow up without Kara to raise him – and Kara couldn’t bear to think of what could happen to him.

She couldn’t panic for much longer, as gas came into her space, and she could feel herself going into cryogenic sleep.
--

Kara groaned as she woke up.

She had no idea where she was, or how long it had been since the destruction of Krypton. All she could was that she landed somewhere, though she had no idea if Kal was on the planet.

Her vision was blurry from all the years of cryogenic sleep, but she could see just well enough to let the look of the world sink in. The architecture was unlike anything she had seen on Krypton, which she expected from an alien world. One thing that stood out was the statue of a black, canine-like figure. She briefly thought of Krypto, her uncle Jor-El’s dog.

As her vision began to clear, Kara saw her rocket next to her – what took her aback was that it didn’t crash onto the planet. It looked as if someone had just grabbed the rocket from space and brought it down on this planet. Kara then turned around, seeing a being clothed in black. She was surprised to see that the being looked exactly like a Kryptonian. Her vision was finally a hundred percent clear, and she could see exactly was what this being looked like. He mostly wore black, even sporting a black cape, but also had some yellow decorated onto him – yellow plates on his arms, a yellow belt, and a huge yellow lightning bolt that took up most of his chest. His ears were slightly pointed, and he looked like an older man – one in his early fifties.

“I don’t know if you can understand me” the man said, and indeed Kara didn’t know what he had just said. “But my name is Teth-Adam. Welcome to my country of Khandaq – welcome to the planet of Earth”

Chapter Text

Superman had intended to bring Gorilla Grodd to his will during the Regime’s time in power. He had brainwashed Solomon Grundy, Bane, Killer Frost, and Doomsday into obedience, and he felt that Grodd’s physical and mental powers could make him a valuable asset as well. But the intelligent gorilla resisted all of the Man of Steel’s efforts to turn him loyal. Eventually, Superman gave up on trying to brainwash Grodd and ordered him to be executed alongside Metallo. Before either executions could happen, though, Batman and Lex Luthor brought alternate doppelgangers from another world – a world that never suffered the same calamity and misery.

When Batman was captured, the doppelgangers came to Stryker’s Island to free him from the Regime. While the Regime would manage to execute Metallo shortly before the final battle at Metropolis, Grodd used the commotion at Stryker’s Island to escape. It was a difficult process that required stealing a helicopter, but Grodd pulled it off. Immediately after escaping Stryker’s, he returned to Gorilla City – to fight Solovar. He had a brutal brawl with Solovar, one where he emerged victorious. He had Solovar killed, and then he took over Gorilla City.

Now, five years have passed since Superman’s defeat, and since he began his rule over Gorilla City. After seeing Superman fall from grace, and how only intervention from an alternate universe toppled his Regime, Grodd didn’t think anything else could ever surprise him. He was proven wrong when he received a transmission from a alien named Brainiac.

Brainiac was an alien who went traveled across the stars. He would go to a world with intelligent life and digitize a handful of its cities for him to observe in his collection. Then he would destroy the remainder of the planet, thinking it was worthless now – to preserve the rare knowledge in his collection. He was the one who destroyed Krypton, and he told Grodd that he had recently learned of Superman. Tales of the ‘Last Son of Krypton’ had reached far into the stars, and he felt it was something he had to deal with. In his efforts to track down Kal-El, he discovered that Earth had a huge amount of cities and culture that he could observe. But he had also learned of its superheroes – people who fought crime and supervillains, with a good chunk of them having powers beyond those of the normal man. He sent a transmission to Grodd, requesting his aid in dealing with this powered heroes.

Grodd only accepted because he felt Brainiac could be useful to him later on. And while he normally hated humans, he decided that he could use the help of various supervillains from the age of heroes. He first tracked down Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow. Scarecrow was the first casualty of this entire mess, but he had recently been brought back to life with the aid of the Lazarus Pit. Grodd didn’t know the full story, and he honestly didn’t care. After tracking Scarecrow, he proceeded to seek out Poison Ivy, Cheetah, Captain Cold, Deadshot, Bane, the Reverse-Flash, Man-Bat, and El Diablo, and was surprised to see Catwoman come and offer her aid. He brought them all here, to his grand throne room. He made no mention of Brainiac – only that he wanted to conquer the world.

“There is no more Regime to stand in our way” Grodd said as the group he had assembled listened. “Teams like the Justice League and the Titans….they are all gone. Countless times, we were all defeated and imprisoned by these ‘superheroes’…but the age of heroes ended when the Joker tricked Superman into destroying Metropolis. Now, Superman is behind bars. Aquaman and Wonder Woman won’t give enough of a damn to stop us. John Stewart and Guy Gardner are dead, Kyle Rayner hasn’t been seen in many years, and Hal Jordan was sent off Earth after the Regime fell. And people like Batman and Barry Allen…well, with the help of a silent partner of ours, they can be dealt with easily”

The Reverse-Flash looked like he had an idea of who Grodd was referring to, but he didn’t care enough to ask for clarification. Everyone else, meanwhile, was left baffled when Grodd brought up this silent partner, and Poison Ivy would be the one to speak her confusion.

“I’m sorry…a silent partner? Who is this ‘silent partner’?”

Grodd refused to tell anyone the honest answer, so he made something up. “Forgive me, Pamela, but I cannot disclose that information right now. What I can do is ask of all your conditions. Is there anything you want in return for aiding my plan?” Grodd didn’t intend on giving them anything they wanted, as he intended to leave them for dead come the end of the invasion. But since he needed their help, he might as well let them think they’ll get what they wanted.

Scarecrow was the first to voice his demands. “I don’t want any land of my own. I just want lab rats. I want people, from all the around, to use for my experiments. I have been given a second chance at life, and I wish to use it to sow panic and terror on a level I never did in my first life. That is all I want, Grodd”

Grodd let out an ‘hmm’, relieved to find that Scarecrow was on board. Poison Ivy, however, was not as sure about an alliance with Grodd.

“I want a world where flora dominates fauna, Grodd. So I’m afraid our interests don’t align, Grodd. I’ll see myself out”

If he was actually trying to take over the world, Grodd would’ve disposed of Ivy right then and there. Since it didn’t matter in the end, though, he decided to negotiate with the eco-terrorist. “Wait now, Doctor Isley. I believe our interests are mutually achievable. I’ll tell you what – you can have the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. I might be willing to give you East Asia at a later time, but that is all I will offer you for now. You’d be a valuable ally, Poison Ivy”

Posion Ivy thought about it for a moment. Grodd was unsure if she’d comply. She had a look of content on her face. “That land…should be enough for now. But I also want to see you put more work into caring for the Green than Superman ever did”

Grodd smirked. “Your request shall be granted”

Now it was Cheetah’s turn to speak up. “We must draw Wonder Woman out. Wherever she is, wherever she hides, we must find her so that I can end her once and for all!”
To that, Grodd let out another ‘hmm’. “It will be done, Cheetah. Diana’s a filthy whore, so absolutely no one will mourn her”

Cheetah grinned upon hearing that, while Captain Cold was in deep though. In the old days, he never would’ve thought of working Grodd, or with the Reverse-Flash for that matter. He thought they were both vile scumbags who wasted the air they breathed. But the Regime had taken everything from him. He thought of Heat Wave, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, the Top, the Trickster…and Golden Glider, his little sister. The Regime had killed every one of them, and he missed them all – especially his sister. He had already abandoned the code he used to live by, so he figured that he couldn’t lower himself anymore by working with Grodd or Thawne.

“I just want vengeance, Grodd” Captain Cold said. “I want vengeance on the Regime, for taking away my team and my sister”

“Your vengeance will be granted” Grodd replied.

“I want vengeance on the Regime as well” Bane then said. “They betrayed me. They all betrayed me! And por Dios, they will pay for what they’ve done. And one other thing, Grodd – you and Ivy can rule the rest of the world, but I would like Gotham City as my dominion.”

As with Ivy, Grodd normally would’ve disposed of Bane right then and there. But once more, it did not matter in the end. “Do not worry, Bane. Pretty soon, all of Gotham will be yours.”

Catwoman looked at her clawed hands. “I just want riches, Give me as much wealth as you can, and I’m in”

Finally, it was time for the Reverse-Flash to voice his demands. “I just want to take down Barry Allen. The spineless speedster has withdrawn from the public eye, but I know him. Even though he was too weak to stand up to Superman until the very end, he’s still heroic enough to return when we bring hell”

Grodd smirked again. “You’re right, Eobard Thawne. Barry Allen can’t resist a good crisis”

Deadshot, El Diablo, and Man-Bat had been standing there silent the entire time, but Deadshot was confused by the Reverse-Flash’s conditions. “Wait a minute, Eobard? Aren’t you from the damn future, AND obsessed with the Flash? You should already know where Barry is!”

The Reverse-Flash didn’t respond right away, looking a little uneasy at what Deadshot is. “Well, Lawton…history has diverted from the path I grew up in”

Now that Deadshot had spoken up, Grodd turned his attention to him, El Diablo, and Man-Bat. “Floyd Lawton, Chato Satanna, and Dr. Kirk Langstrom. I want you three to know something. I have the triggers to the nanoexplosives Amanda Waller put in your heads. I have your trigger too, Snart”

El Diablo scoffed. “You’re bluffing”

Grodd grinned quite sinisterly. He went to a nearby table and dragged a large panel device. Deadshot, El Diablo, and Man-Bat realized right then and there that Grodd was not, in fact, bluffing. He had somehow obtained the triggers to the explosives in their heads.

Man-Bat let out a horrible screech, one that made the others feel like their ears were bleeding. He flew up towards Grodd, fully prepared to tear the gorilla apart. Grodd, however, was counting on this. Of all the supervillains he had summoned, Man-Bat was the one he knew wouldn’t comply. Grodd only brought him here to show Captain Cold, Deadshot, and El Diablo that he wasn’t bluffing about the triggers.

Man-Bat managed to slash Grodd in the face, but Grodd grabbed him by the throat, choking him very hard. He let go of Man-Bat after a minute, and as Man-Bat felt the relief of being able to breathe again, Grodd activated the trigger to his nanoexplosive. Langstrom’s head exploded, and a significant amount of blood splattered onto Grodd. The gorilla pretended that the bloody mess he was covered in wasn’t even there.

“What’s it going to be, Lawton and Satanna? Do you value life enough to join me, or would you like to join Man-Bat here”

El Diablo sent a death glare towards Grodd. “Kill me, you stupid monkey. I’ve done enough wrong in this world. I’d rather die than aid you in my cause”

Grodd returned the death glare towards El Diablo. “As you wish” With that, he activated El Diablo’s trigger, blowing his head dead and causing his body to fall to the ground. Deadshot was now the only one of the three left. He didn’t want to aid Grodd in his schemes, but he lacked the same courage as El Diablo. He let out a deep sigh, and Grodd smiled smugly, knowing Deadshot’s answer.

“To put this colloquially…you are my bitch now, Lawton”

“Well, that’s just fucking great” Deadshot let out another sigh.

After a brief moment of reveling in Deadshot’s misery, Grodd turned his attention to the rest of the group. “It won’t be long before the world welcomes its new rulers – before it welcomes THE SOCIETY!!!”

Though the rest of the Society couldn’t see it due to his mask, Deadshot had raised his eyebrow, questioning the name. “The Society? So that’s what were called?”

The smug smile returned to Grodd’s face as he faced Deadshot. “Ah-ah-ah, Lawton. Remember, you’re not in a position where you can talk back and question me!”

Deadshot let out yet another sigh, and Grodd took just as much enjoyment in that one as he did the other two. “Planning begins tomorrow. Since it’s late, my subjects have given you all places to rest in for the night”

Several gorillas came into the throne room to guide the newfound Society to their resting places. Most of them went ahead and followed the gorillas, except for Bane. Bane walked up to Grodd, questioning some of his decisions.

“Are you sure Catwoman can be trusted, Grodd? She’s always had a soft spot for Batman”

Catwoman was just barely in ear shot, and she grew a tad uneasy. She was hoping Bane wouldn’t find her out and tell Grodd the truth.

“Don’t be paranoid, Bane. Catwoman joined the Regime, just like you, so Bruce Wayne would never trust her again”

Relieved to hear that that Grodd wouldn’t suspect her of anything, Catwoman left the throne room with the gorillas. Bane, however, was not yet done talking with Grodd. “Well, the Bat won’t give up his cave so easy. We should make it a priority to take over the Batcave and deal with Batman as soon as possible”

Grodd was more open to that suggestion. “Now that is a more legitimate concern. We’ll get onto that as soon as we can”

Bane then left the throne, being led out of Grodd’s palace entirely. He was guided to an empty hut by the gorillas. He passed by Catwoman’s hut. She peered her head to make sure Bane wasn’t in earshot. Then activated an earpiece she had kept with her the entire time.

“This is Selina, Bruce. I’m in”

Chapter Text

Most of the superheroes from the old days had fallen. Most of them either died or went into hiding. However, since the fall of Superman, two new superheroes found themselves on Batman's doorstep: Blue Beetle and Firestorm.

Jaimes Reyes was the third person to take on the name 'Blue Beetle' after Dan Garrett and Ted Kord. He had the Scarab that Dan Garrett had found back in the 30s, and while Garrett – unlike Kord – had managed to use the Scarab's power, it had done something else for Jaime: given him an suit of blue and black armor that covered his entire body. It gave him such abilities as flight, enchanced endurance, and the ability to create weapons and unleash powerful hand blasts. He had no idea how to activate the Scarab, however, which is why he came to Batman for help.

Firestorm, meanwhile, was unlike anything the old days had ever seen. Firestorm was actually two people – the stern Professor Martin Stein and his brash African-American student, Jason Rusch. When fused together, Jason Rush would gain a red and black outfit while Martin remained active in their shared conscience. In addition to traditional superhuman abilities and the power to shoot out fire, Firestorm was capable of nucleokinesis, molecular transmutation, and matter manipulation. The two bickered quite a bit, but they stayed together for a common cause: To help make the post-Regime world a better place.

The two were currently sparring in a remote area in the Batcave, and Batman looked on as the two battled. Firestorm and Blue Beetle showed a lot of promise, but while Professor Stein was reserved, Jason and Jaime were both young and energetic. They weren't the exact kind of people Batman had in mind for a new age of superheroes, but as of now, they were all he had.

"Feel the fury of Firestorm!" Firestorm yelled as he shot out fire towards Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle dodged all the fire blasts, and he smirked. "Consider yourself defeated!" he replied as his left arm assembled his arm cannon, allowing him to blast towards Firestorm.

Firestorm blasted as much fire as he could towards Blue Beetle, and while the latter managed to dodge most of it, the last blast managed to hit him, knocking him down to the ground. It didn't take long for Blue Beetle to get up. "Just another day in the life of Jaime Reyes" he exclaimed as he whipped out his giant claw blade to slash at Firestorm.

Firestorm just managed to dodge the claw blade, and blasted more fire towards Blue Beetle.

"No, Professor! I know what I'm doing!" Jason shouted to Professor Stein. Only he could hear Professor Stein when they were merged as Firestorm, so neither Blue Beetle nor Batman could know the full conversation. "No, Professor, I swear! I can do this! Just trust me!"

Blue Beetle decided to take advantage of Firestorm's distraction. He sprouted his wings and grabbed Firestorm, flying upwards before throwing Firestorm down to ground. Once Firestorm landed, Blue Beetle activated his arm cannon again and began blasting repeatedly at Firestorm.

Seeing that Blue Beetle had already won due to Firestorm's slip-up, Batman decided to wrap things up. "That's enough" he said to the younger heroes. Blue Beetle and Firestorm listened to Batman's orders and ceased their fighting. Firestorm separated back into Jason and Professor Stein, and the trio walked up to Batman to see how they did.

"Blue Beetle, you have improved greatly since you started, but you act far too cocky in battle. Jason, Professor Stein…you're showing improvement too, but you need to work on your accuracy. And another thing – you need to stop arguing in the middle of combat. Being distracted can leave you vulnerable"

"I understand that" Professor Stein replied, before facing Jason with a glare. "But Jason here still needs to understand our full potential!"

Jason scoffed. "I told you, Professor. We got this!"

"There are more to our abilities than shooting fire, Jason! We are capable of manipulating the matter around us, of transmutation! The sooner you understand that, the better we'll do as superheroes!"

"We'll get to all of that, Stein! But shooting fire, it works!"

Blue Beetle facepalmed as the two argued, and Batman was not in the mood for this. "That's enough!" he yelled at Stein and Jason. "You get a 20 minute break. Then training will resume!"

As the three departed, Batman could overhear Blue Beetle talking to Jason. "There's a Big Belly Burger not too far if you're hungry"

"Hell yeah. I could go for that right now" he replied.

When the three left the Batcave, Batman turned on his Batcomputer and went to Channel 3 news, where Lena Luthor was being interviewed. Lena Luthor was Lex Luthor's younger sister, and after Lex's death and Superman's downfall, Lena Luthor took over LexCorp – renaming it L-Corp – and became Bruce Wayne's biggest ally in rebuilding Gotham and Metropolis.

Lena Luthor: Yes, ma'am. I normally like to stay humble, but Mr. Wayne and I are quite proud of the work we've done. Now, Bruce won't show how satisfied he is, but come on – he was the Batman. Of course he's going to be dour and glum, haha! But seriously, Bruce has done a tremendous job, and he and I believe that in just two years, Metropolis and Gotham will….

As Batman listened to Lena's interview, he noted how optimistic she was and how confident she looked. Batman could never pull off such an attitude to begin with, but especially not now. For during the prior week, Batman had made a terrible discovery.

"Tim…" he whispered to himself.

Lately, Batman had been analyzing the Phantom Zone. In the possible however unlikely situation that Superman's red sun prison would no longer hold, Batman wanted to make sure he had full access to the Phantom Zone, just as a precaution. He modified the technologies he and Lex Luthor had used to summon the dopplegangers all those years ago for this project – and he discovered something that shocked him to his core. He found Starfire, Wonder Girl, Superboy, and Red Robin – aka Tim Drake, his former protégé – all trapped in the Phantom Zone.

With Dick Grayson and Jason Todd dead, and his own son Damian in prison, it felt bittersweet to know that Tim was alive…but imprisoned in an extradimensional zone. Just yesterday, he developed the technology to communicate with the four, and they confirmed to him what he had already suspected – that Superman was behind their imprisonment. Only Catwoman and Lucius Fox had been told the truth behind the Titans' fate. Batman made it one of his top priorities to free the Titans from the Phantom Zone. However, he knew that Grodd was planning something, and he sent Catwoman to Gorilla City to be his mole. He wanted to know just what Grodd was up to before he did anything else.

--

In only a short time, Kara Zor-El had learned both English and Khandaqian. Black Adam was impressed with how quickly the cousin of Superman adjusted to life on Earth. Well, life in Khandaq, that is. Black Adam forbade her from leaving his country, thinking the world wouldn't be ready to see another member of the House of El.

Black Adam had begun training her to use the powers that Earth's yellow sun granted her. She was showing a lot of potential, but Black Adam wasn't fond of her hopeful and optimistic attitude. It reminded him of Billy Batson, the deceased superhero Shazam. He remembered where Shazam's attitude got him – a cruel death at the hands of Superman. Black Adam would be sure to whip this attitude out of Supergirl. And he was hoping to show her the ruthlessness of combat by briefly letting her out of Khandaq to accompany him to Themyscira. Before they could worry about freeing Superman, Black Adam felt that he should first free Wonder Woman, who had been imprisoned on Themyscira since the fall of the Regime.

As Themyscira dawned on the horizon, he took a quick glance at Kara – or Supergirl, the name she had picked for herself. She had created herself an outfit similar to the one Superman used to wear. Some things she added on her own included the lack of sleeves, the presence of red gloves that went all the way to her elbows, and her 'S' reversing the yellow and red color scheme from Superman's. Kara also bore a smirk of determination on her face.

"Remember, Kara. No mistakes. We need Wonder Woman on our side if we hope to free your cousin' he said as they flew closer to Wonder Woman's home island.

Kara continued to let the smirk express her feelings. "No worries, Adam. You've taught me enough about my powers. I'll do fine"

Finally, they got close enough to Themyscira to where they could see Amazonian soldiers.

"Alright, Kara. Show these Amazons what you can do!"

The Amazons took notice of Kara and Black Adam, but it was too late. Kara used her freeze breath to freeze the Amazons in place.

"That won't hold them for long, Kara. But long enough for us."

Not too far from Themyscira's shore was civilization, and that's exactly where Black Adam and Supergirl were heading.

In the main city, Queen Philippus was watching over the Amazons with content on her face. In the five years since the fall of the Regime, the Amazons shut themselves off from Man's World completely. Though they were on their own now due to the Greek Gods leaving Earth, they felt it would be best to never again let another Amazon leave Themyscira. Their Post-Regime route had been complicated by Hippolyta's murder. A small group of Amazons, believing Hippolyta had failed her people by not doing anything to stop Wonder Woman's downfall, sneaked into her bedroom and stabbed her death shortly after Superman was defeated.

Five years later, Philippus still didn't know how to feel about Hippolyta's fate. On the one hand, she agreed wholeheartedly that the Queen should've done a lot more to stop Wonder Woman from going down the path she went. On the other hand, part of her felt that Hippolyta should've been given the chance to atone for her mistakes. It did not matter now. Philippus was the leader of the Amazons now, and she would make sure Man's World never came into contact with Themyscira again.

She had already failed, as she was about to find out.

"My Queen! Look above!" shouted an Amazon warrior, pointing to Supergirl and Black Adam above.

Philippus recognized Black Adam, but she was completely taken aback by Supergirl. She knew nothing of this new warrior at Adam's side, but she already figured out that she had to be wary. She bore an insignia on her chest very similar to Superman's. Add the fact that her flight showed that she bore superpowers, and Philippus reckoned it wasn't unreasonable to assume she somehow had a connection to the Man of Steel.

"Amazons! Prepare your weapons! Man's World has invaded!" she bellowed obstinately, with her fellow Amazons responding accordingly. The archers got their bows and arrows as quickly as they could and shot at Supergirl and Black Adam. The duo dodged every single arrow, with Supergirl flying down to use heat vision to burn as many of the bows as she could.

Black Adam, meanwhile, headed straight for Philippus, landing a blow to her face with all his might. This caused her to crash through five pillars in a row, causing the temple it was holding up to come crashing down. Philippus groaned heavily as she got up, with Black Adam shooting a glare in her direction.

"Where is Diana being kept?" Black Adam asked the Queen, to which she scoffed.

"Why would I tell you, Adam? She will rot here for an eternity, and you will leave our nation. Now!"

Black Adam shook his head. "That's the only time I'll ask nicely"

"You won't have the chance to ask again" she charged ferociously at Black Adam, intending to impale the king of Khandaq with her sword. She would never get the chance. Supergirl swopped in and heat-visioned both her sword and her shield out of her hands.

Philippus turned her head to see Supergirl hovering above the ground and snarled. "And just who in the name of Zeus are you?"

Since Supergirl could not speak the language of the Amazons, Black Adam answered that question for her. "Her name is Kara Zor-El. She is the cousin of Superman"

Philippus groaned in disgust. "Gods, not another Kryptonian"

Black Adam ignored Philippus' remark and turned to face Supergirl. "Kara, search the entire island and find Diana! I'll take care of the Queen"

Supergirl nodded and flew away, while Black Adam faced Philippus, who snarled once more. "Whatever it is you're planning, Adam…you will fail"

"Once we free Kal-El, the entire world will bow before us once more, including Themyscira!" Before Philippus could reply, Black Adam locked her into his arms and flew up high into the air.

"SHAZAM!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, and a bolt of lightning came careening towards Black Adam and Philippus, injuring the latter greatly. She was no longer a threat to Black Adam, and he decided it was time to finish her off. He dropped the Queen, and she fell to the ground, dying instantly when she landed.

While Philippus was taken care of, Supergirl was flying inside one of Themyscira's temples, hoping to find Diana. She had already zoomed through a half of the island looking for Diana, while avoiding the attacking Amazons. She lucked out with this temple, for she saw Diana as one of the prisoners trapped behind bars. She was wearing an outfit not unlike the outfits the Amazons decorated themselves with, and not the outfit she wore as a superhero or the one she wore under the Regime.

Supergirl took notice the fact that Wonder Woman towered over her by a great deal – most of the Amazons did, to her surprise. She looked to be barely shorter than Black Adam, which made Wonder Woman all the more imposing and striking to Supergirl.

"Diana!" Supergirl exclaimed, to Wonder Woman's surprise. Wonder Woman raised an eyebrow at the sight of this woman who bore a similar insignia to Superman.

"Who…who are you?" Wonder Woman asked. Supergirl was already told by Black Adam that the imprisoned princess spoke English, but she was relieved to finally be able to communicate with someone here.

"I'm Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Kal-El" Supergirl proceeded to use her heat vision once more, to destroy the bars holding Wonder Woman in.

"Cousin?" Wonder Woman felt that that raised more questions that it answered.

"It's a long story. I'll explain later" Even if Supergirl wanted to tell the full story to Wonder Woman right then and there, she couldn't. In front of Supergirl and Wonder Woman charged twenty or so Amazons, yelling out their war cries as they prepared to re-incapacitate their princess.

"Let's see what you can do, Kryptonian" Wonder Woman said to Supergirl right before the two charged back at the Amazons. While Supergirl mostly stuck to using her heat vision to deal with the Amazons, Wonder Woman decided that she needed a weapon. She grabbed hold of a blonde Amazon's right arm and broke it. As the Amazon screamed, Wonder Woman headbutted her, causing her to fall unconscious. Her sword and shield fell onto the ground, and Diana took them for herself.

Wonder Woman was not forgiving to her Amazon 'sisters'. She no longer considered them 'sisters' after imprisoning her for half a decade. Though she did not show it, she was enjoying herself quite a bit as she took down Amazon after Amazon. Supergirl was amazed by Wonder Woman's skill and strength, and blissfully unaware of her glee. Now they needed to get off the island.

As they battled more of the Amazons, Wonder Woman noticed that Supergirl was avoiding hand-to-hand combat, and only seldom used her freeze breath. The 'Girl of Steel' was mostly sticking to her heat vision as they fought on. She, on the other hand, was using her strength and skills with the sword to take down her former Amazon allies one-by-one.

Finally, they reunited with Black Adam. "Diana!" he yelled out as he saw the Amazon for the first time in years. "It's time we left! We have no more business here."

Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Black Adam all flew off Themyscira. The Amazons were now left with a decimated army and without a queen, but Wonder Woman could not have cared less. They could suffer eternal damnation for all she cared.

"You show a lot of potential, Kara" Wonder Woman said as she turned her head to face the newcomer. "But there's room for improvement. I will teach you all you need to know about combat – and how to master your powers"

Kara smiled at the thought, and Wonder Woman turned to glance at Black Adam. "How long has she been here?"

"A few months, now" Black Adam answered.

A few months. A few months of being on the same planet as her cousin, without getting to see him. Kara hoped that Black Adam and Wonder Woman could help her break him out of prison real soon. All she wanted was to be reunited with the only other survivor of Krypton.

Chapter Text

Bruce Wayne: In my years fighting crime, I've learned one truth. That every villain is the hero of his own story. Superman was no exception. The Joker drugged him. Tricked him into killing his pregnant wife, Lois. And made him trigger the bomb that nuked Metropolis. So when Superman killed the Joker, I understood why. We all did. But once that line was crossed, there was no going back.

Lucius Fox finished his cup of coffee and cupped his chin as he continued to listen to Bruce on the television.

Bruce Wayne: He gave himself and the Justice League a new mandate: Stop all crime before it happened, by any means necessary. But he couldn't see his good intentions were leading him down a path of tyranny – and evil. That's how our greatest hero become our greatest threat. It's been years since the Regime fell. Superman's behind bars. Damian, my own son, is there with him. But we can't ever forget why we put them there. We must stay vigilant.

Lucius proceeded to pause the TV and turn his attention to Bruce, who was starting at Gotham from outside the window. With Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, and James Gordon dead, and Tim Drake trapped in the Phantom Zone, Lucius Fox had become Bruce's chief advisor. Lucius believed in Bruce's plan to rebuild Gotham and Metropolis, but he wasn't afraid to call him out every now and then.

"I thought your goal was to reassure the people, Mr. Wayne" Lucius said, not approving of the dead serious attitude Bruce showed on the television. "You're not alone in rebuilding Gotham and Metropolis. But if we don't change some minds soon…"

Bruce interjected before Lucius could finish. "I thought that's why you hired that overpaid PR firm, Lucius…"

Though he didn't show it, Lucius felt mildly annoyed at Bruce's reply,. He felt the billionaire was missing the point. "Convincing people to move back to these cities is a lot harder when they're afraid someone's gonna knock 'em down again."

Bruce turned around to face Lucius. "Superman's never getting out. I made that clear."

"But Wonder Woman, Black Adam, Aquaman – they're still out there, somewhere, and seemingly immune to prosecution" Bruce knew that Lucius had a point. Though Wonder Woman was imprisoned on Themyscira, the US Government had expressed a desire to prosecute her themselves. Aquaman and Black Adam, being the rulers of Atlantis and Khandaq, could only stand trial if they were here on American soil; as long as they stayed with their nations, there was nothing the United States could do.

Lucius wasn't finished making his point. "I know you built Brother Eye to keep tabs on all those loose ends. But the public doesn't know"

Lucius' remark about Brother Eye…now that wasn't something Bruce could concede to. "Brother Eye's secrecy is critical. Our enemies can't fight something they don't know exists"

"Well, then follow at least one bit of advice we pay those PR people so much money for."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, unsure of where Lucius was going. "What's that?"

"Be a little less Batman, a little more billionaire playboy. Get out around town in the daylight. And smile. Focus groups show people feel safer when they see you smile."

All Bruce could say to that was a simple 'hm'. The billionaire playboy had always been a façade for the Batman, but Bruce didn't feel it was as necessary anymore, ever since Superman outed his secret to the world.

Just then, the built-in signal at the center of the table began ringing, and Lucius and Bruce both knew what that meant. "That would be your other job" Lucius said as he pointed towards the signal. Bruce turned back towards the window, to stare at Gotham.

"Bruce, consider widening your circle of trust. Nobody wins all by themselves. Not even you."

Bruce thought about that. He was always a skeptical and suspicious one, but after seeing one of his closest friends fall from grace and impose a dictatorship onto the world, he found it even harder to trust people. Still, perhaps Lucius had a point, he needed allies he could rely on.
--

Oliver Queen was happy to be with his wife, Black Canary, but he found her home universe to be quite saddening. On his Earth, Superman never fell and the Justice League was still active as the vanguard of the world. He didn't like to think about what made this world different – that Superman went nuts, and killed not only Shazam, but this world's Green Arrow.

He used the depression he felt towards this world to channel his motivation into working to make the post-Regime Earth a better place. Still, as he and Black Canary waited at the stairway, he decided to say something to lift his own spirits. "As a reception area, this place needs a lot of work"

Just then, Bruce showed up at the top of the stairs above them, content to see the duo. "Dinah, Oliver – thanks for coming on short notice"

Black Canary smirked at her old friend. "You're lucky we found a sitter"

Bruce didn't respond to the blonde superheroine. Instead, he activated a secret panel in the wall behind him, opening up an elevator. Bruce let his hand out, inviting Green Arrow and Black Canary into the elevator. The three all got in the elevator.

When the elevator stopped and opened, they found themselves at what used to be the Gotham Subway. "My great-grandfather built the original Gotham Underground" Bruce decided to briefly educate his companions as they walked out of the elevator. "But these days…it's the Batcave" Bruce had moved his base of operations here from the original Batcave. Wonder Woman had gone down there with Superman shortly before the latter's downfall, so he decided to prepare. In the event that Wonder Woman got out, she and Black Adam couldn't attack him at his base of operations.

Bruce stopped walking when the three approached a pillar decorated with many advanced computers. "And this is Brother Eye."

Green Arrow was taken aback by the sight of Brother Eye. His Earth's Batman had yet to create anything like this. "More like the Eye of Sauron" he quipped as he continued to gaze upon it. "Surveillance, huh?"

But Brother Eye was capable of far more than surveillance, and Bruce wanted to clarify its full potential. "More than that. A communications hub linking every satellite and server on the planet. It warns us when trouble's coming and guides us when trouble's here."

Black Canary was just as bedazzled by Brother Eye as her husband. "Must take a real genius to operate."

The blonde was in for a surprise at who actually operated it. "I dunno about genius" Black Canary instantly recognized that voice. "But I do got a PhD" The chair shifted around, revealing none other than Harley Quinn. She grinned as she blew up a piece of bubble gum.

Happy to see Black Canary again, Harley Quinn walked up to her and the two embraced. "Dinah! Dinah's hubby! You sure came a long way!" She wrapped her arm around Black Canary's shoulder.

"A world away" Green Arrow. "But the change of scenery is nice."

Black Canary turned her attention to Bruce as Harley took her arm off her shoulder. Black Canary was happy to see Bruce Wayne again, but she wasn't expecting to hear from him at this point – and she decided to make that clear. "I was surprised you called, Bruce. Things seem to be going well. So what's up?"

"Dismantling the Regime created gaps in global security. We're covering them where we can, but we're stretched thin. Vulnerable. Harleen, show them what you've found"

"Right-o, Bats" Harley sat back down to pull up some files from the computer. "Gorilla Grodd. Eveybody's favorite talking ape. He's got himself a band of bozos. Calls 'em The Society" Harley pulled up brief bios for Grodd and the supervillains he had recruited onto his team.

Bruce turned around to give further information to Black Canary and Green Arrow. "My mole in Gorilla City says Grodd's planning something big. But what, where, when, we don't know."

Now it was Harley's turn to pipe back in. "One thing we do know – Scarecrow's gonna ship Grodd a buttload of fear gas from a hideout in Slaughter Swamp. Very mosquito-y." She did a quick hand gesture that one would make if they smelled something bad, showing her contempt for mosquitos.

Green Arrow smirked at that. "Good thing I packed my bug spray."

"I need you three to stop that gas before it gets to Grodd" Bruce said, and Dinah was left confused. Why just the three of them?

"Not joining us for the party?" she asked the billionaire.

"Unfortuantely, I can't leave Gotham without worrying the public" Bruce replied. He wished with all his heart that he could get back into the cowl to aid them at Slaughter Swamp. Part of him wanted to see what had become of Scarecrow. Jonathan Crane had been dead for a decade, and Bruce only found about his return from the grave when they began investigating Grodd.

Harley tried to reassure Bruce as she and Black Canary walked away together, Harley's arm around Canay's shoulder and Canary's arm around Harely's hip. "Don't worry, Bats. With this crew on the job, what could go wrong?"

Green Arrow was about to accompany them, but there was a question he wanted answered. "I know I'm the new guy, but you really trust Harley?" Where he came from, Harely Quinn was still the abused but devoted lover of the Joker, so it shocked him greatly when he found out Harley was a confidant of Batman in this world.

"She's a different person since Joker died" Immediately after saying that, Bruce decided to clarify that she hadn't completely changed. "Mostly"

Green Arrow stood around for a while, before trying to catch up to his wife and the reformed Harley Quinn.
--

Slaughter Swamp was just as gross, husky, and muddy as Harley assumed it would be, and there were somehow even more mosquitos than she figured there would be. She couldn't let the disgusting atmosphere of the swamp get to her, though – she had to complete a mission for Batman. She, Black Canary, and Green Arrow peered their heads just enough to see what was going on, and they saw Deadshot and Scarecrow. Harley could tell from Deadshot's body language that he was getting anxious.

"Can they move any faster?" he asked Scarecrow, frustrated at their pace. "I don't need Grodd taking my head off 'cause your boys are too slow"

"Fear not, Deadshot" Scarecrow replied, and Harley was briefly struck by his voice. It had been a decade since she last saw Scarecrow, and his voice just sounded deeper than she remembered. Scarecrow patted one of the boxes. "We'll be ready for tomorrow's attack."

Black Canary raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow?" Canary expected that the attack would occur sooner than later, but tomorrow? She hadn't prepared herself for that.

"Cheeky monkey" Harely quipped. She, Black Canary, and Green Arrow were unaware of the mammoth vines creeping behind them until it was too late. Before any of them knew it, they were all wrapped up in vines, hanging upside down.

As the three struggled to break free, Harley noticed Ivy walking right towards them. She got up very close to Quinn. "Fancy meeting you here..." She lightly pushed Harley away, and the clown popped another piece of bubble gum.

Neither Deadshot nor Scarecrow knew what was going on, but they heard enough to know that something was going on. "Keep them moving" Scarecrow said to his assassin ally. "I'll see what that's about."

Harley hadn't seen her friend Poison Ivy in a long, long time. The last time she could recall seeing the redhead was about a year before the fall of Superman's Regime. "Red!" she said ecstatically. "I ain't seen you in forever! You hear to take down these punks!" She was excited to team up with Poison Ivy again. It would be just like old times.

Unfortuantely for Harley, reality was about to rain down on her like a ton of bricks as Scarecrow walked up to the three captured heroes. "Quite a catch, Ivy."

"Red? You're with them?" Harley felt betrayed and heartbroken. She was always waiting eagerly for the day she would reunite with Ivy. She had dreams of Ivy reforming and fighting the good fight alongside her and Batman. To see that a day like that would never come tore Harley apart on the inside.

Even worse for her, Ivy didn't seem broken up about capturing Harley. "Your man Bruce was supposed to better care for the Green. All he's done is remodel the concrete jungles of Gotham and Metropolis. Where I sit, there's not much difference between him and Superman."

Green Arrow scoffed at Poison Ivy. She had a point that Bruce was focusing more on the urban jungles than the lush forests and swamps. But it confused him as to why she would think Grodd would be any different. "You're a few pines of a cone short if you think your new friends care about the Green"

"Grodd will keep his promises, or he'll be my next victim."

Harley continued to let her betrayed spirit shine through. "Oh, Red. Why you makin' me do this?"

She cut herself free from the vines with a knife, and handed it to Black Canary so she could the same. Black Canary used the knife to cut her husband free. Now all three of them were back in action. As the two battled Scarecrow, Harley went to confront Ivy.

"We're gonna get you out of here, girl. We can team up again. Drive all the boys crazy, ya know? Just like the old days."

"The old days were fun…but these days, I'm all business" It further broke Harely's heart to know that she would have to fight Ivy, but she had to do what she had to do.

Still, as she tried to punch and kick Ivy repeatedly, she found that she was forcing herself to hold back. There was once a time when she was best friends with Poison Ivy, and the part of her that was fond of Ivy was dominating. Not helping matters was that Ivy wasn't holding back – as she punched, kicked, and bit, she used all her strength.

Ivy kicked Harley away, and summoned several vines in the shape of a triangle from the ground against the clown. Harley charged at Ivy, about to kick her in the stomach, but Ivy dodged just in time, causing Harley to trip onto the ground.

Ivy summoned up a vine creature who breathed green gas into Harley's face before disappearing. As Harley tried to get up, Ivy grabbed her by her and slammed her back on the ground. "I know you, Harley. I know you're holding back. You really think we can go back to the old days."

Poison Ivy stepped on Harley's back and pressed her foot hard, causing Harley to yelp in pain. "Sorry, Dr. Quinzel – the old days are over!"

Before Ivy could do anything else, Green Arrow shot an arrow that pierced its way through her left shoulder. As Ivy yelped in pain, Harley got up. It was time for her to finally accept the reality that her friendship with Pamela was over. Not wanting to kill her – to keep true to Batman's 'no kill' rule -, Harley slashed her right shoulder with her knife, and punched her in the stomach repeatedly before yanking on her hair really hard. As Ivy yelped in pain again, Harley headbutted her in the face, knocking her out.

She ran to Black Canary and Green Arrow, who had been exposed to Scarecrow's fear gas and were coughing violently. It turned out it took a lot of strength for Oliver to shoot that arrow at Ivy, for he could barely get up now.

Just then, Scarecrow shot out some more fear gas, this time at the clown. "Face your fears…"

She simply sniffed it up and smiled smugly. Back when she and Ivy were friends, the latter had immunized her to poisons and gases like this. She sneezed. "Please, I used to huff this stuff for kicks!"

Scarecrow was not deterred in the least. "Then you'll appreciate my new formula."

He exposed her to some more fear gas – and this was indeed a different formula, one Harley had not been exposed to. She keeled over onto the ground, struggling to get up. She turned around and was stunned to see demonic yellow eyes. She saw a creature with exposed, tattered brown flesh and yellow glowing from the inside. The face looked to wear a mask, but there only glowed yellow in the eye and mouth holes. It was Scarecrow – he had taken on the form of an undead creature risen from hell itself.

Scarecrow chuckled sinisterly. "This isn't even the best part, Harley. Now it's time to face your fears."

He exposed her to more fear gas, enough to briefly knock her out.

When she got up, the world around her was blurry, but she could tell it was not the swamp she had been sent it. Before her vision cleared, she could hear a familiar laughter….

Chapter Text

Harley let the environment around her sink in. She was at a carnival – one with blatantly sinister undertones lying within. The atmosphere screamed of bleakness and menace, and she began to get chills just from being there. And standing before her was a huge, monstrous clown head, with haunting yellow eyes and ominous sharp teeth. That's not what truly had her attention, however – what had her attention was the familiar laugh. It was a laugh she would recognize anywhere.

"P-puddin?"

She dreaded the sight of seeing the Joker again, having hoped to have finally moved on from him. And yet there he was. He came out of the shadows of the clown's mouth, and Harley began breathing heavily. His outfit was different than what he wore in life – while he still wore those purple trousers of his, he was now wearing a purple trenchcoat with no shirt underneath. But that threatening smile of his was as present as ever.

"Harley, darling! Look at you!" he spat, and Harley could only gulp. "Such a big girl! Cosplaying a superhero. LARPing in the Batcave. But you hear it, don't you?"

"Hear…what?"

"The real you, buried under the floorboards." he inched closer and closer to Harley, and she began to slowly back away. "Scratch, scratch, scratching to get out. The one who'd cut her friends' throat…" he emulated the act of slitting a throat with the knife in his hand. "…And laugh about it."

Harley turned and suddenly saw Batman all tied up to a chair. And she herself was back in her classic Halrlequin outfit. She looked at Batman as he struggled to break free, and she grinned, a knife suddenly popping up into her hand. She walked closer and closer to Batman, getting ready to stab the Dark Knight to death.

The Joker let out that sinister chuckle that Harley hadn't heard for the good part of a decade. "That's my girl…"

She held her knife out, all ready to stab Batman in the throat…but all of a sudden, she couldn't. She froze in position as she contemplated what she was doing. Harley didn't know why, but she couldn't bring herself to bring Batman. But then it came to her: Batman treated her much better than the Joker ever did. He never abused her verbally or physically the way the Joker did. Batman treated Harley Quinn like she was worth something, not a plaything to be abused. As that all came back to Harley, she put the knife down. The Joker was not pleased.

"Oh, Harley! Always such a disappointment." the Joker only reinforced how much worse he treated her than Batman does. Having enough of Harley, the Joker got out of his gun and pointed it towards the back of her head. "Why do I bother?"

The unsure look on Harley's face was replaced with a glare. Now she had enough of the Joker and his antics. She angrily pushed the Joker's gun away and began cornering the Clown Prince of Crime.

"Ain't no slick fella with a cheap suit and a cheaper grin telling me who I am ever again!"

The Joker grinned, thinking this was going to be good. She charged the Joker in an attempt to deck him towards the ground, but he merely dodged the attack. She tried to punch him again, but he dodged that attack as well. She was not going to give up – she couldn't fall back under the Joker's influence. She tried to deck him one more time, but this time, he grabbed her arm and let his most smug smile show itself.

"Why did I ever put up with you?" he said as he landed a blow to Harley's jaw. "You were always so weak."

He punched Harley again and again, as she tried in vain to deflect any of his blows. It wasn't long before she fell to the ground. He then began to kick her in the stomach again and again, still smiling the eerie grin of his.

"You think you can escape me, Harley? You think you can break free from me? Now that's funny."

He grabbed her by her clown jester headwear. "But most jokes wear thin after a while. And it's about time I put you down."

He prepared to smash her face onto the wooden floor, but she couldn't let that happen. She refused to submit to the Joker. She broke free from his hand and managed to get in a nice kick to his stomach. She figured that since a knife had conjured up in her hand earlier, she could conjure up a baseball bat, and that is exactly what she did.

She yelled angrily as she began beating the Joker with her baseball bat, refusing to hold back on him in any way. This felt very satisfying for her, to finally be able to stand up to the Joker like this. He tried his best to dodge her attacks, but Harley had the upper hand now. He collapsed onto the floor, coughing blood.

Harley decided to have some more fun, and summoned her hyenas, Bud and Lou.

"Snack time, boys!"

She watched and smile as Bud and Lou did their number on the Joker, biting the clown endlessly. The Joker cried out in pain, but Bud and Lou would not relent. Eventually, Harley had them move out of the way, and she saw what a bloody mess the Joker was – though she did not care. As he tried to get up, yelping in pain as he did so, Harley charged at the Joker and struck him with her baseball bat.

The Joker groaned as he felt his conscious fading, something Harley would gladly help with. Harley turned the Joker around to face her, and she decked him in the face repeatedly – she only landed a few blows before he fell unconscious.

Harley had done it. She stood up to the Joker and won. She thought of the Joker from the other Earth – how his behavior inadvertently helped realize that she needed to outgrow the Joker. That situation was a bit different since Lex Luthor was the one to take him down. This…felt more complete, with her being the one take down the Joker – she had literally broken the Joker's grip on her. Harley had finally overcome her worst fears – her fears of going back to the dark shadow of the Joker. She felt that there could finally come a day where she was completely free from the reach of the Joker.
--

Harley snapped back to reality, and saw that the Scarecrow had disappeared from sight. With Harley distracted, and Oliver and Dinah still on the ground from his gas, he and Deadshot took the opportunity to make a break for it – something Harley couldn't let happen.

Green Arrow got out and saw a plethora of boats, all of them containing Scarecrow's fear gas. Scarecrow and Deadshot were almost at the finish line – something the archer couldn't let happen. Green Arrow aimed his bow and hit a single crate of fear gas – but one was all he needed, for its explosion set off a chain reaction that caused the others to go out in fiery blazes as well. He had taken out the fear gas – but he angered the Green in the process.

From the murky and disgusting waters of Slaughter Swamp emerged a gigantic, daunting creature. Harley braced herself for when this grotesque creature would show its horrible face – and was surprised to find that it was none other than Swamp Thing.

"This swamp is protected!" Swamp Thing did not sound pleased with the three heroes in the slightest. He sounded enraged and provoked, to the complete bafflement of the trio.

Harley was more surprised to see that Swamp Thing was even still around. "Swampy? I heard you were dead!"

"I guard the Green, the plant life of Earth. As long as it lives, I cannot die!" He looked up into the air as he began to approach the trio rather menacingly, with Green Arrow prepping himself for another fight.

And it seemed a fight is what they would get, for Swamp Thing proceeded to slam his hand onto the ground, sending the three heroes flying away as if they were pebbles.

Harley was completely baffled by why Swamp Thing was attacking them and not the Society, and decided to make her confusion perfectly clear. "Swampy, wait! It ain't us you wanna bash – we're the good guys!"

Swamp Thing only continued to approach Harley with the same menace as before, unswayed by her pleas. "Good? Bad? I care little for humanity. But I do care when my swamp burns!" he began to shrink and shrink until he was about seven and a half feet tall, determined to take out Harley, Arrow, and Canary.

"Alec!" Black Canary exclaimed, desperate to try and reach the man within.

Swamp Thing turned to face Black Canary, keeping the stone cold look on his face. "Alec Holland is dead, Dinah. There is no point in trying in to appeal to him."

"Alright then…Swamp Thing." Black Canary rolled her eyes, for she never thought 'Swamp Thing' was that good a name. "It's not us you want to clobber. It's Scarecrow and Deadshot – and their goons. They're mixing toxic gas in this protected swamp of yours. We were only here to stop them!"

Swamp Thing's look of coldness turned to one of interest. "Hmm, I see."

He took a look at some of the goons Black Canary brought up, and the trio of heroes got worried. It was unclear what Swamp Thing was going to do. They were relieved when he brought vines down from the ground to entangle the two goons.

Meanwhile, he saw Scarecrow, Deadshot, and Poison Ivy preparing to leave on a boat, with Deadshot aiming fire at the trio. He would've brought all three of them down, had Swamp Thing not brought even bigger vines from the murky waters to cover the three heroes and block the bullets. The three Society members managed to get away, but at least Arrow, Canary, and Harley were alive and well.

Swamp Thing brought his vines down when Deadshot stopped shooting. "If they return, I will be ready."

Harley was ecstatic about Swamp Thing now. She thought his power were amazing – and that it would make him a useful ally for Batman. She decided to see if he would play ball. "Aw, Swamp Thing, you are amazing!" she punched him in the shoulder, but only out of appreciation. "If ya ever want on the team, we'd love to have ya…"

Swamp Thing was not as eager to join as Harley had hoped. "I would consider that, should our interests align. For now, go. This swamp must heal." He disappeared into the dark waters of Slaughter Swamp.

Harley was upset that he wouldn't be joining with them, but she supposed it made sense. Swamp Thing was always more about protecting the Green than fighting crime and evil. Still, she couldn't help but think – with his powers, Swamp Thing could be a threat to even Superman.
--

After they took out the fear gas at Slaughter Swamp, Batman gave Harley Quinn, Black Canary, and Harley Quinn the task of going to Gorilla City to investigate Grodd himself. They were all happy to do it, even if Arrow and Canary had to pay extra to their babysitter.

Harley Quinn was flying the high-grade plane Batman had given them – to Green Arrow's surprise, as he never knew his Harley to be a pilot. While she focused on flight, Green Arrow and Black Canary were comfortably sat down, leaning in for the screen on which Bruce Wayne was present.

"Our best chance to stop Grodd is a preemptive strike." Bruce said, to the confusion of Green Arrow. The archer had no problem with helping to take down Grodd, but the way Bruce was putting it…

"Sounds more military than vigilante to me. You try calling the Army?" Green Arrow quipped, to which Black Canary rolled her eyes.

Bruce didn't so much as chuckle, which was to expected from the Dark Knight. "There is no Army, not yet. To break up the Regime, we had to start from the ground up."

Green Arrow stopped with the quips to ask a serious question. "So…what?" he turned his head to face his wife. "Us three extradite Grodd from under his entire gorilla army?"

"Grodd's their alpha. Take him down and the others will submit" Bruce turned his head to face Black Canary. "But be wary of running into other members of the Society. They're more coordinated than we know."

"Next stop, Gorilla City." Black Canary added in, and Green Arrow turned around to face his wife.

"Guess I'd better call the sitter. Mommy and daddy are coming home late." since he had been granted all the wealth previously owned by his dead counterpart, he had no problem paying the sitter a few more extra bucks. He got out of his chair to do just that, and a look of concern shined on Bruce's face. It had only just sank in that he was keeping them away from their son Connor for even longer, and he couldn't help but feel bad.

"If this is more than you and Ollie are comfortable with, Dinah, I'll have Blue Beetle and Firestorm take over."

Black Canary appreciated Bruce's offer, but she had no problem going to Gorilla City. "No. We can do this."

"You've been out of the fight a long time. You have a family…"

"You're family too, Bruce." Black Canary replied, and even though Bruce kept his ever present stoic face, he truly was touched by that. "I couldn't be there to finish the fight against Superman. I'm damn sure finishing this one."

Bruce nodded and his screen went off. Black Canary sighed at the thought of Superman's fall. She always had a hard time even looking at the Superman of Ollie's Earth – he had not gone off the deep end, but he still bore the face of the man who murdered her husband. She loved that Doctor Fate gave her a second chance to be with Green Arrow, but she really wished she could've helped to topple Superman's Regime.

She didn't want to think about it any further. As she said to Bruce, she was going to make it up for it by helping to take down the Society – and she was going to give it everything she had.

Chapter Text

Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Harley Quinn were all surprised at how vacant Gorilla City looked when they snuck in. But as they wandered around the city, they could hear chanting – and it was getting louder and louder. They finally found where all the gorillas were gathered, and the three ducked behind a truck as they eavesdropped.

Before the gorillas stood a giant stage, and on that stage stood a gigantic red-and-black flag. A hominid skull stuck out in the center of the flag, with a sword and a gun underneath it. Then, from below the stage emerged Gorilla Grodd himself, who began approaching his subjects.

"Gorilla City, our time has come" Grodd began to walk across the stage, continuing to look down at the other gorillas. "In a few short hours we break the yoke of oppression – forever! No more Regime! No more Justice League! Today, the world welcomes it new masters" Grodd proceeded to extend his arms out. "The Society!"

The gorillas cheered uproariously as the rest of the Society emerged from beneath the stage and made their presence known. To the right of Grodd came Scarecrow, Deadshot, Bane, and Cheetah. To the left of Grodd came Poison Ivy, Captain Cold, Catwoman, and Eobard Thawne. Grodd let his subjects cheer on for a minute before he continued on.

"Today, we show the world that we are superior! Today, we bring anyone that would dare stand against us…TO! THEIR! KNEES!" Grodd extended his arms again, and all the gorillas raised up their machine guns in excitement.

"Low self-esteem…not that guy's problem. Green Arrow quipped in response to all of this.

Harley was more concerned about the situation. "That's a lot more than a few Society members. It's all of them"

Black Canary tried to get some last details in before turning to face her compatriots. "They're headed indoors, out of sight from the soldiers. Harley, keep the jet warm. When we signal, bail us out!"

Harley only winked at Black Canary before walking away.
--

Green Arrow and Black Canary managed to sneak on top of one of Gorilla City's highest statues. They were high in the air, but they could still overhear the conversation Catwoman was having with Gorilla Grodd. Green Arrow was about to fire his arrow, but Black Canary wordlessly signaled him not to, whispering that they should what Grodd and Catwoman are discussing first.

"Maybe it's time you spilled the identity of our 'silent partner' so much. Since we're relying such much on him. Or her…" Catwoman said, with Green Arrow and Black Canary oblivious to her true allegiance.

Grodd was still not ready to reveal the identity of their partner. "He will soon make his presence known. But for now –"

Catwoman was getting frustrated with Grodd. She felt she was failing Batman by not getting the identity of Grodd's partner. She was going to try and persuade Grodd once and for all, but she wouldn't get the chance, for Green Arrow decided that now was the right time to blow their cover. "First, a few words from the brave and the bold!"

They jumped down to the ground to take on The Society. Green Arrow prepared his bow and arrow, but it was Black Canary who fired the opening shot with her Canary Cry, sending Grodd, Catwoman, and Bane all flying away.

"I'm the brave one, right?" Black Canary quipped as Grodd, Catwoman, and Bane struggled to get up.

"I'm not bold enough to disagree." Green Arrow replied, and the three Society members all got up to face the trio. Grodd was surprised to see Green Arrow and Black Canary, especially the former – he had not learned that an alternate version of the archer had come to this universe, so as far as he knew, Oliver Queen had somehow come back from the dead. He did not care to find out how – he had more important things to do with his time.

"The sabetours of Slaughter Swamp I presume – hmmph." he turned his head to face Catwoman and Bane. "Handle this!" Grodd walked away to take care of those more important matters.

Catwoman began whipping the ground they stood on, faking a smug smile as she did so. "I call first dibs!"

Green Arrow tried to figure out if he should take on Bane or Catwoman, but then he realized that due to her Canary Cry, Black Canary would fare better against the likes of Bane. He, meanwhile, would take on Batman's former flame.

"Go pin the luchador." Green Arrow directed towards his wife, and she charged towards Bane. A small smile emitted through her face – part of her was going to delight in taking down the man who broke the Bat.

Black Canary unleashed a Canary Cry towards Bane, sending him flying in the air again. When he landed on the ground and got back up, he was not deterred. He let out a sinister laugh, which only made Black Canary enjoy this more.

"How kind of Batman, sending his underlings." Bane exclaimed as he grabbed Black Canary and threw her towards the hippopotamus statue behind him. "I will enjoy returning you to him…in body bags."

Black Canary was not one to quit, either. She only snarled and let out a 'ya' as she charged towards Bane and let out a mighty kick towards his stomach. That would've hurt no matter what, but the heels on her boots made the blow all the worse.

She then punched him in his red eyes twice, and twice more in the stomach. She prepared to land another blow, but Bane grabbed her wrist before she could do so. He let out another chuckle.

"I am but toying with you, Senora." Bane said. Though it could not be seen through his mask, he was smiling quite smugly. "I broke the bat, you cocky mierda. I can deal with you just fine."

He jabbed her in the face three times before delivering two hooks to her stomach. He landed another hook to her face before grabbing Black Canary by the neck and sending her towards the ground. He turned her around so that he could step on her back as hard as he could, with Black Canary yelping out in pain as he did so.

He took his foot off her back, and let her get up so that he could bring her down again.

"You think you can take me down?! I've dealt with much worse than you!" Black Canary boasted.

She kicked Bane in the face once with her left leg and twice with her right leg – and like with before, the heels made it all the more painful. She smirked, knowing that she had the opportunity to end this now.

"You know what the difference between you and me is, Bane?"

As he groaned loudly, she refused to let him answer. She grabbed a knife from her pocket and ran behind Bane, slashing his venom tubes. He groaned again as he fell to the ground, and she kicked him in the stomach while he was down.

"My abilities are completely natural."

She turned around to see that Green Arrow as still battling Catwoman. Green Arrow shot an arrow at Catwoman, who whipped at it. She did so with such ferocity and skill that the arrow snapped right in half.

"Oh, come on, that was my favorite arrow!"

Black Canary charged towards Catwoman, and as she did, Green Arrow decided that it time for one of his trick arrows – and shot an arrow towards the feline-based woman that froze her in place. Taking advantage of this, Black Canary broke the ice and kicked her in the leg before throwing her back to Green Arrow.

Green Arrow flung another arrow towards Catwoman, one that sent out a green gas along with it. Catwoman began coughing loudly.

"You…you have no idea what you're doing…" she exclaimed. She decided that this wasn't worth it – she was going to tell the two that she was Batman's mole. But she wouldn't get the chance, for Green Arrow decided to do something unconventional for an archer and struck her back with his longbow, with her yelping in pain as she did so.

Green Arrow breathed heavily, and Black Canary smiled. She liked him when he was in action.

"I took care of Bane. Snipped his tubes" she said, to Green Arrow's horror. He could only let out an 'uh' in revulsion as he misunderstood what his other half meant. Black Canary realized that she had to clarify. "His venom tubes, Ollie."

Green Arrow sighed in relief as he tried to get the misunderstood image out of his head. "Okay then…so where's that damn dirty ape?"

They would not be finding Grodd just yet, however. Out of nowhere, an overwhelming bright light showed up, and the two heroes had no choice but to look away. It was a black portal shining bright yellow, and out of the portal emerged the symbol of Doctor Fate – and then Doctor Fate himself.

'Well…today just got even more interesting' Black Canary thought to herself as she tried to react to Doctor Fate's rather sudden arrival.

"I come to you as darkness falls…" Doctor Fate said ominously, further piquing Green Arrow and Black Canary's interest.

"Doctor Fate?" Black Canary asked, getting more and more confused by why the sorcerer had shown up out of the blue.

"Dinah Lance. Oliver Queen. In the past, I have shielded you from danger. But a grave crisis looms – and I do not know if I can stop it"

"You mean Grodd and company?" Green Arrow asked. He was baffled – Gorilla Grodd was never a threat to be underestimated, but he had no idea what Grodd could possibly be doing for Doctor Fate to talk about him like that. "We got that covered…"

Doctor Fate's response left both Black Canary and Green Arrow daunted – the latter moreso. "Grodd is the pawn of a much greater master. A new order is coming – I have foreseen it. Leave with me now, while I can still save you"

Black Canary appreciated Doctor Fate's concern, but she wasn't going to leave. After having to flee during the reign of Superman…whatever crisis was coming, she was going to stay and help. "If that's the case, we're staying here. Batman'll need our help"

"Everything and everyone you know will die. I will shepherd you to safety. By force if necessary…"

That last part made it clear that a battle was ahead. Black Canary did not want to fight Doctor Fate – her friend, Kent Nelson, was still in there somewhere. But she had no choice.

"Alright, Ollie, we need to focus on getting the Helmet off – that's how we'll free Kent" Black Canary said to Green Arrow before approaching Doctor Fate.

Doctor Fate briefly formed a fist in his hand. "You should not have returned to are not fated to fight his battle."

"Well, as a good friend once told me…screw fate." Black Canary then proceeded let out a Canary Cry towards Doctor Fate, sending him flying. "You better have backup freeze arrows, Ollie"

Green Arrow couldn't help but scoff at that. "You're kidding, right?" Green Arrow then let out another freeze arrow, freezing Doctor Fate in place. Black Canary began to charge at the sorcerer, but before he could do anything, Doctor Fate broke free from the ice himself.

He unleashed from his hands a blue circle that contained his symbol in the center. He conjured it up against Black Canary – and when it struck her, it hurt like hell. Before she could fully react to the injury, Doctor Fate summoned up a large amount of yellow mystical fire underneath her, and as it shot up, so did she.

Green Arrow prepared to shoot another arrow at Doctor Fate, but the helmet-clad man shoot out blue mystical fire towards the archer – again and again. Green Arrow then hit upon an idea – his boxing glove arrow. He just remembered that he had brought that with him, and it would be the perfect arrow to knock off the helmet.

He just needed to find the right time.

Black Canary attempted to kick the helmet off, but this only diverted Fate's attention to her as he dodged her kick. He began to shoot out green electricity from his fingers, shocking Canary up as he did so. Doctor Fate began to repeatedly conjure up mystical fire – he was capable of so much more, but deep down, he was holding back. He didn't want to harm Canary and Arrow too badly.

While Fate continuing to beat down on Canary, Green Arrow began to aim his boxing glove arrow. Doctor Fate began blasting spheres of green and yellow energy towards Black Canary, knocking her further each time.

He gritted his teeth as he prepared himself.

"I cannot let you two suffer over what's about to come" Doctor Fate said as he readied himself to knock Black Canary out. But before he could, Green Arrow shot his boxing glove arrow, and it hit its target, knocking the Helmet of Fate off Kent's head.

Kent took a moment to breathe heavily, free from the Helmet's control. Black Canary placed a friendly hand on his shoulder.

"Kent? You okay?" she asked as Green Arrow walked up to the two.

"Your headgear really had you going" Arrow added on as Doctor Fate continued to take deep breaths.

"I lost control of Nabu, the spirit of the Helm" Doctor Fate clarified, with his normal voice, to explain why he had acted the way he did. "Thanks to you, I'm back in charge for now. I must go consult my masters, the Lords of Order. Pray they'll intervene before it's too late"

Black Canary's look of friendliness turned to one of concern. "Too late for what, Kent? What's going on?"

Doctor Fate wished so much that he could be straightforward with his friends on what was going on, but he couldn't. And he cursed the names of the Lords of Order for it. "The Lords' magic bars me from saying more. I've changed fate too many times. This planet's destiny is no longer clear"

Fate walked towards the Helmet of Fate and put it back on his head. "What comes next, mere mortals cannot stop" his voice was once more distorted. "For better or for worse, your fate rests in the gods' hands"

As he finished, the portal he had come through made its return, and he began walking backwards through it. His symbol appeared for a brief moment before it, the portal, and Doctor Fate all vanished, leaving Green Arrow and Black Canary completely befuddled.

"That was…spooky" Green Arrow didn't know what else to say to that, and Black Canary could only agree with her husband.

"Yeah…c'mon. Let's find Grodd and get the hell out of here"

They began to run forward, towards four of Grodd's gorilla soldiers – only to stop when they realized that Grodd was behind them. The gorillas cleared the way for him, and Green Arrow and Black Canary were shocked to see an unconscious Harley Quinn being held by Grodd. How the Society had found Harley, they had no clue – and they wouldn't find out for a long while.

Grodd furiously threw Harley onto the ground and sent a chilling death glare towards her two allies. "You've overstayed your welcome"

Black Canary, ever the determinator, was not going to let Harley's defeat get to her. "We're happy to check out, but you're coming with us"

Green Arrow shot three arrows towards Grodd, but the gorilla did not take this seriously. He simply used his telekinesis to freeze the arrows in place before freeing them from his grasp. As the arrows fell to the ground, Grodd let out a sinister chuckle.

"There's nothing you can do, humans. You've already lost the war"

Then, the very Earth began to tremble. Grodd smirked, knowing what was going on, but Green Arrow and Black Canary were left without a clue. That is, until a giant skull-shaped began to loom over Gorilla City.

"Holy shit…" was all Black Canary could say. Aliens were no strangers on Earth, but this was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The ship stopped right above Arrow, Canary, and Grodd. The two heroes had no idea what to do – neither felt they should try to run, for such an action would be pointless.

The ship let out a blue beam, and before either Green Arrow and Black Canary knew it, the ship had taken them. Grodd chuckled once more – for the invasion was about to commence.

Chapter Text

Before Green Arrow and Black Canary knew it, they found themselves in a ship unlike anything they had ever seen before. It was hard for the married couple to even comprehend the interior of this ship. It was coated in gray and purple, and covered in some kind of wires that were connected to almost every system. There were also strange symbols on the ground, symbols Canary and Arrow couldn't even begin to recognize.

Instinctively, Green Arrow and Black Canary reached for each other's hands. As capable as they were, neither knew what their odds were.

"Ollie…" was all Black Canary could say as she continued to let the appearance of the ship sink in.

"I, uh…I got nothing." and Green Arrow meant it. He had no quips or remarks regarding this ship, for it was too bizarre and foreign.

"Your victory over Doctor Fate warrants further study."

That deep and somewhat dry voice alarmed Arrow and Canary, with the former nocking an arrow in preparation. Their attention was taken when they saw a strange shape emerge from the ship's floor. It was a number of mechanical tentacles, covering something – or someone. The tentacles began to unfold on themselves, revealing a humanoid donned in silver armor with purple highlights, his bald head colored a lime green.

"Green skin? Smart money's on alien." Green Arrow was finally able to get a remark in, while Black Canary couldn't help but think of their old friend, the Martian Manhunter.

"A Martian? Like J'onn J'onzz?"

Green Arrow and Black Canary wouldn't be in the dark for much longer. "My point of origin was a thousand years removed from Mars, on the planet Colu. I am…Brainiac."

Brainiac extended his arms out, and from his back emerged two gigantic tentacles – one grabbed Black Canary by the wrist, and the other latched onto Green Arrow's bow. Green Arrow tried to fight it, but it was no use. His bow flew out of his hand, and the tentacle gripped his wrist as well. Arrow and Canary were both dragged away. As the tentacles raised them up in the air, Black Canary let out a Canary Cry in a desperate attempt to escape. In response, Brainiac unleashed another tentacle, one that held a tight grip on Black Canary's throat.

Green Arrow reached his arm out towards Black Canary, as the sight of her being chocked helplessly was too much for him to bear. "Stop, please!"

Brainiac did not care about Arrow's concern. "Cause and effect. Resistance begets violence."

Deep down, Green Arrow felt ashamed for backing down like this. But his wife was about to get choked to death, and there was no way either of them could fight back at the moment. "Then we won't resist! Please, just stop!"

Brainiac retracted the tentacle that was strangling Canary, and all she could do was let out a heavy breath and cough.

Brainiac walked towards the window of his ship, where the Earth was visible in all its glory. As Green Arrow studied Brainiac, he thought about what Doctor Fate had told him and his wife…and he put two and two together. "You're the grave crisis we were warned about. What do you want?"

Brainiac briefly turned to glance at the archer before turning back to face the Earth. "I seek the one you call Superman. For years, I believed I had destroyed Krypton and all its remnants. Superman's survival is an oversight I must correct."

Even now, when she was being held captive by a threat she had never encountered before, Black Canary couldn't stand to hear that name. "Superman's no friend of ours."

"I am aware. But your planet has also piqued my interest. Its many contradictions are fascinating." There was something odd about the way he said 'fascinating' but Arrow and Canary ignored it.

"We'll never serve you." Black Canary replied defiantly.

There was a brief pause before Brainiac spoke. "Serve? I am no petty despot. I collect worlds, preserving their essential knowledge to enhance my intellect." He turned to face Green Arrow once more. "And then I discard the remnants."

'Well…that's a new one' Green Arrow thought to himself. He thought he had seen every possible scheme and motivation, but Brainiac had him wrong. "Why?"

Brainiac had his tentacles move the heroes so that they faced him directly. "Your species values precious metals. Arbitrary symbols of status." He looked at his hand and formed a fist. "I value knowledge. And like your metal trinkets, knowledge is more valuable when it is rare."

He walked away from the window and towards the corridor, and though he wasn't proud of it, Green Arrow gulped. Neither he nor Black Canary would admit it, but they were afraid as to what kind of wrath this 'Brainiac' would unleash upon the world.

--

Before anyone knew it, the meteors came down. And from the meteors emerged Brainiac's robotic minions. The world had calmed after Superman's Regime was toppled, so no one woke up expecting an invasion of global proportions. As the robots made themselves known, people began running desperately for their lives. It was a futile effort for some, who were taken by the hooks the robots could fire out from their hands.

Bruce Wayne, at the moment, was unaware of the carnage that had just struck the Earth, and had gone to Brother Eye to check up on Harley, Arrow, and Canary.

"Brother Eye, give me an update on the team at Gorilla City"

Ever since he began his career, Bruce Wayne had garnered a reputation for preparing for even the most unlikely of scenarios. However, nothing could've prepared him for what was to come next.

"I cannot do that, Bruce Wayne of Earth" Brother Eye replied, to which Bruce was left dumbfounded. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Why not?"

"Because I am not Brother Eye." the computers and monitors all began to glitch up, and all Bruce could do was jump out of his seat. After a few seconds, only one face was on the monitors.

"I am Brainiac."

Bruce didn't bother trying to talk to Brainiac – all he did was type in a desperate, and unsuccessful, attempt to regain control of Brother Eye.

"You cannot regain control." Brainiac hammered in, though Bruce was not to be deterred. "Over the past few days, Brother Eye has been absorbed into my neural network. It is now an extension of my mind."

The letters on the keyboard turned into some form of alien code, the likes of which Bruce had never seen before. He had to accept it – creating Brother Eye had just bit him in the ass.

"You, a fragile human, captured and imprisoned a fully developed male Kryptonian."

"Maybe I'm not so fragile." was all Bruce could say. He was beginning to wonder – of what importance was Superman to this alien? What was Brainiac going to do with this?

"To prevail, you harnessed advanced sciences. Nano-technology, satellite communication, interdimensional transits…I am taking these tools from you."

Bruce was only further confused. "Why?"

"The Kryptonian belongs to me. And soon, so will your planet."

Even though the keypad was completely foreign, Bruce tried to see if he could do…well, anything. But he couldn't even begin to decipher it. Brother Eye was gone, a new threat currently plagued the world…and there was only one person Bruce could go to for questions. He had to swallow his pride, just this once.
--

Through a mystical orb, Black Adam and Wonder Woman were able to get a look at Brainiac's ship, with concern plain as day on their faces. They felt they were on track to freeing Superman and restoring the Regime, and this was an unforeseen complication.

"Great Hera. Where else besides Metropolis?" Wonder Woman asked, continuing to be puzzled by this new threat.

"Gotham, Detroit, Beijing, Moscow…So many cities, all at once."

While Black Adam and Wonder Woman were merely concerned, Supergirl was completely horrified. From her perspective, it hadn't been that long since Brainiac brought ruin and destruction to Krypton…and now the collector of worlds was already back in her life. She resisted the strong urge to panic and scream – all she would allow herself to do was widen her eyes.

"It's him…"

Wonder Woman turned her attention to Supergirl and began walking towards the Kryptonian. "Who, Kara? Who is it?"

Supergirl was silent for a moment, as she could only perpetuate that look of horror, before gaining the courage to speak. "We need to get Kal. Now!"
--

The Lex Luthor Prison for Metahumans had been Superman's jail for the past five years. All he had seen these last few years were a gray metallic background with the red sunlight generator shining on top of its head, as it always did. Superman merely sat there in his prison uniform – he had gotten used to just sitting there and thinking for days at a time. He was always thinking about what he was going to do when he got out – even as the years passed by, he wouldn't give up. He knew he would be let free one day.

Superman's attention was turned towards sound from behind, and he turned his head to see his former friend Bruce, all dressed up in his Batman outfit.

"You're wearing the suit. Am I in trouble again?"

Batman felt it was best to simply cut to the chase and not waste time arguing with the Man of Steel. "Brainiac. What can you tell me?"

Though he tried his best to hide it, Superman's heart skipped a beat. Nothing had made him tense up like this since Doomsday. He walked up to Batman, desperate to know how he learned who that was. "How do you know that name?"

Superman still tried to hide it, but Batman knew him well enough. He could see that the Last Son of Krypton was…fearful. Superman was trying to hide his fear, but little could get past the Dark Knight. "You're afraid of him…" Batman decided it was best not to dwell on that. "He's invading. He says you belong to him"

"Brainiac killed my parents….he blew up Krypton…"

"…You never mentioned that before" For all the many things he had prepared himself for, this was something that really took Batman by surprise – though like Superman, he tried his best to hide it. He simply pondered as to why Superman never told him about Brainiac. The vigilante could just barely believe that Superman would hide this from, say, Hal or Barry, but with how close he and Superman once were, he was surprised at being left in the dark as well.

Again, Batman decided not to dwell too much on it, given the gravity of the current crisis. "…How do I beat him?"

"…You can't. Not without me."

No. Batman refused to go that far. Brainiac was a dire threat, but nothing could be enough to free Superman. Batman felt bad that this trip was for naught, but he had to find another way to take down Brainiac.

"I'll find a way."

Batman turned around and walked away, and all Superman could do was bang his arm on the glass. "This is my fight, Bruce! You need me! Bruce! Bruce! Bruce…"

Superman gritted his teeth as he saw Batman exit the room. Superman had finally been granted the opportunity to confront the man who took his world away, and Batman was taking that away. He walked around his prison – he was more desperate than ever to escape his prison, something he didn't think was possible. First, he would take out Brainiac – and then, with the help of his followers, the Man of Steel would make sure the Dark Knight could never get in his way again.

Chapter Text

Barry Allen was not the first man to take on the mantle of 'The Flash'. That honor went to a man named Jay Garrick, who became the Fastest Man Alive in 1940. Nevertheless, Barry managed to reach a level of fame and popularity Jay could have never imagined – though Barry himself never thought he could live up to the likes of him. Jay and Barry always got along well, as they had a deep respect for each other.

That's why it broke Barry's heart to see Jay on his deathbed like this.

As Barry looked down at the ground, Jay began to cough roughly, causing the former to jump up in worry.

"B-Barry…." Jay muttered out, his voice sickly and feeble.

Barry's eyes widened in concern. "What is it, Jay?" Barry replied in a soothing voice.

"H-have I ever told you…how proud I am of you?"

Barry let out a small smile and blushed. "You have, Jay. At least a dozen times…"

"Well…I'm gonna do it one more time, Barry. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better successor as The Flash, but as a man, Barry…as a man….you truly have it going for you. Iris…she's such a wonderful gal. I hope you two have a long and happy life together. And Wally, he's shaping up to be an excellent protégé…."

Barry sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "He's getting there, I'll admit that…but the kid still needs some more training."

"He's off to a good start." Jay turned his head up to face the ceiling. "You know, I never really talked about Hal with you that often. Alan and I always enjoyed how you two got on so well, even though ol' Alan wasn't exactly fond of Hal himself…." Jay let out a weak chuckle and began to cough, this time even more roughly, while Barry watched anxiously. "Barry…before I go join Joan and Alan, there's something I want you to do."

"Anything, Jay."

Jay cleared his throat. "Promise me, Barry…promise me that no matter how bad things get, no matter how tough things get, you will always stay on the good path. I'm very proud of you for always doing the right thing – and it's important that you stay that way. Your heroism and bravery is something the world can't afford to lose…"

Jay began coughing very violently, and then he lay stilly on the bed…and all of sudden, Barry could hear the painful sound of flat-lining.

The Crimson Comet had passed away, and the Scarlet Speedster began to tear up as he stared at his deceased idol. He thought about Jay's last words – it was a big promise to fill, but Barry knew he couldn't let the original Flash down. Jay was right in that sometimes, it might be hard not to give in temptation and fear…but Barry believed that he could pull it off. He had to, for Jay's sake. He started at Jay's classic helmet, lying by the hospital room's window, and a determined look showed itself
--

It was only two years after Jay Garrick's passing that Metropolis, and all the pain and misery that followed it, took place. Barry couldn't think about that memory without dying a little on the inside. He had broken Jay's promise – when Superman fell from grace and slowly took over the world, Barry was right there with him. Wally died in the Metropolis disaster – and while Barry would always miss Jay and Wally, he was also relieved that they weren't around to see the path he took after Metropolis.

Iris was there to see him go down that path, and she completely gave up on him after he accidentally killed the supervillain King Shark. Even years after his reformation and participation in taking down the Regime, he couldn't bring himself to talk to Iris. As for Hal…well, things between Barry and Hal eventually went south.

The closest person he could talk to now was Bruce, who gave him a second chance and recently granted him a job at the Luthor-Wayne Climate Research Station. But even then, Bruce was always preoccupied with helping the world recover from the Regime. Barry had basically no one – no friends, no family, nothing – in his life. He was all alone.

It didn't help that the people here at the station weren't too fond of Barry, due to his time with the Regime. The sole exception was their boss, Doctor Randall, who was softer on Barry than anyone else. And speaking of Randall…as Barry walked down the hall and thought of all of this for what felt like the millionth time, he peered into a room to see the good doctor herself, who appeared to be distressed by something.

"Need a hand, Doctor Randall?" Barry asked, having no clue what the doctor was doing.

"I don't know, Barry. Sat link's out. Internet and phones are down. Maybe this old ham can help us." Barry didn't expect Doctor Randall to abruptly change the subject the way she was about to. "You fitting in okay? People treating you well?"

Though he didn't show it, Barry wasn't exactly happy to hear that question. "Let's just say people here aren't thrilled to be living in close quarters to The Flash, convicted Regime criminal."

"Pardoned Regime criminal." Doctor Randall corrected, "Give it time. They'll come around."

Barry hoped they would, but it he was being honest with himself, he didn't think that was very likely. Before he could voice his concerns, however, Doctor Randall got her device activated and tried to make contact with some associates at another station.

"L-W Base, are you there?"

Barry didn't at all like the sound of the reply. "Doctor Randall? Thank God!" replied the voice on the other side of the old radio. "Comms are down everywhere! These space ships showed up, dropping a robot army on the city! They're killing everyone!"

Barry walked up to Doctor Randall, growing ever more concerned. "I'm not sure how long we can –" Just then, contact was lost. Doctor Randall tried to re-establish it, but to no avail. She turned her head to face Barry.

"How fast can you get to Metropolis?"

Barry was taken aback by his associate's question. "My pardon agreement was pretty clear on no powers."

That reply only left Doctor Randall exasperated. "You think that matters when aliens are invading?! You helped tear down the Regime, Barry. That's why Mr. Wayne asked me to take you on. And if Batman thinks you've earned a second chance, who are you to argue?!"

After thinking about it for a moment, Barry had to concur. Doctor Randall was right. He had to finally come out of the shadows and re-emerge as the Scarlet Speedster, if only just this once. But he needed a new outfit, having disposed of his old one long ago. He fashioned a new outfit out of whatever materials he could find and raced out of the station to find out what the situation was in Metropolis.

When he got Metropolis, he was stunned to see chunks of the city in complete ruin – and he almost immediately found the source. He could see some of the blue and purple robots trapping some innocents into an uncomfortable circle, and then one of the robots menacingly lifted one of the civilians off the ground with one hand. Going faster than before, he was able to gain enough momentum to punch the robot into oblivion. He moved one of the other robots' hands away from another civilian, before moving on to punch out every single robot at light speed.

Most of the civilians ignored the Flash's past with the Regime – they were just grateful to have been saved.
--

Unbeknownst to Barry, Brainiac had seen the whole thing through a hologram. He watched as the Flash took down his robots one-by-one. While he was of course angry to see his creations destroyed like this, he was also fascinated by Barry. For all his travels, for all the wealth of knowledge he had collected over more years than could be counted, he knew very little about the Speed Force. Barry Allen seemed like the perfect case study.

Meanwhile, Grodd slowly walked up to Brainiac, also watching Barry take down Brainiac's robotic minions. Part of him wished he could be there so he'd be able to personally rip Barry to shreds, but he had to stick to his plan.

"As predicted, Barry Allen has returned to action." Brainiac said, for Grodd had informed him of Barry's heroic past not too long ago.

"The task force is ready. They'll enjoy this…"
--

It felt good to Barry, being able to play hero again after all these years. As he ran across Metropolis, he tried desperately to get the memory of Jay Garrick's final moments out of his head – it had been plaguing him all day, and now was not the time to wallow on about how he failed his idol.

He was unaware that Deadshot was currently preparing to take him out from the safety of a rooftop – and he wouldn't know until he felt the bullet go right through his kneecap. A consequence of running at super speed is that he slid about a hundred feet upon being shot.

And walking towards him was none other than one of his most frequent rogues from the old days – Captain Cold.

"Nice aim, Deadshot." Captain Cold said through the comm in his ear.

"Just get the job done." Deadshot replied.

Barry was absolutely flabbergasted. Leonard Snart had never been a 'good guy' per se, but for the ice villain to attack him while an invasion was going on…Barry was having trouble wrapping his mind around that.

"That knee ain't healing super fast at absolute zero" Cold said. Barry didn't reply because he was surprised by his old foe's actions, which allowed Cold to shoot his knee with an ice blast from his cold gun. Barry only groaned in pain, but now he finally worked up the energy to confront Cold about his current decisions.

"For God's sake, Cold, look around!"

As if to mock Barry, Cold quickly glanced to the right. "Yeah, crazy day. Kind of like when Superman went nuts and you went right along with him."

Barry was frustrated at being reminded of his past mistakes. "Punish me later. We have to help these innocent people!"

"The same 'innocent people' who cheered Superman when he executed my friends? My sister?!"

As Barry's knee began to warm up, he stood up to face his foe. "I'm sorry, Cold. But you never hurt civilians. You're better than that!"

Cold angrily grabbed Barry and threw him to the other side of the block. "Once upon a time, I was."

Since Barry's knee was still recovering, Cold was able to get in several good punches and kicks at him. Barry did manage to get in some good jabs here and there, his knee's bad shape was serving as quite the handicap.

He just barely dodged it when Captain Cold blasted at him with his cold gun, having to dodge again when Cold repeated the attack. Barry decided to see if the old Snart was still in there.

"Look, Leonard…I'm sorry about Lisa, and Mick, and everyone else. But you can't give up on yourself like this!"

Cold only sneered. "The world changed, Barry. You yourself changed right along with it, so why get upset over me, huh?"

Barry had to accept that he simply had to fight the ice rogue now. Thankfully, his knee wasn't hurting like a bitch anymore, so he used his super speed and gave Cold several jabs and hooks to the face. Cold still tried to fight Barry, but it was easier for the speedster to dodge his attacks. Finally, he snatched Cold's gun and broke it apart, before giving Cold a mighty kick with his good leg and one last punch in the face.

Barry sighed as Cold fell to the ground unconscious. "Guess we both let each other down.", he lamented sadly. He looked around the city, and saw three of the robots scanning around the city. Footsteps in the background caught his attention and prevented him from dealing with the robots. It was Deadshot, who aimed both of his wrist cannons towards the speedster.

"Runnin' a little slow, Flash." Deadshot said in a mocking voice.

"Retirement'll do that to you."

Deadshot fired from both of his wrist cannons, but Barry merely dodged the bullets and super-sped to the assassin, pinning both of his arms. Barry was just as frustrated to see Deadshot fighting him in the middle of the invasion as he was with Snart. "What's with you, Lawton? You should be fighting this invasion!"

Deadshot only groaned as he tried to break free. "Got no choice. Grodd obtained the trigger to my nano-explosive. That damn gorilla presses one button, and I'm a dead man." Deadshot then got out a knife and stabbed himself, but the knife pierced through Barry as well – it was only inches away from his heart.

Barry yelled in pain, and he backed away, with Deadshot turning around to face the Flash. "So whether I like it or not, I gotta do Grodd's dirty work."

Thankfully for Barry, his knee was on the verge of full recovery. That meant that he was able to dodge all of the bullets Deadshot tried to fire at him. – all except for one, which grazed the speedster's shoulder. Deadshot was able to throw in some jabs towards the Flash and then attempted to stab him in the heart. Barry moved, though, and Deadshot only grazed his shoulder again.

Barry had enough of this. He had an alien invasion to help deal with – he didn't have time to fight Deadshot. When he began jabbing at Deashot again, his punches had more power to them, and he was increasing his speed. He kept punching, and punching, and punching, until Deadshot finally collapsed.

Barry took note as Deadshot struggled to get up. "I know…it's just business."

Before Barry could take the time to so much as breathe, some being showed up out of nowhere and kicked in the chest – both Barry and this menace were flying hundreds of feet away. The menace stopped in his tracks, but Barry was sent flying another hundred feet away, groaning in pain as he did so.

"Grodd said you couldn't resist a good crisis." the menace said as he came up to Barry. It was none other than Thawne, looking at him with a smirk.

"Eobard Thawne?" Barry asked in confusion. "You don't belong here…" though unlike with Captain Cold and Deadshot, it did not surprise Barry to see Thawne attacking him in the middle of this invasion. Thawne was always about giving Barry hell – and only about giving Barry hell.

"And miss the return of Barry Allen?" Thawne gloated, before landing two punches towards Barry's face and kicking him away. Barry decided to lure Thawne out of here, so he raced out of the city, with Thawne trailing close behind. The two super-sped all the way to the plains of the Midwest, hearing the occasional moo of a cow as they did so. Barry turned around to the opposite direction, and Thawne did the same thing almost right afterwards. After a minute, the two found themselves in night-time Gotham, both trying to avoid getting run over by traffic.

After speeding under a bridge, Thawne jumped above a semi to catch up to Barry. Barry attempted to swing at Thawne, but the Reverse-Flash dodged and swung at him. Barry flung into a small car, which was forced to brake. Barry kicked Thawne towards another car, and traffic began to freeze. Barry super-sped Thawne towards another car, and began punching him repeatedly. Barry landed two jabs to Thawne's face, but his nemesis was able to dodge the third jab and send Barry towards another car, where he landed some punches of his own.

They kept ramming each other into cars in an attempt to take the other out before Barry finally had enough and ran off, with Thawne trailing right behind. Barry tried to throw another swing at Thawne, and he was able to dodge it again. Thawne deliberately lagged behind, just so he could catch up and deck Barry, sending his fellow speedster flying once more.

As Barry got up, Thawne decked him again, and Barry was sent a dozen or two feet away.

"I ran a long way from the future to hurt you, Barry, but this timeline, it's all wrong."

"So go back to your own time, 'Reverse-Flash.'" Barry said as he tried to gain the energy to get up.

Thawne only smirked. "Well, there's a complication, Barry. The Regime – you know, that group you helped into power – killed one of my ancestors. I can never go back home." Thawne kicked Barry in the chest with that malicious smirk on his face. "Not that I really care – I just want to hurt you, Barry."

Thawne then slammed Barry's head into the brick pavement, and Barry yelped in pain as a river of blood came down his nose. "Though I must say…I never thought you would affiliate yourself with something like the Regime. I thought you actually cared about heroism and justice and all that idealistic nonsense. Jay would've been ashamed of you. And now you really think you can play hero again?"

Thawne grabbed Barry's head. "You can't make up for what you've done." Barry wasn't prepared for what happened next. Thawne opened up a time vortex, and before he knew it, they were in Ancient Egypt. From the looks of it, it was around the time the Old Kingdom was constructing the Sphinx. Thawne had taken them on one of the boards the Egyptians were using, and he smashed Barry right into the Sphinx's nose.

As Barry was trying to grasp what just happened, Thawne took them even further back in time – to the Cretaceous Period. He used Barry to smack a Tyrannosaurus that was finishing up a dead carcass. Before the Tyrannosaurus could react any further, Thawne went back to the present – seconds before he even departed in the first place, slamming Barry right into his past self.

As their past selves departed, Barry groaned quite loudly while Thawne let out a slasher smile.

"You lose, Barry."

Before Thawne could attack Barry again, a giant green hammer showed up out of nowhere and sent Thawne flying towards the nearby theater. Barry was stunned to see none other than Hal Jordan, the former Green Lantern of Sector 2814.

Well, he should be the former Green Lantern of Sector 2814, for Hal had joined the Sinestro Corps during his time under the Regime. How he managed to regain his old green uniform, Barry had no idea.

Hal turned his head to face his former Justice League teammate. "Barry."

Barry titled his head in confusion. "Hal? How…"

Before he could answer, Thawne ran back from the theater and decked Hal in the face. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Hal Jordan. This just got a whole lot more interesting."

Hal could only sneer at the yellow-clad meance. "An alien invasion threatens everyone and everything on this planet, Eobard, and you're still trying to beat up Barry?"

Thawne let out another smirk before super-speeding towards Hal and Barry, repeatedly punching both in the face and chest, before Barry decked him in the chest. Thawne's attention wasn't on Barry anymore, though – it was on Hal.

"Now, if I recall, you went and joined your old pal Sinestro, Mr. Jordan…" he smugly said as Hal glared at him. "You became Superman's lackey, and you and Barry fell out." Thawne chuckled before slamming Hal into a wall at super speed, choking him by the neck.

"But you and I both know Barry well enough." Thawne began to vibrate his hand, intending to phase it through Hal's chest. "Killing you will still get something out of him."

Just as he was about to finish off Barry's former friend, Barry himself tackled Thawne and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying towards some trash. Hal formed a machine gun construct and began shooting towards the Reverse-Flash. The two began to overwhelm the evil speedster. Thawne would've been able to take on just of them, but both…it was quite the challenge.

Barry jabbed Thawne in the face twice and in the chest twice, and Hal created a green monster truck and swung it towards the speedster, before creating a mace to bash him with. Barry grabbed Thawne by the head and slammed him into the nearby trashcan before kicking him in the stomach. Thawne managed to punch Barry in the chest twice, but Hal began bashing the Reverse-Flash with his mace again. Thawne managed to kick Hal, but the Green Lantern formed a giant hand, with which he grabbed the yellow-clad speedster and threw him towards the theater walls.

Thawne groaned loudly – he couldn't take this anymore, so he super-sped away from the scene. Barry considered following him, but instead decided to question Hal and see what had happened with him over the past five years.

"So…Hal…" Barry rubbed his neck as he made eye contact with his fellow superhero. "..You're with the Corps again."

"The Guardians offered me a chance to redeem myself. A chance to make up for everything that I had done…" Hal let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry for what I did for the Regime, Barry. I really want to make things right. I betrayed my planet, my Corps…and my friends. And that's the worst part."

Barry could see that the sorrow and the regret in Hal's voice was genuine, and his pain..,it was something he could relate to. "All day I've been reminded how I failed to be a hero. How hard it's going to be to regain people's trust. Guess we're both on that path."

"We have a long way to go, Barry. It'd be a lot easier if we're together."

Hal let out his hand, as an offer of trust – and friendship. Barry paused for a moment, before accepting. As they shook hands, big smiles let out from both of their faces. They were glad to have each other's friendship again.

And finally, for both of them, something from the old days had come back.

Chapter Text

Right as Barry was fighting Captain Cold, Catwoman and a number of Grodd's underlings were taking Harley away to their prison – she would be interrogated and possibly experimented on in the near future.

At least, that's what Harley and the gorillas all thought.

As they walked onto the bridge that would soon lead them to the prison, Harley popped some gum in her mouth and took a good look at the giant ship that continued to hover over them. She had no idea what was going on, and even though she looked like she didn't care about anything, she was getting really worried. She had no idea what happened to Green Arrow or Black Canary, but in general…that ship could not have been good news.

Catwoman put her hand up, signaling for the gorillas to stop what they were doing. Harley was confused – she had no idea what Catwoman was up to. Her confusion was soon clarified when Catwoman turned and winked at her before using the claws on her gloves to free Harley from her cuffs. Harley laughed before grabbing a large stick lying on the bridge and bashing some of the gorillas with it. The gorillas that weren't taken out by Harley's bat were knocked out by Catwoman's whip. The feline-based woman even used the whip to knock one of the gorillas off the bridge.

Harley repeatedly bashed one of the gorillas – when he was finished off, Harley let out one or two pants before turning her attention to Catwoman. "Thanks, kitty! I was hopin' you was Bruce's mole!"

Catwoman, however, wasn't as happy. "For all the good it did me. Grodd never trusted me enough to share the whole 'alien invasion' plan."

"We gotta help Dinah and Ollie…"

Catwoman turned her attention to the ship in the sky, worrying about the carnage this invasion would bring to the world. "We will. First we need to get back to Gotham. If there's anything left of it."

Catwoman and Harley walked away from the scene, hoping Gotham was still intact.
--

It was a weird day for Barry. On the one hand, the world was dealing with a massive alien invasion – and if it wasn't stopped soon, everyone would suffer for it. On the other hand…Hal Jordan was back. After all these years, Barry's best friend was back in his life, to which the Flash was overjoyed by. He didn't feel so alone in the world anymore.

Barry had contacted Batman, and they were set to meet him in a warehouse not too far from the Batcave. But he remembered Jay's final moments as they walked through the warehouse. And now, he had a friend to confide his doubts in.

"You know….before you showed up, Thawne said that Jay would've been ashamed of me for the path I went down after Metropolis. And it kills me so much…because he's right, Hal. I failed Jay."

Hal started at the wall for the moment as they continued to walk, and he let out a deep sigh. "Alan and Jay…yeah they wouldn't have been proud of us for our choices. But now that I think of it, they might've actually talked us straight and prevented us from going down the path we did."

He wordlessly signaled for Barry to stop, and placed his hand on the Flash's shoulder. "Look, Barry, it's best to just not worry about that now. Don't worry about what Jay would've thought of you joining the Regime. Redeem yourself, and fight the good fight in a way that would make him proud."

Barry couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Hal."

Hal patted Barry on the shoulder before the two continued to walk. Eventually, they entered the main room, just as Batman had asked of them. Before them lied a sea of crates and messy papers, and at the center of the room was Batman himself.

Batman walked up to Barry and Hal, but he had a scowl on his face. While he never looked happy, he seemed particularly angry in this case. He gave the Green Lantern a death glare before making eye contact.

"Barry, why the hell didn't you tell me you were bringing Hal?"

Barry only rubbed his neck and let out an 'uh' to which Batman narrowed his eyes. "Come with me, Barry. We need to have a talk. Hal, stay there."

Batman and Barry walked to a table in the corridor, while Hal remained by the entrance. When they stopped, Batman shot a dirty look at the Flash. "No."

Barry, taken aback, raised his shoulders in bafflement. "We need help, don't we?"

"Not his." Batman and Barry were both oblivious to the fact that the wire holding the crate above them was slowly coming undone.

"You gave me a second chance."

Batman turned to face Barry entirely, still disapproving of Hal's presence. "Because you got your head straight and helped take down Clark. If he was still in charge, he'd still be wearing yellow."

Hal had enough of this. He began walking up to the two, frustrated at Batman's last remark. It was lucky for Batman that he did, for the wire came undone and the crate fell. Just before the crate fell on top of Batman, Hal caught it with a giant green hand and put it by the table.

"I'm not that guy anymore." Hal said, finally expressing his frustration. "Look, I get why you don't trust me, but you should trust the Guardians" he held up his ring hand to further emphasize the point he was about to make. "This ring means something. They put me through hell to get it back."

Batman looked at Hal disapprovingly. He didn't have to say anything – Hal could see that Batman wasn't going to go through with an alliance. He didn't have time for this – he truly believed it would be easier if he worked together with Batman, but the Guardians had tasked him with bringing Brainiac to them to stand trial. If he had to work alone, so be it.

"Fine. I got my orders. I just thought it'd help if we cooperate."

As Hal walked away, Batman suddenly remembered his conversation with Lucius. He remembered what Lucius had said to him about at the end – Bruce, consider widening your circle of trust. He could hear it as if Lucius had just spoken it at the moment, and as he sunk into thought, he came to a realization. Lucius was right.

"Lantern." Batman said, and Hal turned around in curiosity. "Maybe it's time I widened my circle of trust."

Hal was quite glad to hear that – he was happy he wouldn't be alone in taking down Brainiac, and he was happy to be accepted by other people besides Barry. He walked back up to Bruce. "What can I do?"

"You're going to Atlantis. Our circle of trust needs Aquaman and his Marines."

This seemed fine to Hal, as he hadn't been on Earth since the Regime was defeated and didn't know that Aquaman cut himself off from the surface world. Barry, however, was well-aware of the sea king's isolation, and made his surprise known. "You think he'll help? He's been off-radar since the Regime fell."

Then Hal remembered how the King of Atlantis actually felt about the Regime – and he was beginning to have second thoughts on the whole idea, raising his hand up as he was about to voice his own opinion. "Um, he didn't like getting roped into the Regime by Superman. He sure won't be happy to see me."

Batman was indifferent to Hal's uncertainty. "Get used to that." he walked away, and Hal and Barry just stood there for a few moments, unsure of what to say.

Barry was partly wondering just where Batman was going, and what he was supposed to do at the moment. Hal began to ready himself to depart for Atlantis – Barry would help him locate it since he actually went there years ago. But then, Hal and Barry heard a voice they didn't recognize.

"Yo, Batman!"

From the entrance to the warehouse flew Firestorm and Blue Beetle. Barry and Hal were completely taken aback, as they had no idea who either of them were. Batman heard Firestorm and turned around to see what the two younger heroes came for.

As they got closer to the Flash and the Green Lantern, Firestorm split back into Jason and Professor Stein, to which Hal and Barry could only stare at with amazement. "And I thought I had seen everything…" Hal lamented.

Jason, Martin, and Blue Beetle were all surprised to be in the presence of the Scarlet Speedster – and even more surprised to see one of Earth's emerald knights back in action. "Hal Jordan?" Blue Beetle asked, just as confused to see Hal as the latter was to see him. "So you've gone back to wearing green, huh?"

"…Yeah, kid. I have."

Batman walked up to Jason, Stein, and Blue Beetle, and the trio's attention was now on the Dark Knight. Jason began to make motions with his hands as he tried to figure out what to say. "What do we do about this invasion, Batman?! About a dozen cities have vanished off the face of the Earth!"

"All we know so far is that a being named Brainiac is spearheading this invasion, and he's after Superman. It's not much, but it's enough for me to give you two and Jaime a task."

Stein adjusted his glasses and came closer to Batman. "What can we do?"

"I need you, Jason, and Jaime to go to the Lex Luthor Prison for Metahumans and guard Clark. We can't risk the chance of Brainiac getting to him."

Stein was content with such a job, but Jason was less pleased. "This is some bullshit." he whispered to Blue Beetle just quietly enough that Batman couldn't hear him, which was an achievement. "We can help out with the invasion! Come on, Batman – you'll let Jordan help, but we have to guard Superman?"

Stein was quite frustrated with the other half of Firestorm. "Jason!" he said, pointing at the younger man. "We should trust Batman's judgement. Now is not the time for talking back!" Blue Beetle was used to this, but Hal and Barry could only watch as the two came to blows.

"That's enough!" Batman said in a voice even sterner than usual, trying to quell Jason and Stein's argument. "Trust me, Jason. It's for the best."

Batman walked away, leaving the other five just standing there for a bit, before Blue Beetle decided to break the silence by reaching out his hand to Barry.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Flash. I'm Blue Beetle."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, two" Barry said as he shook Blue Beetle's hand out of politeness. Blue Beetle only took a quick glance at Hal and let out an 'hmm'. Jason, meanwhile, stared at Hal. His return to Batman's side had gotten Jason wondering.

"I hope Hawkgirl turns good again!" he said with a big smile on his face. "I would love to work with her."

Stein raised an eyebrow at Jason's remark, and Blue Beetle and Barry looked pretty confused themselves. "You didn't hear, Jason?" Stein said as he placed his hand on Jason's shoulder. "Hawkgirl…she did feel guilty about her actions, but…she found a different way to deal with it."

"What do you mea-….oh…." Jason's eyes widened as the realization hit upon him. It clicked with Hal right afterwards, and he let out a deep sigh. Upset now, he decided that he would just like to go to Atlantis.
--

Green Arrow and Black Canary struggled furiously to get out of the cells Brainiac had imprisoned them in, but it was no use. Canary motioned for Arrow to cover her ears, and she let out a Canary Cry at the top of her lungs, but to no avail. The glass containing them was still there. As for the archer, none of his trick arrows could get them out here. They had no idea what Brainiac wanted to do with them – and though they didn't want to admit it, they were terrified at the possibilities.

Brainiac walked up to them, that eternal stoic look still on his face. Black Canary gritted her teeth and banged on the cell.

"It is futile to try and escape, Mr. and Mrs. Queen. This cell would be able to hold Superman himself. You will not be getting off this ship, so do not bother trying."

Just then, Grodd walked up to the cell – what little doubt Green Arrow and Black Canary had that Grodd wasn't affiliated with Brainiac was gone. Grodd beat on his chest. "As a matter of fact, you two are my insurance." Grodd chuckled sinisterly, and Arrow and Canary could only wonder what he meant.

Chapter Text

After the Battle of Metropolis and the fall of Superman, Aquaman decided that he wanted nothing to do with the surface world ever again. He fled back to Atlantis to avoid US prosecution and cut his kingdom off from the rest of the world. He would make sure that no surface dweller ever came anywhere close to Atlantis, and he never wanted to see any of his old allies again.

But his forces were unable to stop Hal from coming to Atlantis, and as unhappy as he was to see the Green Lantern, he decided he would at least hear Hal Jordan out before removing him from his kingdom. Still, Aquaman wasn't pleased with Hal's request.

"Batman wants my Marines to fight his battles?" Aquaman asked angrily as he looked at a hologram of the Skull Ship. "Like the time Superman ordered me to invade Metropolis?"

Hal wasn't happy that Aquaman was bringing up the Regime, feeling that the two situations couldn't be compared, but he decided to keep that to himself. "We were all on the wrong side of that war."

"The next time my people's blood is spilled, it will be for Atlantis, not the surface world!" Aquaman slammed down his trident to emphasize his point.

"You're one of us too, Arthur." Hal placed his hand on his chest, "Your father…."

Aquaman saw where Hal was going, but he wouldn't concede. "My father was human, but my duty is to Atlantis. I don't trust you, Jordan – you or any surface dweller. Now leave! And remind Batman: Stay out of my seas"

Getting frustrated with Aquaman putting his pride before reason, Hal pointed to the Skull Ship hologram. "And when that's on your doorstep?!"

"Atlantis will defend itself." Just as Aquaman said that, the Skull Ship hologram disappeared – and Hal had an idea of what that indicated – technology going down was the first sign of an impending attack from Brainiac.

"Maybe sooner than you think. We need to help each other."

To his dismay, Aquaman still wasn't interested in aiding Batman. "Go! I don't need your distraction!"

"Damnit, Arthur! Now is not the time for you to hold onto your arrogance!"

Aquaman gritted his teeth. "Need I remind you whose kingdom this is?!"

Aquaman tightened his grip on his trident and slammed Hal in the face with it. The Green Lantern was taken by complete surprise, so before he could even think to imagine anything up before Aquaman slammed him with his trident two more times, then scooping him up in the air with his trident and throwing him towards the golden walls of Aquaman's throne room.

Aquaman then slammed his trident onto the floor and called forth a tentacle that jabbed Hal into the air before vanishing. Hal had enough of this – if he had to fight his former friend, so be it. He imagined up a city bus and rammed the sea king with it. As Aquaman got up, Hal created an F-16 fighter jet construct and launched it towards Aquaman. Finally, he created an ICBM and threw it towards the King of Atlantis. Hal walked up to Aquaman as he continued to launch missiles towards him, gritting his teeth as he did so.

Aquaman gritted his own teeth and charged towards his former teammate. Hal created a shield with a star on its center and blocked the king's trident with it. He forced the trident out of Aquaman's hand and created a giant fist. He punched Aquaman with it, sending him flying towards the ground again. He began to breathe heavily and sighed as Aquaman got up. He began to breathe heavily, and sighed as Aquaman got up.

"I'm sorry. I…I didn't come here to fight."

Aquaman said nothing, but Hal could see the regret on his face, and he sighed again. "Forget it. Look, this is exactly what happened up there. First, they take out communications. Then…"

Suddenly it felt like the very ocean itself was shaking as Hal and Aquaman heard the sounds of the ships coming. "They invade…" As Hal and Aquaman head the ships landing, the former was losing patience. "They're your oceans, but it's also my sector. Let me help you."

Just then, Brainiac's robots began to storm the throne room. Aquaman sighed as he realized he had no choice but to swallow his pride. "Cover me!"

Aquaman charged towards one swarm of robots, and Hal created a green brick wall to block off the other. He tried to hold the wall with all of his might, but the robots' power was slowly overwhelming it. The wall was quickly overwhelmed, and Hal was sent flying as the robots marched menacingly. Hal created a small semi and mowed down the swarm with it. Hal took a quick moment to breathe - but that moment cost him, and he suddenly felt a slash to the back.

He quickly turned around, and initially saw nothing – but when he looked up, he saw Cheetah on top of one of the giant monuments in the throne room.

"Hmm" Cheetah wiped her mouth and began crawling on the monument. "I thought the only Regimer down here to torture would be Aquaman"

"Cheetah…" Hal was not expecting to see Cheetah, and he wasn't particularly glad that she just barged into his day like this.

"Let's not beat around the bush. Wonder Woman's in hiding. Maybe down here. Tell me…where is your Amazon friend?"

Hal also didn't like being reminded of his former Amazon ally. "Didn't you hear? I unfriended her. So did Atlantis."

Cheetah gritted her teeth. "Liar!" She roared and jumped down to the ground, ready to take down the emerald knight that stood before her. "I don't need a golden lasso to make you tell the truth!"

Hal had to remember Cheetah's magical background and capabilities – that meant he couldn't just curbstomp her. Cheetah repeatedly slashed at him – and each one hurt worse than the last. She tried to claw at him again, but he blocked her and created a giant hammer to swing her into one of the throne room's walls.

She leapt right back up and tried to claw at Hal again, but he created a forcefield and prevented her from doing so. The forcefield deactivated and he created a giant hammer and began bashing her around with it. Cheetah tried to strike at Hal again, but he used the hammer to send her flying into the same wall she had just crashed into. She leapt at him once again and managed to claw him a few times – but then Hal imagined up a green ball of fire and unleashed it towards Cheetah, knocking the feline lady out.

"Bad kitty." Hal quipped as he saw her unconscious body. The shaking sounds could be heard again, and Hal could see explosions in the ocean. More of Brainiac's robots had arrived. Hal flew towards Aquaman, who was surrounded by on all sides by robots. The sea king was giving it his all, but he couldn't face all of these robots by himself, and Hal knew it. So Hal created a machine gun to help mow down the robots. They all came down, and Aquaman stabbed the head of the last robot's head with his trident.

"My people are getting flanked!" Aquaman said as Hal flew closer to him. "Hold this line! Be our rear guard!"

"On it. And you?"

Aquaman began charging away. "I'm the vanguard!" Just when he left Hal's earshot, the latter could hear large banging sounds coming from one of the doors. The doors were sent flying to the floor – and from the outside halls emerged Bane, who was surprised to see the Green Lantern as he held up a dead Atlantean soldier.

"Hal Jordan." Bane said as he tossed aside the soldier's body. "You have returned."

Hal continued to levitate in the air as Bane walked closer. "Good to be back where I belong. Kinda like you and a prison cell."

"Even as Yellow Lantern, you never showed me the proper respect. But I will show you how easily your will is broken."

Bane charged towards Hal, but the emerald warrior merely dodged him before creating a gigantic hand, with which he grabbed Bane. He began to toss the minion of Grodd around like a ragdoll. He did this for about a minute before the hand vanished. Bane groaned as he began to get up, and Hal only levitated above him. Hal created another ball of fire and shot it at Bane – he then created more balls of fire and shot each one of them at him.

"This really isn't a fair fight, Bane." Hal said, deciding that he didn't have time for this. Bane charged at Hal and got in only two kicks and a punch to the stomach before Hal created that machine gun again and began to fire at Bane. "You may have broken the Bat, if you think you can break a Green Lantern, you got another thing coming."

Hal created a giant mecha leg and used it to stomp Bane. He had the leg split into it and levitated just above them and adding the hind parts of the legs, before imagining up giant hands which he used to clasp Bane. He created the torso and arms of the mecha, and put himself in the center. He created the head and launched it against Bane. Then the head flung on top of the giant mecha, and Hal aimed the wrist cannons at Bane. Bane groaned, but it was too late. Hal blasted at Bane and sent him flying.

Bane was outmatched, but he wasn't one to give up. He charged at Hal and got in two more kicks, but he was getting exhausted. Hal created a giant hammer and launched it at Bane, sending him flying into a crumbled unconscious heap on the floor.

Hal breathed heavily, and Aquaman walked up to him. "We're locking down the gates, but the fight's not over."

Hal took a deep breath before turning to face Aquaman. "So, where's this leave us?"

"You put yourself at risk for Atlantis. Maybe you can be trusted."

Hal was glad to hear those words – Aquaman had swallowed his pride. "So…you're in?"

Aquaman hated to disappoint Hal, but he had to say it how it was. "I can't. I belong here, defending my people."

Neither of them could have possibility anticipated what came next. A red light appeared in the corner of their eye, and both turned to see a red portal forming – and at the center, there appeared to be blood splattering. A giant red figure began to come forth from the portal, and to Aquaman's bafflement, a cat also came forth, meowing as it did so.

"Hal Jordan!" the figure yelled as he formed a fist. Hal Jordan knew who this was, but he didn't know why he was here. Aquaman, on the other hand, was left confused as to what had just happened.

"Red Lanterns?" he asked.

"Atrocitus and Dex-Starr, agents of vengeance. Powered by rage…"

Atrocitus walked up to Hal menacingly, with Dex-Starr trailing close behind. "Do not worry, Hal Jordan. I have not come to fight you."

Now even Hal was confused as he raised an eyebrow. Atrocitus could see his fellow Lantern's confusion and knew he had to clarify.

"I have instead come to offer my alliance."

Hal walked up towards Atrocitus, completely baffled. "Come…come again?"

Atrocitus began to circle around Hal. "I know that the terror of Brainiac has come to your world, Jordan. Countless worlds have perished because of him – and countless more lives died with them. His path of death and destruction cannot be allowed to stand. Not anymore. His victims demand vengeance! The Red Lanterns have bolstered their ranks just enough – we can help. I wish to help avenge the worlds destroyed by Brainiac."

Hal wasn't sure of what to say at first. This is something he never would've expected to hear from Atrocitus. As he thought about it, he was initially reluctant about the idea, but then he realized that Atrocitus could compensate for Aquaman. What Batman lacked in Aquaman's Marines, he could make up for in Atrocitus' Red Lanterns – though what Batman would think of Atrocitus was another matter entirely.

"Alright. You got a deal, Atrocitus."

"Excellent choice." Atrocitus smiled menacingly, and Dex-Starr let out another meow.
--

The Skull Ship and dozens of smaller ships made their way onto the Earth – Hal and Atrocitus could see that the threat of Brainiac was getting worse and worse, seeing some of the ships loom over Gotham as they flew on with Dex-Starr. Hal knew he would have to try and keep Atrocitus' alliance. Still, as they flew closer to the warehouse, Hal felt uneasy around the Red Lanterns.

"I can feel it within you, Jordan." Atrocitus said as he turned his head to face Hal, to which he was wondering where this was going. "The rage. The pain. The hatred you feel for yourself. You may have cast off the ring of Sinestro, but you are not absolved."

Hal groaned – he knew Atrocitus was right, but he couldn't let this get to him. There were more pressing matters at hand. "Not now, Atrocitus,"

"How can you forgive yourself, Jordan?"

Hal didn't want to answer that at the moment – and thankfully for him, he didn't have to. They flew into the warehouse and headed for the central room. Barry was there, and he turned around. He wasn't surprised to see that Aquaman hadn't come with Hal, but he was surprised to see who Hal brought instead.

"Barry, this is Atrocitus, leader of the Red Lantern Corps. He's offered his help. Atrocitus, this is Barry Allen, the Flash." Hal said, to which Barry…well, he didn't know what to think.

"Erm…pleasure, Atrocitus. Come with me." Hal, Atrocitus, and Dex-Starr followed Barry to a map in the corner of the warehouse, passing by an earlier version of the Batmobile. Before Barry could say anything, Batman walked up to the three – and right away, Atrocitus got his attention.

"You're not Aquaman." Batman said as he eyed Atrocitus. Hal was quick with the introduction.

"Bruce, Atrocitus. Atroctius, Bruce – erm, Batman."

Batman shot a glare towards the Green Lantern. "I demand an explanation, Hal."

"Atrocitus is the leader of the Red Lantern Corps – their rings are powered by rage and vengeance just as the Green Lanterns are fueled by will and Sinestro by fear. I thought you'd like them, seeing how you once said you were vengeance and all that."

Hal let out a small chuckle, but Batman's face told him that he was not in the mood for jokes. "Alright, look, I get that he looks all ugly and scary, but he came to Atlantis and offered his alliance. The Red Lanterns can make up for Aquaman's Marines. Sorry, Bruce, we can't be picky right now."

Batman paused and pondered before reluctantly agreeing with Hal. "Fine."

With all of that done with, Barry was able to focus on the map. "I circled around the globe. Larger ships are being positioned in these major cities."

Hal was getting worried. "Even with Atrocitus' Red Lanterns, we're still badly outnumbered." Hal turned around to face Batman. "What's the plan? …You have one, right?"

Batman paused for a moment before he crossed his arms and spoke. "We have to evacuate the occupied cities before taking on Brainiac. But we need firepower. Atrocitus?"

"My Red Lanterns can only attack Brainiac's ships. They don't have the intelligence to help evacuate."

"Any hitters on the Wayne-Luthor Payroll?" Hal piped in before Batman could respond to Atrocitus.

"Only Blue Beetle and Firestorm. But they're the last line of defense if Brainiac moves on Superman."" Batman replied.

Barry then had to bring up a reality Batman didn't want to be reminded of. "Well, if Brainiac doesn't try busting him out of prison, Black Adam and Wonder Woman will. And the worse things get, the more people'll think we should let him out to help."

Batman and Hal stared at Barry for a bit. Barry felt awkward, but he didn't regret what he said. "I'm just saying." Barry raised his hands up with uneasiness.

Hal conceded to himself that Barry had a point, and turned to face Batman. "Let's hope the new kids can hold the most wanted man in the galaxy."

"Blue Beetle and Firestorm are green. But together, they're the most powerful team we have."

"It still won't be enough." Atrocitus suddenly interjected. He walked up to Batman, frustrated with the Dark Knight. "Even we have heard of the Last Son of Krypton. How he went from champion to tyrant – how he decimated the Green Lantern Corps and took over the Earth. He is a dangerous, vile man. But we have also heard of his power - you can't deny it 'Batman'. We need all the help we can get. No matter how powerful these two 'green' heroes are, you must ask yourself if you're willing to take a chance…."

Batman paused for a moment before walking away, with Dex-Starr meowing. He was left in deep thought. Letting out Superman had its dangers and risks – but he was thinking that maybe, just maybe, Atrocitus had a point….

Chapter Text

"For real, Jaime. Batman does not think we're important." As Jason, Martin, and Blue Beetle walked across the Lex Luthor prison, Jason let out his continued exasperation at being forced to look after Superman's cell. "Aliens are invading, and we're on guard duty?"

Damian Wayne, in his prison uniform, took a look at the three. He didn't recognize them, for the trio had never been to Stryker's Island before. And frankly, he didn't care to know them – Jason gave off the impression of a whiner, to which Damian narrowed his eyes and shook his head. He felt his father had lowered himself.

"Guarding Superman and his cronies." Blue Beetle pointed out to Jason. Cyborg also locked on his eyes on the three from his own cell, and he too felt frustrated.

Blue Beetle's comment did nothing to alleviate Jason. "Who already have guards. We're guarding guards! We're redundant!"

Martin had just about enough of Jason's complaining and as they neared Superman's cell, he placed his hand on his younger ally's shoulder, ready to put the situation into perspective. "Jason, you need to step back. Take in the bigger picture."

Superman was surprised to see the three – he figured they were associated with Batman, but he had no idea why his former friend would send them here. He analyzed them. He wouldn't say a word, but he would try to get an idea of what they were like. He didn't have anything better to do.

"I'd rather be in here than out there. This suit's an alien war machine." Blue Beetle walked a feet away as he lamented their powers. "And your guys' Firestorm Matrix? We could take on Brainiac, and boom – accidentally blow up the world!"

Martin, in turn, was lamenting their experience – or lack thereof – in his head. "Jaime's right. We haven't mastered these powers." Martin placed his hand on Jason's shoulder.

Jason brushed it off, Martin and Blue Beetle's words having done nothing to change his outlook. "Listen to yourselves, you two! We're badasses! And badasses belong on the front line."

Martin tried to be subtle about it before, but now he felt he had to be blunt with Jason. "This is the frontline. Brainiac running amok is a crisis. Brainiac and Superman both? That's an apocalypse."

Blue Beetle was surprised – he wasn't expecting to hear that argument. "So we're the only thing between a crisis and an apocalypse?"

Jason smiled and pointed his finger. "I can get behind that." Finally, he didn't feel like crap about being forced to guard Superman.

All of a sudden, the very prison began to shake. Cyborg jumped, and Damian ran towards the cell wall, desperate to find any way of figuring out what was going on. Blue Beetle had his face armor off the whole time, and now he summoned it back on in preparation. Even Superman slowly walked towards his own cell walls, curious as to what was going on – though he felt he could make an educated guess…

"Brainiac?" Blue Beetle asked, wondering if he had finally decided to just cut to the chase.

"Or the Superman Fan Club." Jason said, noting that this would be a good time for Superman's allies to finally free him.

"Either way, I suggest we fuse." Martin said, and then he and Jason fused into Firestorm. Superman was just as jarred by this as Hal and Barry were – he too thought he had seen everything, but Firestorm threw that idea right out the window. "Game on." Firestorm said, determined to take on whoever was trying to free Superman.

There was a whole crowd of people outside, demanding that Superman be freed – everyone remembered how tyrannical he was just a few years back, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Supergirl had punched her way into the building – there was a giant hole on the side of the prison, and levitating near it were Black Adam and Wonder Woman – the two briefly stayed there before slowly and silently flying into the prison.

Back at the cells, Blue Beetle was scanning Superman and his cell – Superman had nothing to say to either of them, so he just stood there and let them do their thing. Blue Beetle floated above the ground while doing so, and dropped back to the ground when he was done.

"Red sun cell's secure. Must be the power center."

Firestorm walked up to Blue Beetle, exasperated at the thought of the power center going down. "The power center! If it goes down, those generators shut off."

There was a brief pause, before Blue Beetle pointed to Superman. "And he flies right outta here." Blue Beetle knew he was stating the obvious, but he couldn't help it. The two darted away, while Superman just watched them with his eyes crossed. As he watched them, he could feel some of his power returning – the irises of his eyes glowed red, a sight that would've left Blue Beetle and Firestorm panicking.

Damian, meanwhile, was feeling suspicious as he could hear the shaking again – this time, it seemed a lot closer. He looked up, uneasiness coloring his face. The top of his cell suddenly came off, and he could barely make out a figure. Some rubble fell down, and Damian had to dodge the debris. He didn't have a clue what was going on.

Finally, he had to express his confusion. "Am I…dreaming?" And then he saw Supergirl floating above him. He had no idea who she was, and her presence left him with so many questions. Supegirl didn't respond to his question – instead, she dropped a bag.
--

Black Adam was at the power center, fully ready to try and shut it off. He and Wonder Woman had been planning to try and free Superman soon anyway, but Brainiac's arrival meant they had to spend up their agendas. Fortunately for them, the invasion also meant they would have less trouble freeing the Man of Steel. Black Adam slowly flew to the power center, and began unleashing his lightning against it. Firestorm and Blue Beetle watched them as they tried to figure out what to do.

"Here's the plan" Firestorm said as Blue Beetle listened on. "One of us takes out Adam, the other restarts the generators before Superman gets loose."

What they didn't know was that Black Adam could hear, though he was about to make that fact perfectly clear. "A feeble plan." He moved away from the power center and towards the two younger heroes. "It's more likely you will die here."

"And man, my old man's standards sure have dropped." Damian said from above from dropping down to the ground, wearing a modified version of the Nightwing outfit he wore under the Regime. "You newbs are so desperate to impress Batman. Why? He's weak."

Blue Beetle couldn't help but find that amusing, though he didn't show it, and he quipped, "If your papi's weak, what's that make you?"

Damian was genuinely taken aback by Blue Beetle's remark, and Black Adam could only watch as Damian struggled to find a good retort. Finally, he decided he wouldn't try. "…I take after my mother."

Now Firestorm and Blue Beetle's situation had been complicated – one of them had to fight off Damian, and the other Black Adam, before either one of them could restart the generators. Jason didn't think this would be too much of a problem, however. He wanted to be the one to boot up the generators, and Damian…well, Jason didn't think he could quite fight the Nuclear Man. Plus, Martin was very vocal about his disdain for Damian, even though only Jason could hear.

"You take on Adam, Jaime. Professor Stein wants to teach Oepdius here to respect his elders."

Blue Beetle charged towards Black Adam while Firestorm blasted out fire towards his opponent. Damian dodged the fire and kicked Firestorm in the chest – this was one more blow than Jason expected, but he was not to be deterred. He continued to blast out fire towards Damian, in addition to the occasional punch and kick. Martin was not pleased.

'Jason!' Martin tried his best not to throw off Jason, but he was still frustrated. 'Remember what I told you when we trained with Jaime the other day? There's more to our abilities than blasting fire!'

"It's Damian Wayne! We can easily take this little bitch down!" Jason said, not caring at all that Damian was within earshot as he continued to blast fire.

"I know, I know, but do…something! Anything!" Martin yelled. Jason decided that Martin had a point, but he couldn't think of anything to create…until he remembered Dick Grayson. Dick Grayson was the first – and in most peoples' minds, true – Nightwing, and when the Regime was beginning its rise, he fought alongside his adoptive father Batman. But then Damian threw a baton stick at him, and Dick's neck was broken when he fell onto a rock.

Batman had always spoken highly of Dick Grayson, and both halves of Firestorm wish they could've met them – but his death gave them an idea. Firestorm blasted some fire at Damian, and he was sent flying towards a wall. While he was down, Firestorm began to create a big rock – and as Damian charged towards him, Firestorm had a very smug smile on his face as he simply formed a rock prison around the son of Batman, trapping him within.

Damian whined and cursed, and Firestorm really couldn't help but laugh for a moment. "Too easy…" he shook his head and looked to Blue Beetle and Black Adam, who were still fighting. Blue Beetle, in turn, saw that Firestorm had already taken care of Damian.

"Don't worry about me! Just restart the generators!" Blue Beetle said, and Firestorm obliged. As Firestorm flew away, Black Adam was able to shoot some lightning at Blue Beetle. As Blue Beetle yelped, Black Adam looked at the lad with a disapproving look.

"You're a naïve boy with too much power. Much like the deceased Billy Batson."

Black Adam did have the advantage of experience, and he continued repeatedly kicking and punching Blue Beetle. Beetle began to ready his arm cannon, but Black Adam unleashed lightning with the wave of his hand before the young lad could use it. When he got the opportunity, he began firing upon. Blue Beetle was able to get some shots in, grinning as he did so. However, Black Adam grabbed him by the neck and shot some more lightning at him before throwing him onto the ground. Black Adam levitated away – and with the wave of his hand, Blue Beetle found himself in a storm of lightning.

Blue Beetle couldn't give up – too much was at stake. He charged towards Black Adam and got in a few lucky shots to Adam's chest with his arm cannon and began to punch him. He got in a few good jabs before Black Adam boot stomped him in the chest. Blue Beetle morphed his arm cannon into a wrist blade and began to slash Black Adam with it. The two repeatedly punched and kicked before Blue Beetle got a good slash to Adam's face – he then morphed his wrist blade back into an arm cannon and blasted it towards Black Adam's face, finally knocking him out.

Blue Beetle breathed heavily – he couldn't believe he had just defeated someone as powerful as Black Adam. Firestorm flew to him, having just gotten the generators restarted. "Let's circle around back to Superman's cell."

Blue Beetle nodded, and the two flew away.
--

Cyborg had also been freed, but he was focused on trying to get Superman freed, trying to hack into the cryptography to decrypt it and free the Man of Tomorrow. "Wonder Woman's outside, keeping what's left of the guards busy."

Superman was as baffled as ever to figure out what was going on. "If it wasn't her, who let you out?!"

"I did." Supergirl flew down to Superman's cell, and her cousin…he couldn't believe his eyes. Now he was the one who felt like his dreaming as he actually recognized his blood relative.

"Kara?" he asked, and Supergirl was quite surprised to see that Superman knew who she was. Superman got closer, and he placed his hand on the glass. They just started at each other as they let this moment sink in.

Blue Beetle and Firestorm were being stealthy, sneaking their way back to Superman's cell…and they were just as surprised to see Supergirl as everyone else was. "Another Kryptonian?" Blue Beetle asked in an exasperated voice, not liking where this was going.

Supergirl finally broke the silence. "You recognize me, Kal?"

"My parents stored your image on my ship. You're my protector."

Supergirl thought about it, and in retrospect, she realised she shouldn't have been surprised. It made sense to her that Jor-El and Lara would've stored her image on her cousin's ship. "Sorry I'm a few decades late…" she couldn't help but lament. "You and I left Krypton at the same time, but the explosion threw my ship off course. …Way off course."

Superman still couldn't believe that Supergirl looked the exact same as she did in his ship's memory unit. "You haven't aged a day."

"Hyper-sleep. While you were growing up, I was on ice."

Superman shook his head, still trying let the moment sink in. "I never thought I'd see family again. Someone with my eyes…my own blood. You knew my parents…"

Supergirl was happy to tell her cousin, "They loved you so much, Kal." As she approached his cell. Their reunion was interrupted by the shaking sounds, and Supergirl turned to Cyborg.

"Diana needs a hand. Cyborg, how long?"

Cyborg tilted his head up to look her in the eyes. "Give me five more minutes. Then it's lights out." As the shaking sounds continued, Supergirl turned back to Superman.

"I don't want to leave you."

"I'll be here." Superman reassured her.

Supergirl flew away, not noticing Blue Beetle and Firestorm as they did so – convenient for them, though they could only stare in the directions she had just flown in. "Ella estra sobre tu nivel!" Blue Beetle said in anxious Spanish.

"She is not out of our league!" Firestorm responded in a frustrated tone. "What happened to your confidence?"

"Kryptonians happened!"

Firestorm just decided to ignore Blue Beetle's comments on Supergirl and get to the task at hand. "Come on. Batman's counting on us."

Back at Superman's cell, Cyborg was still working on trying to free Superman – and it was proving to be harder than he'd have liked it to be. "Gotta hand it to Palmer. His people's cryptography is legit. Doesn't mean I won't break it."

Superman turned his head for a moment and realized that Cyborg was about to be attacked. "Victor! Behind you!"

Cyborg turned around to see Blue Beetle flying right towards him. Cyborg just barely dodged his younger opponent, who maneuvered accordingly. Cyborg blasted at Blue Beetle with his arm cannon – and it feel so good for Cyborg to use that bad boy after all these years. Blue Beetle struggled to get up, before collapsing entirely. Firestorm looked at Blue Beetle, and both halves of him were enraged at Cyborg – something they wanted to make perfectly clear.

He floated up into the air, whilst Cyborg could only watch. Both of them gritted their teeth and they readied for combat.

"What's your melting point, Cyborg?" Firestorm asked before shooting out fire towards the Tin-Man. This fire was much more concentrated than his usual blasts, coming from two separate points that would converge right before impacting Cyborg. Cyborg got his shield up to deflect the blasts, and he was just barely hanging on. He gritted his teeth and as he felt the fire get more overwhelming, he finally had enough and shot it all back towards Firestorm, sending the latter flying.

Then a signal came from the computer, and Cyborg turned around to see that the red sun generators were finally turning off – to Cyborg's delight and Blue Beetle and Firestorm's horror.

"The red sun generators!" Blue Beetle exclaimed, not wanting to see Superman regain his powers, a sentiment Firestorm agreed with.

"We need to reactivate that console before Superman powers up!"

Cyborg was having none of this. "Amateur hour's over, rookies."

Blue Beetle and Firestorm weren't having any of this, either. Blue Beetle deciding that he wasn't holding back anymore – he created his wrist blade with his right arm, and the head of a mace with his left arm, and he began to simply pound on Cyborg, all the while Firestorm was trying to think of something to create. Blue Beetle slashed at Cyborg with his wrist blade a few times before switching it up in his arm cannon, and he began to blast at Cyborg. Cyborg deflected it, and he was about to gain the upper hand. He began to blast at Blue Beetle repeatedly, in addition to punching and kicking him.

Firestorm wasn't going to let Blue Beetle fall down again, and he was creating six steel bars while Cyborg continued to pound on his friend. He gritted his teeth as the work was extraneous, but finally, he managed to pull it off. There were six steel bars levitating in the air, controlled by Firestorm. Cyborg failed to notice them as he was too busy fighting Blue Beetle. Firestorm used this distraction and launched all six of the steel bars at Cyborg, sending him to the ground. Cyborg groaned as now he struggled to get up – and then he collapsed. Blue Beetle went to the computer and rebooted the system – just in time.

And finally, Superman had something to say to the two. "Brainiac's too much for Batman. I'm your only chance."

Firestorm took a quick look at Blue Beetle before walking up to Superman's cell. "Here's the thing, Superman. Batman asked us for our help. He didn't draft us, ask us to sign a loyalty oath, or threaten us with jail."

Superman was not deterred in the least. "He won't go far enough. That's why he'll fail."

Just then, Superman's attention moved away from Firestorm, leaving the Nuclear Man to turn around and see Supergirl flying right towards him. She gripped Firestorm tightly as she tried to take him down. "Stay away from him!" She yelled.

Blue Beetle ran to help Firestorm, but was lassoed by Wonder Woman. Supergirl circled around with Firestorm before throwing him onto the ground. But Firestorm only smirked.

"Kryptonian, huh? The professor knows how to deal with you." Green fire began emitting from Firestorm's hands, and kryptonite radiation started to emanate from his hands. Supergirl collapsed onto the ground, struggling to get up as she could feel herself weakening rapidly.

"You're – hngh! – just as bad as – gah! – Wonder Woman and Black Adam said…"

She still struggled to get up, but Firestorm wasn't letting up. "Surrender, and this stops…"

"Kryptonians. Don't. Surrender." She got up, to the best of her abilities, and punched Firestorm twice, as hard as she could – she was still regaining her power due to the kryptonite, but the blows were powerful enough. Wonder Woman, meanwhile, threw Blue Beetle towards Firestorm with her lasso. Cyborg got back up, and Black Adam and Damian came rushing to the scene (Firestorm just assumed Black Adam freed Damian), leaving the two at a loss at what to do. That is, until Martin put a questionable idea into Jason's head.

"You want me to do what? Professor, that's crazy. Maybe we can control it, but –"

Firestorm just stood there for a moment as Superman's followers all looked at him with complete confusion on their faces.

"You're right. No other option. Get out of here, Jaime!"

Firestorm clapped his hands together, and Blue Beetle was horrified to see him forming the center for an atomic explosion. "Jesucristo, Jason! You're gonna nuke us?!"

"It's the only way. Now go!"

Wonder Woman wordlessly signaled for everyone else to stay as she tried to figure out what to do about Firestorm.

"Leave. Now." Firestorm said in the best intimidating voice he could think of. "Or you're gonna get a helluva lot worse than a sunburn."

Wonder Woman decided to call what she thought was Firestorm's bluff. "You'd blow up Metropolis rather than let Superman go?"

The center began to increase rapidly, but Firestorm still kept his cool. "I'd save the Earth."

Wonder Woman didn't want things to go down this way, so she thrust out her sword in a desperate attempt to try and stop Firestorm. But just then, an object flew out of nowhere and knocked the Amazon's sword out of her hand. It was a batarang.

"Firestorm, stand down!" Batman yelled in an angry voice, and Firestorm stopped charging energy immediately. Batman jumped down to the ground and walked around, analyzing the situation around him – until his attention was taken by Supergirl.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Superman's overprotective cousin." she answered.

Damian silently chuckled to himself about the whole thing – her existence had been kept from Batman, and he found that amusing. "You keep so many secrets, but you can't stand it when one is kept from you, can you?"

Batman ignored his crappy remark and walked straight to the computer, no one knowing his true intentions.

"You can't beat Brainiac, Bruce!" Wonder Woman yelled.

Batman turned his head to face his former friend. "You're right, Diana. I can't."

He placed his hand on the scanner, and the red sun generator was turned off. Atrocitus' words had gotten to Batman, and the Red Lantern was right – as bad as Superman was, he had to be freed. The cell was deactivated, and Superman merely walked out of the cell, wondering where things would go from here.

"You're ready to stop Brainiac by any means necessary?" he asked the Dark Knight, looking him right in the eyes.

"By the means at hand." Batman said, making it clear he still lived by his no-kill rule.

"What's your game? You're always three moves ahead."

"Saving the world is enough for now."

"I'm never going back into that cell."

There was a brief pause. "We'll cross that bridge later. Right now, the world needs us…"

There was silence – now everyone was wondering where things would go from here.
--

Hal, Barry, Black Adam, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Damian, Wonder Woman, Blue Beetle, Batman Cyborg, and Firestorm all sat at the old Justice League Watchtower roundtable, while Atrocitus didn't mind standing by Hal and Barry. There was a long silence – with the exception of Atrocitus, Firestorm, and Blue Beetle, most of these people used to be comrades or foes. To be at the roundtable now, after how much had changed in the past decade, it felt…weird. For everyone.

Catwoman decided the silence had gone on for long enough, and got out a blue map of the world. "Thanks to Flash's recon, we have locations for every ship in Brainiac's fleet. They're targeting major cities on every continent. Betas are being offloaded on the outskirts…"

As she continued talking, Batman and Firestorm got up and walked to a distant corner. Batman was displeased with Firestorm's stunt – very displeased.

"Give us some privacy." Batman requested, and Firestorm shielded them away from everyone else.

"Listen, Batman, about the prison. We –"

Batman didn't want to hear it. "That was reckless. Don't pull a stunt like that again. Make up for it by finishing another mission. Discreetly."

While Batman and Firestorm continued talking, Catwoman continued addressing the roundtable. "We have to evacuate these cities before evacuating the fleet, but we need communications restored first. So before we get started, Cyborg's going to fix Brother Eye."

Batman walked back to the roundtable just in time to see Cyborg scoff at that idea. "I am not Bat-tech support."

Barry was about to call out Cyborg, telling him that now was not the time for such games. But he was beaten to it. "That's not the issue, Victor." Superman said as he walked to the roundtable with Supergirl. He had donned a new outfit, one with red gloves, some head armor, and some silver here and there. Hal thought it looked ridiculous, though he kept that to himself.

Superman walked up the roundtable until he was standing close to Atrocitus. He eyed his fellow alien for a moment before turning to face everyone else. "Kara saw firsthand how Brainiac destroyed Krypton. She says we have less than 48 hours before he does the same to Earth."

"Without tight coordination, we'll lose valuable time." Batman pointed out.

"And that means we fix Brother Eye." Superman said, subtly commanding Cyborg to get a grip. Cyborg gritted his teeth…but he decided he would just do it.

Now it was Batman's turn to speak. "Catwoman and Harley will join you. You'll need their help getting into the Batcave."

Cyborg wasn't sold on that idea. "Just give me the coordinates. I'll open a portal and boomtube in."

"You can't. I reverse-engineered your armor's Mother Box technology."

"Try teleportin' into the Batcave. 'stead of boom, you go splat." Harley piped in, and Supergirl tried her best not to chuckle at the way Harley worded that.

"So…how do we get in?" Cyborg asked in an exasperated tone.

Catwoman would be the one to answer that. "The old Underground. There's a tunnel entrance under Arkham."

"I'm taking you two to Arkham Asylum?" Cyborg simply stared at Catwoman and Harley, the latter popping some gum.

"Promise it won't be awkward or nothin'" Harley said after a brief pause.

With that done, Superman spoke. "I need a few hours in the solarium at the Fortress of Solitude. Assuming you haven't torn it down."

"Not yet." Batman answered, to which Superman said that Black Adam and Damian would come with him.

Wonder Woman stood up, frustrated. "And the rest of us? We can't just sit here."

"We plan our attack. Once Brother Eye's online, we mobilize. Remember, out there, there's no Regime. Not anymore. So we do. Not. Kill."

Everyone looked at each other for a moment before Batman told everyone to move out, which everyone did – except Superman. Batman and Superman were left alone at the roundtable. This whole time, a tarp had been laying on the roundtable, and now Superman took notice.

"Why'd you keep it?" he asked.

"Keep what?" Batman was left confused.

Superman pulled the tarp to reveal the cracked JL symbol lying on top. The once proud logo of the World's Greatest Super Heroes now bore cracks, ironically representing the broken state of the League.

They stared at it for a moment, before Batman answered, "Hm. Forget that was there." Batman turned and walked away, but then paused. He had to confront Superman about it. "Why'd you do it, Clark? Tim, Starfire, Wonder Girl, Connor…why?"

Superman decided not to bother asking Batman how he knew about that, and simply answered, "They gave me no other choice" before walking away. Batman was frustrated that he had learnt nothing about Tim's imprisonment inside the Phantom Zone, but he had to dismiss those thoughts for now. He wanted to free Tim…but Brainiac took priority.

Chapter Text

Brainiac stood there and looked at the countless cities he had collected over the years, patiently awaiting Grodd's arrival. He was satisfied with the progress of his invasion of the Earth – but some recent events had piqued his interest even further.

He turned around when he heard footsteps – Grodd had arrived. "You summoned me, Brainiac?"

"There have been surprising developments. Kal-El is free. But more remarkably, he is not the last Kryptonian. There is another refugee."

Grodd was genuinely stunned – Superman had always been famous as the Last Son of Krypton. "Two Kryptonians?" Grodd said, still in shock at the news.

"Continue as planned. Kal-El is not yet at full strength. But remember – the Kryptonians belong to me."

Grodd snorted – he was frustrated at being forced to come all the way to Brainiac's ship just so the Coluan could briefly tell him about another Kryptonian survivor.

Still, Grodd reminded himself that he had to be patient. Eventually, his plan would be achieved, and his ultimate desires would be fulfilled.
--

A boom tube appeared right by Arkham, and Cyborg, Harley, and Catwoman emerged. The boom tube disappeared, and the three walked towards Arkham. Cyborg for his part was wary of the two women he was forced to tag along with. He was not going to let himself forget about their dubious pasts anytime soon, especially Harley. Deep down, he wanted to kill Harley right now for her part in Metropolis' destruction – which had killed Beast Boy, one of his closest friends. But he had to restrain himself, if only for the time being.

They hadn't been walking for so much as a minute before pheromones appeared out of nowhere, though all three had an idea of who was responsible. Cyborg swapped out his cannon for air ventilation, with which he began to suck up the pheromones. But Harley began to cough, and Catwoman began to get worried.

"Harley? You okay?" Catwoman asked in a concerned voice. Harley did not respond – she just looked like she was weakening and sickening up.

Then all of a sudden, Poison Ivy appeared and grabbed Harley by the shoulders. With a very smug look on her face, Poison Ivy stroked Harley's cheek. "Sweet, sweet Harley. This time, you'll be a good girl for Momma."

She gave Harley a slight push before walking away a few feet. Harley's look of sickness turned to one of sadistic glee, and Cyborg and Catwoman both braced themselves.

"Hey, kiddies!" Harley said in a voice just as sadistic as her face. "Let's play 'Eeny Meeny Miney Murder!"

Cyborg and Catwoman looked at each other, trying to figure out who would battle who. "Harley needs a girl talk." Catwoman said, and Cyborg got the memo and blasted at Poison Ivy with his arm cannon. "Sorry, Harley. I'll try not to leave a scratch."

Harley took out her gun and shot at Catwoman, which the feline lady barely dodged. Catwoman got out her whip and began whipping at Harley towards the legs. Harley briefly groaned in pain before swinging her baseball bat towards Catwoman, hitting her in the stomach. Harley and Catwoman began punching and kicking, which continued on for about a minute.

Harley swung at Catwoman and hit her in the leg. Catwoman groaned, but then she got an idea. With her whip, she rounded up Harley's leg and dragged her friend towards her. Catwoman then clawed her in the face and kicked her, knocking her out. Catwoman took a few deep breaths – that was not a fight she enjoyed.

She turned to see that Cyborg was still continuing his battle with Poison Ivy. Ivy summoned up a vine creature that spewed out green gas towards the tin man, and he coughed as he got his air ventilation back out and sucked up the gas. He blasted at her three times, managing to hit her each time. Still, Poison Ivy was not defeated yet.

"You're just dying to hurt me, aren't you, Tin Man? It won't bring back what you've lost. Especially below the waist!"

Cyborg snarled. "You petty bitch!" He shouted before he began blasting at Ivy repeatedly. Ivy responded by raising giant vines from beneath the ground against Cyborg, and he fell down in pain. Catwoman got out her whip and began attacking Ivy with it. Ivy summoned the vine creature back up against Catwoman, but this allowed Cyborg to bring in a highly advanced land mine and use it against Ivy.

The redheaded eco-terrorist was sent flying a few feet away. Catwoman at Harley, who began going into shock, and then looked at Poison Ivy and narrowed her eyes. "Harley was your friend, Pamela. She loved you!"

Before Poison Ivy could respond, Cyborg decked her in the face and knocked her out. Right away, the two ran towards Harley. Catwoman looked at Cyborg as she grew ever more concerned. "You got a defibrillator in there?"

"Yeah, but –"

"Use it!"

Not wanting things to feel more awkward than they already did for him, Cyborg obliged and used his defibrillator a few times, but it was seemingly to no avail – to Catwoman's devastation.

That is, until Harley let out a whisper. "Again…again…"

Catwoman looked at Cyborg and smiled, relieved to have her friend back.
--

Cyborg, Harley, and Catwoman all walked through the abandoned subway, which looked like it hadn't been active for years. Cyborg switched out his arm cannon for a flashlight to light the area up. Harley trailed from behind – and she couldn't help but think of how worried she was about Green Arrow and Black Canary.

"Do you think we'll find Dinah and Ollie once we get to Brainiac?"

Cyborg sneered at that question. "Seriously? They're already dead."

Harley was taken aback by Cyborg's unpleasant comment. "Why you gotta say that?"

"Brainiac collects the best and discards the rest? Black Canary and Arrow? Definitely not the best?"

Cyborg and Catwoman walked on, but Harley just stood there in complete shock. Catwoman herself couldn't help but think that Cyborg was being an asshole – she remembered how he was one of her least favorite people to work with during her time with the Regime. "I'd take them over you any day, Victor."

Harley ran to catch up to the two, and before this could spiral into an argument, they arrived. "We're here." Catwoman said, though Cyborg was initially confused to see nothing but a brick wall. But then he remembered that this was Batman. There was bound to be some kind of switch. Catwoman and Harley felt the wall, and Cyborg was sure they were looking for that switch.

After about a minute, they stopped feeling. Catwoman and Harley looked at each other before pressing the secret buttons that opened up the brick wall and revealed the Bat Cave.

"Wait here, Harley. Make sure no one follows us." Catwoman said to Harley before she and Cyborg entered the Bat Cave.

"After you." Cyborg said to Catwoman, in an attempt to be polite and make things less awkward. He turned to see Harley saluting the two of them and rolled his eyes. "Please."

Catwoman and Cyborg searched around the Batcave, and to Selena, things felt very eerie. It should've been quiet – they were the only two that should've been in the Batcave – but something didn't feel right. As she and Cyborg continued, she only felt more suspicious.

"It's too quiet." She told the Tin Man, to which he activated a hologram panel to find traces of anyone else in the Batcave. To his displeasure, he found two red areas, signifying that they weren't alone.

"Bogeys. And they're not bats." Catwoman didn't have time to respond. Two gunshots were fired towards the two, and Cyborg was forced to get his shield up to deflect the bullets.

Slowly walking towards them were Deadshot and Bane, the latter arming his wrist cannons towards the two, preparing for the inevitable fight.

"I told Grodd you were loyal to the Bat." Bane said, having mixed thoughts on his suspicions being proven right. "He called me paranoid. At least he listened when I said Batman wouldn't relinquish his cave so easily. Soon, not just this place, but all of Gotham will be mine."

"I got business with Bane." Catwoman said after a brief pause, leaving Cyborg to charge towards Deadshot. While Deadshot immediately began shooting at Cyborg, who deflected his bullets with his shield, Bane approached Catwoman slowly but menacingly.

"Of all the ways to hurt the Bat, tormenting you is one of my favorites." Underneath that mask, Bane was grinning at the thought of hurting Selina Kyle once more to get a reaction from Batman.

"Yet you've never broken me." Catwoman quipped, before getting out her whip and attacking Bane with it. She was not holding back in the least like she was with Harley. She went for the non-armored parts of his outfit, and even with the venom tubes increasing his stamina and power, each lash hurt like hell for Bane.

Meanwhile, Cyborg formed a smug smile as he blasted Deadshot in the chest with his arm cannon. "You're a poor man's Deathstroke, Lawton." Cyborg quipped, to the assassin's irritation.

"I'm sick of being compared to Slade Wilson!" Deadshot replied in anger as he shot at Cyborg with his wrist cannon. "But I can top him right here, right now, by ending you!"

Deadshot flew forward knee-first and slammed against sending Cyborg, sending the both of them flying. Deadshot got out a rifle and began shooting at Cyborg with tremendous speed – Vic could barely keep up, and then two of the bullets struck his arm and chest. Now he had enough. He began pounding at Deadshot with punches and kicks, eventually ripping off his mask and struck him with three jabs, knocking Deadshot out.

Catwoman continued her assault on Bane. He punched and he kicked, and she retaliated with her whip. Though he was bleeding, Bane wasn't deterred. He gave the feline lady a powerful bow to the stomach, then kicked Catwoman in the face, sending her down to the ground. He then grabbed her by the neck, and began to choke her. To this, Cyborg blasted at Bane, causing him to let go of Catwoman, who slashed his tubes with her claws. Bane collapsed onto the ground, humiliated at being defeated this way again.

Cyborg walked up to Catwoman, and the two simply looked at each other. "Ready to meet Brother Eye?" Catwoman asked, ready to finally finish what they came here for.

"About damn time." Cyborg replied, just as eager to get this over with.

It wasn't long before they reached Brother Eye – or at least, what used to be Brother Eye. Cyborg analyzed the contraption as he tried to figure out what to do.

"Systems still running. Brother Eye needs a clean power source…something Brainiac can't touch."

"The Cave's got backup generators." Catwoman replied.

"That should do it."

Just then, Brother Eye briefly glitched up, and then Cyborg and Catwoman finally got their first glimpse at Brainiac himself, who appeared on all of the screens. "Victor Stone. The pinnacle of human evolution…"

Cyborg was surprised to hear any kind of praise coming from Brainiac – and since it was Brainiac after all, he didn't care for it. Catwoman, meanwhile, found it a little amusing. "Someone has a secret admirer."

Brainiac ignored Catwoman's remark and continued on. "Bur your humanity inhibits your true potential. You must purge it."

"Interesting thought." Cyborg said with a tint of sarcasm, "Just one problem – I'm a team player. And humanity – that's my team."

"But you are capable of so much more." Was all Brainiac said before a wave of purple energy blasted from Brother Eye and towards Cyborg. He cried out in pain – he had no idea what was happening.

It wasn't long before the purple electricity surrounding Cyborg was joined by green electricity. And then some kind of humanoid, made up entirely of the electricity as well as what appeared to be exposed data, expelled itself away from Cyborg. It formed into a being very similar to Cyborg, only with green shading where Cyborg's was – as well as a silver, skull-like face.

"Grid online." The being said, in a voice completely devoid of any emotion. "I am your vast memory and intellect, liberated from the weaknesses of flesh and emotion."

"Apparently liberated from my good looks and charm, too." Cyborg quipped as he and Catwoman circled Grid. Eventually, he and Catwoman came to a stopping point. "We need that backup power, now."

Catwoman nodded and ran towards the backup generators – only to be blasted by Grid and sent down to the ground. "For years, I dwelled as a subroutine within your system. An anamoly. I never fathomed an existence outside of you. Now, I realize my perfection – and your obsolesce."

Cyborg charged towards Grid and blasted him, but Grid responded in kind. Grid sent out his own version of the land mine against Cyborg – and while Cyborg was sent flying by it, Grid began blasting at Catwoman nonstop, until an excess of blood came flowing from her. He then punched her in the face with all his might, hard enough that his hand was covered almost entirely in blood.

Cyborg blasted at Grid before he could finish off Catwoman, and Grid turned around and charge towards his human counterpart. It felt odd for Cyborg – he landed several blows against Grid, but the machine delivered them right back in an almost identical manner. His brawling technique was nigh-identical to Cyborg's. The two punched and blasted, desperate prove who was superior. Grid let out another advanced land mine and unleashed it towards Cyborg, and began to beat on him repeatedly. But then Cyborg blocked his next punch – not with his shield, but with his own fist.

He began to pound at Grid just as he had done with Deadshot. He grabbed Grid and threw him against the wall – and as Grid tried to get up, Cyborg began blasting at him nonstop, just as Grid himself had done with Catwoman. Grid tried to blast at Cyborg one more time, but he dodged the blast and began pounding Grid until his skull-like face was completely destroyed.

"Not so perfect after all."

He ran towards Catwoman – and he could tell from the blood coming out her mouth that she didn't have much time left. He kneeled down towards her, and she looked at him, coughing violently. "Victor….there's something you need to know. Superman…he…he imprisoned the rest of the Titans…in the Phantom…"

Before she could finish, she stopped breathing. Catwoman's wounds were too fatal for an ordinary human to survive. Cyborg had no idea what to make of it – he knew she was about to say 'Phantom Zone', but he didn't want to believe it. He gritted his teeth at the thought – Superman wouldn't do that, would he?

He took one last look at Catwoman's body before going to backup generators to activate them. He didn't know how much time he had, but thankfully, they came on quickly. He walked up to Brother Eye and activated the panel – and began trying to hack into Brother Eye to free it from Brainiac's control. And Brainiac was still watching.

"No human – not even you – can gain control of my neural network."

Cyborg paused for a minute before replying, "Not trying to. Just teaching Brother Eye to ignore you."

Brainiac realized that Cyborg had just won this battle – though he didn't seem too fazed about it. "This minor success - will not – save you -…."

After a few seconds, Brainiac disappeared from the monitors. "Brother Eye is online." it said as it began to initiate. After a few seconds, Brother Eye's blue screens turned red. "Warning! Victor Stone has infiltrated the Bat Cave. Deploying countermeasures!"

Cyborg went right back to the panel and tried to hack into Brother Eye, desperate to avoid any troubles. Batman's cryptography was just as good as Ray Palmer's, which Cyborg expected – but he had to decrypt this fast. Luckily, he was able to, and Brother Eye no longer saw him as a threat.

Cyborg let out a deep breath, before commanding, "Brother Eye, bring geo-sync comms online." Brother Eye obliged, and Cyborg was happy at this success. "Batman, the comms are yours."

He took a final look at Catwoman's body – deep down, he was a little sad to see her die like this. But now that he had calmed down a bit, he started thinking – why would she lie about Superman imprisoning the Titans with her dying breath? What would she have to gain from that? To that end, Cyborg went to hack into the Batcomputer to see if he could find anything on them.

It took a minute, but when he found the truth, he was horrified.

"No…No…NO!" He yelled. He couldn't believe that the man he had remained loyal to for the past decade could've done something so terrible to his friends. Starfire, Wonder Girl, Superboy, and Tim Drake, they were all in the Phantom Zone – and Cyborg had been following the man behind it all. He slammed the keyboard in rage.

And then another horrible realization came in. "What have I done…" They wouldn't have wanted this. Them and Beast Boy, they would've been horrified at the path he and Raven went down. They would've abandoned them both. As he realized how far he had fallen, a single tear shed from his eyes as the realization of his atrocities slammed onto him like a ton of bricks.

After Brainiac fell, he would make things right. And Superman would pay.

Chapter Text

As Supergirl soared through the skies of Metropolis with Wonder Woman, she was constantly thinking back to her last day on Krypton. Seeing the robots terrorize innocent people again brought back painful memories. But there was nothing she could do on Krypton. Here on Earth, she could make a difference. She could save this world.

Wonder Woman just wanted to take out Brainiac as soon as possible so she return to her plans of finishing off Batman and restoring the Regime to its former glory. But right now, her main concern was the flaws in Batman's plans as she and Supergirl landed on the rooftop and stared at the Skull Ship.

Supergirl wasn't sure of what to do, so she looked at her more experienced ally. "Where should we start?" she asked, and there was a brief pause as Wonder Woman just continued to stare at the Skull Ship. "Diana? We don't have much time."

Wonder Woman stood there for another brief moment before she spoke. "Batman's strategy is all wrong. Delaying our offensive is pointless. It's one less hour before Brainiac sends us all to Hades. Saving these people could doom billions more!"

Supergirl normally had blind faith in Wonder Woman, but she couldn't get behind the Amazon's view on this. "I can hear the people down there. All of them. They're afraid, like I was on Krypton – when I didn't have these powers. And I look at us and I just think…we can give them hope."

Wonder Woman sighed before flying down with the Kryptonian to deal with the robots. They saw a large crowd of people being marched along by the robots, with a police officer being shoved along by one of them. Wonder Woman swooped down and grabbed the robot, flying it up into the air.

"Up here!" she yelled to the confused robots, who looked up to see the two female warriors, all readied up for battle. She crushed the robot's skull head, gritting her teeth, and showed it off the rest of the robots.

The androids responded by blasting out their eye beams towards the two, which the citizens used to their advantage by running away for their lives. Wonder Woman flew down the ground and began slashing at the androids one by one, determined to end this as soon as she could.

As more and more robots fell to the Amazon, Supergirl flew down and began to take out several of the robots herself. It wasn't long before all the robots had fallen down the ground – and immediately afterward, she began to wonder why the citizens ran away from them. She could understand them fleeing for their lives, but some of them looked up at the two with horror as they ran.

"Why are they so afraid of us?" She asked. Before Wonder Woman could even think of what to respond with, a purple blast of energy shot Supergirl about a hundred feet away. Wonder Woman glared at the person responsible.

"Minerva."

Cheetah stood there with a gigantic gun and a smug look on her face. "Welcome back, Diana." She said, ecstatic at finally getting what she joined the Society for. She loaded up the gun and pointed it towards her old foe.

Wonder Woman charged towards her, with her shield up for defense, but Cheetah kept that smug look on her face as she blasted at Wonder Woman, sending her flying towards a nearby bar named Ace o' Clubs.

She got up to the sight of the bar owner, Bibbo Bibbowski, aiming a rifle at her out of panic. Before either of them could say anything, noises began to rouse up, coming from the back door. He no longer pointed his rifle at Wonder Woman, but towards the door.

Someone tried to open the door, leaving an uncomfortable silence between Bibbo and Wonder Woman as the Amazon had no idea who it could be. That is, until the doorknob began to freeze up, with the entire door soon following until it all shattered. Bibbo began to lower himself down in anticipation.

Just then, Thawne zoomed in from out of nowhere and began circling around Wonder Woman. Bibbo and the two patrons in the bar panicked and ran towards the front door while Thawne continued to circle Wonder Woman, punching her over and over with a superspeed barrage of blows.

While he continued on, Captain Cold entered the room from where the door used to be. "Your heart's so cold, Wonder Woman. Let's put you on ice."

Thawne stopped pummeling Wonder Woman and zoomed towards Captain Cold, standing next to his Society associate with a smug grin not unlike Cheetah's. Wonder Woman got up and glared at the two. She wasn't too doubtful of her chances.

Captain Cold aimed his gun at Wonder Woman and blasted towards her, to which the Amazon used her bracelets to not only dodge the blast, but send the ice towards Thawne, freezing the Reverse-Flash where he stood. Captain Cold smiled at the sight.

"Nice rope-a-dope." He said before walking towards Wonder Woman.

"Give up your code of honor, Snart? Why lower yourself to work with Grodd?"

Captain Cold sneered at her comment regarding his code of honor. "You're not so pure, Amazon. You - you executed Golden Glider! She was my sister!"

"A sister you led into a life of crime. She paid for your mistakes!" Wonder Woman fired back. She felt she didn't have time to battle Cold – she wanted to deal with him as soon as possible. So she sliced his left arm off, and he yelled in pain. He blasted at her three times, but she dodged the ice blasts and sliced his gun into two, before slicing both of his legs off.

Cold yelled in pain again, and then he began to breathe heavily. "…You're not better than me, Wondy! Or Cheetah, or Ares!"

"There will never come a day when I sink to your level!" Wonder Woman yelled out in anger before grabbing Captain Cold by the neck and holding him up in the air. Cold grunted and instinct had him try to break free with his remaining hand, which the Amazon ignored.

Wonder Woman smirked. "Fear not, Snart. You will see Lisa again soon." She said before impaling Cold in the chest with her sword, causing him to yell in pain again. She dropped Captain Cold down to the ground, and he took his final breaths before he laid there motionlessly.

Wonder Woman stared at Captain Cold's body for a moment. She remembered what Batman said about not killing – she just didn't give the slightest damn. She heard a noise, and she turned around to face Thawne, red lightning surrounding his frozen body. The ice began to crack, and his eyes began to move. After a few more seconds, Thawne broke free of the ice and stretched his muscles now that he could move again.

"Eobard Thawne, right? Barry said you're some kind of time traveler."

"Yeah, and let me tell you about the future." That smug smile returned to Thawne's face, and he super sped towards Captain Cold's body – he said nothing about his deceased ally. "You think you're immortal – but in my time, Diana, you're quite dead."

He went back to punching her at super speed, adding in the occasional kick this time. Wonder Woman did her best to muster up the energy to even retaliate, but the speedster was slowly overwhelming her. She gritted her teeth, waiting for the right time to strike – and when that time came, she bashed Thawne with her shield. Thawne was undettered and punched her in the face three times before kicking her in the stomach. He then attempted to deck Wonder Woman again, but she blocked his punch and bashed him with her shield again.

He began to run at super speed again, but she managed to bash him with her shield. She then went to stab him the chest like she had done with Cold, but Thawne decked her in the face before she could kill him. He went back to smugly punching and kicking her at super speed. Wonder Woman had enough of this, and slashed him in the chest four times before stabbing him in the shoulder. She removed her sword, and Thawne yelled in pain – he took a moment to stare at Cold's body and grunted before super speeding out.

"An oracle you are not." Wonder Woman said as she watched the Reverse-Flash leave. She grabbed her shield and sheathed her sword and began to walk away – but then green gas began to surround her.

"Diana, you're safe. Thank Rao."

She turned around, and there was Superman. She was pleasantly surprised – happy to see the Man of Tomorrow, but confused as to why he wasn't at the Fortress of Solitude. She ignored that thought and walked up to Superman.

"We have to find Kara, she's –"

"We will." Superman said with a smile on his face, and he placed his hands on Wonder Woman's hips, leaving the Amazon only further baffled – but not disapproving. She had desired this for so long.

Superman ran his hand through the side of her hair. "Please. I've missed you."

Wonder Woman paused for a moment. "We can beat them, Kal. Batman, Brainiac…they both go down today." She knew Brainiac was the bigger problem at the moment, but Wonder Woman also knew that she would enjoy Batman's defeat even more.

Superman smiled at that. "And we'll rule. Side by side. As equals."

"And lovers."

The two went in for a kiss – Wonder Woman knew there were more important matters at hand, but she wanted to enjoy this moment. She would always be loyal to Superman – she considered Hal and Barry weak for what they were doing, and Hawkgirl weaker upon learning what she did. And Wonder Woman did enjoy herself – until Superman's eyes turned red and he heat visioned her towards the wall. He hovered in the air, and began approaching Wonder Woman menacingly.

"I turned to you when Lois died. You took advantage! Manipulated my grief!" Superman sounded deeply hurt and anguished, and Wonder Woman was simply taken aback. She didn't know what to do, not helped when Superman charged at her and slammed her towards the wall.

"Turned me into something I wasn't meant to be!" Superman gritted his teeth as he seemed ready to finish Wonder Woman off.

Wonder Woman briefly grunted as she tried to break free. "That's not true! My love made you stronger!"

"Is that what you tell yourself?"

But then Wonder Woman impaled Superman in the chest with her sword. Only…this wasn't really Superman. "That's what Superman told me, Scarecrow."

She woke up from Superman to see Scarecrow standing there, observing Wonder Woman with interest. Scarecrow couldn't help but chuckle sinisterly. "You're not afraid of Superman. You're afraid you corrupted him. Brave hero. Your worst fear is becoming the villain of the story."

Wonder Woman unsheathed her sword. "To Hades with your mind games."

Scarecrow was undeterred. "Classic anger displacement." He sprayed more fear gas towards the Amazon. "We should continue your therapy." And now Wonder Woman saw Scarecrow in all his newly demonic glory – she didn't know what to make of him.

With his giant hook, Scarecrow seemingly tore a hole through space and time itself, into another realm. Wonder Woman found herself roped into the realm by Scarecrow's hook, and she was held up there, in a graveyard, by a gigantic Scarecrow. Scarecrow let out a demonic roar before slamming Wonder Woman around with his hook. After the third slam – near a tombstone with 'Wonder Woman' engraved onto it - Wonder Woman found herself back in reality, where Scarecrow began bashing her with his chain.

"Let's explore this terror together." He said before breathing an enormous amount of gas into Wonder Woman's face. Wonder Woman was regaining her strength, and she began slashing at Scarecrow's hook with her sword.

The sword and the hook kept on crossing, with Scarecrow chuckling a horribly demonic chuckle as he began to overwhelm her. But then she knocked the hook out of his hand, and began slashing at him repeatedly. Scarecrow continued to fight on, but Wonder Woman kept slashing at him nonstop until he collapsed onto the ground. Wonder Woman took a moment to breathe as Scarecrow reverted back to his normal appearance.

He tried to spray out more gas, but Wonder Woman slashed his wrist before he could. She pointed her sword towards the doctor, and he yelled in pain. "You truly are the villain now…" he said in a taunting voice, holding on to his wrist.

Wonder Woman gritted her teeth and dodged the remark. "You will not escape death this time, Doctor Crane."

She placed both of her hands onto her sword and stabbed Scarecrow in the heart. He took a final breath before his head smacked on the ground. Wonder Woman sheathed her sword and took a look at Scarecrow and Captain Cold's bodies. She smiled, content with what she had done.
--

Supergirl held onto her right arm in pain – she had injured herself gravely attacking the robots and fighting Cheetah. She groaned as she struggled to remain standing – but she was forced to give in, and the cousin of Superman collapsed.

Cheetah smirked. "Girl of Steel." Cheetah said as she began walking up to the Kryptonian. "You are a rare, rare find. No wonder Brainiac wants you…dead or alive." She got very close to Supergirl and kneeled down, a grin coloring up her face.

"Kryptonians are vulnerable to magic." Cheetah grinned as she slowly clawed Supergirl's cheek with her index finger. She briefly held her other index finger half an inch from Supergirl's face before moving it away. "And these claws…cut like magic."

She unsheathed the rest of her claws and cut her side with it. Supergirl groaned in pain. Cheetah cupped the young blonde's cheek, pondering what to do next. But then Wonder Woman swopped and slammed her away with her shield. Wonder Woman sheathed sword and went to help Supergirl. "Hang in there, Kara. The gods will protect us."

Cheetah growled as she slammed her shoulder into a pillar in an attempt to relocate it. Wonder Woman looked at her old enemy with contempt. "Minerva. I'm surprised someone so feral still follows Grodd's orders."

"No, Princess. I only joined Grodd to draw out my own quarry…you."

Wonder Woman sneered at that. "A fool's errand. Like when you sought a god's power, but found the Cheetah's curse."

Cheetah chuckled. "More like the Cheetah's gift. I'm stronger, faster, and thirsty. So thirsty…for Amazon blood!"

Wonder Woman wanted to ensure that only Thawne escaped her sword today. This would be her final showdown with Cheetah – there would be no more endless battles with a trail of blood in Cheetah's wake. Today, the Amazon would finish her mortal enemy.

Cheetah let out another growl before charging towards the Amazon, who let out a war cry before charging back. The feline warrior began to claw at Wonder Woman violently – and the latter had to admit that Cheetah was as ferocious as ever. But she wasn't going to stop fighting until Cheetah was put down for good. Wonder Woman knocked Cheetah away with her shield and charged towards the feline lady with her sword, but Cheetah slashed her in the face before she could do anything.

Cheetah then slashed Wonder Woman hard enough to send the Amazon flying – where she jumped up and continued to slash her in the air. Wonder Woman grunted as she landed ono the ground – she was not going to back down. She was going to finish their feud once and for all. Cheetah clawed at Wonder Woman in the face, and Wonder Woman responded by kicking her in the stomach and slashing at her chest.

Wonder Woman bashed Cheetah with her shield again, and then she sliced her right arm off. Cheetah yelled in agony, but Wonder Woman didn't care.

"Your curse can never be undone. This is the peace you deserve." Wonder Woman angrily grabbed Cheetah by her head and held her up in the air. Supergirl's eyes widened – Wonder Woman wasn't about to kill her, was she?

Supergirl watched in horror as Wonder Woman impaled Cheetah in the chest – and it wasn't long before she stopped hearing Cheetah's heartbeat. Wonder Woman threw her body towards a nearby building. She briefly thought of her past with Cheetah – how they were once friends – but that didn't matter anymore. Cheetah betrayed her, and she finally paid the price.

Supergirl, meanwhile, could only cover her mouth.

Chapter Text

Supergirl started at Wonder Woman in complete horror. She could not believe what she had just seen – Wonder Woman had murdered someone in cold blood. While Cheetah was indeed a criminal, she had no trial, and Wonder Woman made sure there could never be one. How did Superman and Black Adam put up with the Amazon? She would tell them what happened. She was sure they'd help deal with Wonder Woman.

As Supergirl struggled to get up, Harley Quinn was suddenly in her vision. "Y'all right, blondie?" Harley asked as she helped Supergirl up. "Sit tight."

Harley had shown up just in time to see Wonder Woman kill Cheetah. She noted how Cheetah died so soon after her fellow feline lady Catwoman – and while Cheetah's death in of itself didn't tear up Harley the way Catwoman's did, the circumstances around it truly ticked her off.

"What was that, Wonder Bread?!" Harley snarled, having a bone to pick with Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman was not in the least deterred by Harley. "This isn't your business, clown."

"You heard Bats. No killing!"

Wonder Woman paused for a moment, letting it sink in that Harley Quinn just told her not to kill. A condescending look appeared on the Amazon's face. "You lecture me? How much blood is on your ledger, Quinn?"

Harley was not unprepared for Wonder Woman to refer to her past with the Joker in one way or another. "Oh, buckets full, honey. I was tryin' too hard to impress the wrong guy." Harley's eyes then narrowed. "Kinda like you with Superman."

Wonder Woman was enraged. She felt that for all her loyalty to the Man of Steel, she did what she did because it was the right thing to do. And she sure as hell didn't like Harley comparing the two of them. She gritted her teeth and began to charge towards Harley. Harley got out her guns and began shooting at Wonder Woman, who dodged the bullets with her bracelets and kept charging until she went up and impaled Harley near the stomach with her sword.

"No!" Supergirl yelled out in horror. Wonder Woman wasn't going to claim another victim today – Krypton's last daughter would make sure of it. Wonder Woman removed her sword and kicked Harley down to the ground, and Supergirl kicked the Amazon with enough force to send her flying a hundred or so feet away.

With Wonder Woman out of the way, Supergirl ran up to Harley. "You're losing too much blood. This is gonna hurt. A lot."

Harley let out a weak chuckle. "Even better…"

Supergirl used her heat vision to solidify the wound so that Harley wouldn't lose any more blood. The clown yelled in pain, but it was worth it – Supergirl had saved her life.

Wonder Woman walked up to Supergirl, irritated at Supergirl's actions. "What do you think you're doing, Kara?!"

Supergirl turned around to make eye contact with Wonder Woman and got up. "Stopping you before you make a mistake."

"That lunatic deserves to die."

Supergirl began slowly walking up to Wonder Woman. "Maybe. But she's defenseless. She's had no trial! You told me Amazons fought with honor!"

Wonder Woman had just about enough of Supergirl – she was going to put the teenager in place. She bashed Supergirl with her shield and kicked her in the chest. Supergirl wasn't going to stand down and let Wonder Woman beat her up, so she blasted Wonder Woman's shield out of her hand with her heat vision. She grabbed Wonder Woman by the neck and flew up into the air, throwing Wonder Woman towards the cement ground. Wonder Woman speedily flew back up and punched her hard enough to send her flying.

Now it was Wonder Woman grabbing Supergirl by the neck, and she flew them down to the ground, using Supergirl to smash the bronze statue of Superman. Wonder Woman knew her sword wouldn't do much against the Girl of Steel, so she grabbed Supergirl, slammed her down to the ground, and began decking her repeatedly, and with all of her strength. Supergirl began to groan in pain – she wasn't going to back down. Not to this killer.

She heat visioned Wonder Woman in the face, and Wonder Woman yelled in pain. Supergirl began to deck and kick Wonder Woman on and on, before pinning both of her arms and freezing them with her freeze breath. Supergirl turned Wonder Woman around and struck her one last time, sending her down to the ground.

"I trusted you, Diana!" Supergirl said in a betrayed tone. As Wonder Woman got up, Supergirl grabbed Harley and flew away.

Supergirl thought about what had just happened – what Wonder Woman had done. She knew what to do. She was going to tell Superman and Black Adam, and they would help deal with the Amazon.

"I'll get you to a doctor. Kal can protect you."

Harley couldn't believe it – was Supergirl truly this oblivious. She honestly felt a little bad, wondering how Supergirl would handle the truth. "Superman? Oh, Blondie. Yer funny." Harley let out a weak chuckle.

As Supergirl flew away from the smoldering buildings of Metropolis, she couldn't help but wonder what the clown meant.
--

Back at the Fortress of Solitude, Superman was angered to find storage equipment and elevator platforms at his old base of operations – evidently, people had taken to trying to pick apart everything from the Fortress for safekeeping or for research. He would put a stop to that once the threat of Brainiac was over. But he had other matters on his mind – his powers were restored. He flew down from the Artic sky towards Black Adam and Damian, ready to take on Brainiac. But he needed more than brute force to finally rid the universe of the Coluan, and he knew it.

He turned his head to Damian. "Did you find anything?"

"I analyzed the Kryptonian data like you asked. You didn't miss anything – they just didn't have an answer for Brainiac."

Superman was very frustrated with Damian's response. "There has to something. A blind spot, a weakness. Brute force won't be enough."

While Superman was worrying about how they would take down Brainiac, Black Adam was getting worried about his country. "If your powers are restored, I should leave for Kahndaq -make sure its defenses are prepared."

Superman couldn't help but be confused. "Brainiac hasn't attacked it yet?"

"The Rock of Eternity's magic hides Kahndaq from prying eyes – even Brainiac's. But I don't expect him to be fooled forever."

Before Superman could say anything to Black Adam, Supergirl flew into the Fortress. "Kal, we need to talk."

"Give me a minute, both of you." Superman requested. Black Adam and Damian obliged and walked away while Superman levitated back down the ground. "Damian told me what happened. Is Diana all right?"

Supergirl was happy to finally make her concerns known. "She's fine. But she killed Minerva, and she was gonna kill Harley. I've never seen her so cold-blooded."

"Yes, it's unfortunate…"

Supergirl was relieved to see that Superman seemed to be in agreement with her. "I know. What was she thinking?"

"It's unfortunate that Diana chose now to deal with Cheetah and Harley. More unfortunate that you got in the way."

Supergirl couldn't believe it. "What?"

Superman decided that he need to enlighten the younger Kryptonian on Harley's story. "The Joker sickened Harley's mind beyond healing. When she relapses, innocent people will die."

Supergirl was horrified to see her cousin in line with Diana's view. "Innocent people are dying now! She was helping us!"

Superman couldn't help but be disappointed. "Don't be naïve, Kara. Harley's a criminal. My only mistake was not dealing with her sooner." Superman turned to face the opposite direction, but Supergirl was not backing down.

"Diana said the Joker was executed. Were you the one who…"

Superman was surprised to see that Wonder Woman didn't tell her who killed the Clown Prince of Crime, so he felt he had to explain himself. "I took one life to save millions!"

"But it wasn't just one, Kal, was it? How many." Superman didn't answer right away, and Supergirl was left frustrated, and angrily grabbed his shoulder and turned him to her eyes. "How many?!"

Green Arrow, Ganthet, Batwoman, Shazam, and everyone else Superman killed during the time of the Regime came flooding back to his memory. Superman lamented to himself how many fellow heroes he killed in that five year timespan…but he didn't regret any of it. He wanted to bring peace, and they got in the way, so they had to dealt with. And if he had to kill any other heroes in the near future, so be it.

Supergirl placed her hand on Superman's 'S' insignia. "Everywhere I go, people are afraid of this…now I know why!"

Superman finally broke his silence. "It's not how I wanted things, but humans…they've been slaughtering each other for millennia. I stopped that violence!"

Supergirl could only stand there in silence and let all of this sink in while Superman continued on. "Humans need strong leadership! We have to save them from themselves!"

"…Whose son are you? Jor-El's? Or General Zod's?!" She flew away in rage. Superman called her name, but she ignored him – she didn't want anything to do with him now.

Supergirl was going to go to Batman – she wanted to know if he would tell her the truth. How things really went down. But there was opposition she would have to face first.

"Don't let Kara leave the fortress!" Superman commanded through Damian's ear comm, and the son of Batman was standing before the cousin of Supergirl.

"Hold on, Kara." Damian knew he had no chance in hell against Supergirl, so he decided to talk to her and show her Superman's 'good' intentions. Supergirl levitated just above the ground and slowly approached Damian.

"I'm starting to think your father locked you up for good reason!" She jabbed towards Damian. Damian was exasperated – he was tired of being reminded Batman. Superman was his real father as far as he was concerned. The sooner people could accept that, the happier he'd be.

"Superman's more of a father than Batman could ever be."

Supergirl gritted her teeth, feeling that she didn't have time for Damian. She flew towards Damian and punched him hard enough to send him flying towards the wall. He screamed in pain – his left arm and leg were both broken. "Kal should be setting a better example."

Supergirl didn't have time to check on him – she made sure she could hear his heartbeat, and then she flew away, hoping to get some answers from Damian's father.

But as she flew, she heard an angry voice cry "Shazam!" and a lightning bolt sent her plummeting to the ground. Supergirl looked up to see an angry Black Adam, with lighting crackling through his eyes.

"You will submit, Kara Zor-El!" Black Adam said in an angry voice before shooting more lightning towards her, sending the Kryptonian towards a wall.

Black Adam crossed his arms and looked at Supergirl with disappointment. Supergirl, in turn, looked at him with rage. She had deceived from the very moment she had landed here on Earth, and she didn't exactly appreciate that, something she wanted to make very clear to Adam.

"Ever since you found me…everything you told me…half-truths. Lies! To cover up your own evil!" Supergirl said with anger and betrayal.

Black Adam only swayed her remark away. He came down to the ground and began walking up to the Kryptonian. "You see the world as a child does. Good and evil are not constants. Their meaning's defined by those with power."

Black Adam briefly formed a fist before shooting more lighting towards Supergirl – but this time, she was able to dodge his blast. Supergirl heat-visioned Black Adam in the chest and then punched him hard enough in the chest to send him flying towards the nearby elevator platform, smashing it to bits in the process. Supergirl flew to Khandaq's king and grabbed him by his leg and threw him down the ground from where they had begun their fight.

Black Adam refused to let himself lose to Supergirl – for all her power, she was still a rookie. He unleashed as much lightning as he could from his hands and struck Supergirl with them. He stopped after about a minute, and as she tried to get her mind back into the fight, he began punching and kicking her repeatedly before sending more lighting her way and throwing her towards some of the storage units.

Supergirl used her freeze breath and froze Black Adam in place. She then flew away, towards the top of the Fortress, before circling right back. By the time Black Adam broke free, Supergirl was only a few feet away from him, and she decked him hard enough to send him flying out of the Fortress. At her top speed, Supergirl flew to Black Adam and heat-visioned him back towards the Fortress, where she decked him repeatedly until he struggled to get up.

Supergirl stared at the deceiver. "Luckily for you, I find power in restraint."

"Kara, please." Superman said, and Supergirl looked up to see him floating above her. But she wasn't buying it – she figured his desperate tone was faked. "Listen to me. With our powers, we can't hold back, or the ones we love…pay the price…"

"I'm sorry that I wasn't here. That I couldn't help you. But Metropolis wasn't your fault."

Superman couldn't have disagreed with that more. "I promised myself – never again."

Supergirl was still horrified at the truth of her cousin – but she wouldn't give up hope that he could be redeemed. "This isn't who we are. The House of El isn't ruled by fear."

To that, Superman snarled his teeth. "Hope isn't enough to save the world! Without me, they'd be dead!"

Superman had enough of his cousin and heat-visioned her in the chest before punching her into the statue of Jor-El and Lara, smashing the former's head off in the process. Supergirl took a moment to note the fallen head of Superman's father before charging right back towards her cousin. Superman gritted his teeth and yelled in frustration before he tried to use his freeze breath against her, but Supergirl dodged it and delivered a powerful kick to the face, sending Superman flying a few feet.

As the two exchanged blows and blasts of heat vision and freeze breath, Supergirl was still trying to let it sink in that she was going up against her own cousin. The very cousin she had promised her parents she would protect. Her last living relative. But she couldn't let that get in the way – she wouldn't let familial ties blind her to Superman's faults. Superman tried to heat-vision her in the face, but Supergirl deflected it with freeze breath and heat-visioned him the leg. She furiously flew towards her cousin, but Superman froze her in place. When she broke free, he yanked her by the arm and slammed her face into the ground.

Superman began to gain the upper hand and began to punch and heat-vision Supergirl repeatedly. They may have had the same powerset, but Superman had little over two decades of experience against Supergirl. For a minute or two, Supergirl wasn't able to get in a single punch. But she figured that since she took down Wonder Woman and Black Adam, her cousin couldn't be that much more of a stretch. Finally, she was able to block one of Superman's punches, and punched him right back, sending him flying. She began to punch and kick him repeatedly before finally grabbing him by the arm and slamming him into the ground below. He laid there for a minute, and Supergirl slowly flew towards him.

"I can help you…" Supergirl pleaded, not giving up hope on Superman.

Black Adam flew towards the two Kryptonians as Superman got up. "Think about all you've lost, Kara. What if you could've saved Krypton?"

Supergirl paused for a moment, remembering the memory of seeing her mother and father killed before her eyes before her rocket departed off the planet. She remembered how helpless she was – and how much she wished she had the powers she wielded now. "I think about it every day!"

"Then stand with me."

Rumbling sounds and explosions could be heard in the distance immediately after Superman spoke, and Supergirl was horrified as to what that meant. This shouldn't have been happening right now, but it was, and she didn't know what to make of it. "It's Brainiac – he's extracting the cities early!"

Black Adam walked up to the two. "Then we fight back. I must go to protect Kahndaq."

"Go. We're heading to Metropolis." Superman replied, and Black Adam flew away.

"What about her?" Damian said as loudly as he could – in spite of remembering that Kryptonians have super hearing –, still laying by the wall with his two broken limbs.

Superman turned to face Damian – he would get Damian medical attention right before depating to Metropolis. "All that matters now is stopping Brainiac!" He said to Damian before turning back to face Supergirl. "But when this is over, you need to make a choice. You're either with me or against me."

Supergirl couldn't help but feel heartbroken as Superman flew away – the last thing she ever wanted was to be at odds with her cousin like this. But Superman was right – Brainiac was the top priority at the moment. Still, she barely resisted the urge to cry as she flew to catch up with Superman.

Chapter Text

There was almost complete silence in Slaughter Swamp as Brainiac's robots scoured around. Brainiac had taken an interest in Swamp Thing – and in the Green in general. He wanted Swamp Thing to be taken captive and brought to the Skull Ship for study, so his robot minions traveled the swamp in search of the Green's protector.

All that could be heard every now and then was the snarling of a crocodile and the chirping of birds and crickets. The robots used their heat scanners to find any trace of Swamp Thing, but to no avail.

That is, until a giant green hand burst from the swamp waters and grabbed one of the robots, pulling it into the water.

The other robots blasted their orange laser beams through the waters to force Swamp Thing towards the surface. It worked, and Swamp Thing came roaring from Slaughter Swamp's waters.

"You dare threaten the Green?!" He said menacingly before clobbering two of the robots to pieces with his hands. The other robots fired their hooks towards Swamp Thing, but he dodged them and sprouted out branches from his shoulders that grabbed two more of the robots.

Swamp Thing was gigantic, and he was able to smash three more of the robots just by slamming his hand. But then more and more of the robots came charging towards Swamp Thing – and now his chances of victory were slipping away.

But he would resist nonetheless. "Beg for mercy!" He shouted before he grabbed furiously grabbed one of the robots and threw it towards two others, destroying all three of them.

But then he felt a hook grapple through his shoulder, and he yelled in pain. His attention turned to that specific robot, but it allowed another robot to pierce a hook grapple through his shoulder. Soon, about a dozen hook grapples were pierced into Swamp Thing's body, and he was forced to shrink down to 7 and a half feet tall.

Two more grapples pierced through him, and he yelled in pain. He began to breathe heavily. The robots had him frozen in place – exactly what they wanted.

Swamp Thing saw one of Brainiac's ships quickly make its way towards him. He didn't know anything about Brainiac or why the invasion was happening, but he knew that trouble was ahead if he didn't break himself free.

He groaned and yelled as he tried to free himself from the grapple hooks – but it was of no use. Before Swamp Thing knew it, the ship was directly above him. Before he could do anything else, a giant blue beam was unleashed from the ship, and in a matter of seconds, Swamp Thing was gone.
--

Thawne, Bane, Poison Ivy, and Deadshot all stood in Grodd's throne room silently, with the ape standing near the throne itself. There was a silence as Grodd's four surviving minions tried to figure out what to say.

Finally, Poison Ivy broke the silence. "You never gave a damn about the Green, did you, Grodd?"

Grodd snorted, deciding to be upfront with the Society. "No."

Bane growled. "You deceived us, Grodd! You tricked us into helping destroy the world."

Grodd looked at the ground for a moment before looking back to the four standing before him. "Yes, I did. I'll give you all this: You served your purposes well."

Deadshot formed a fist. "You son of a bitch! Yeah, I'm a bad man, but I never wanted to help end the world!" Deadshot had all of his guns loaded – he was ready to kill Grodd if it was to come to that.

"Wait!" Poison Ivy shouted pointing at Thawne. "What about Eobard here? He's from the 25th Century."

Thawne let out a small chuckle as he looked at his fingers, and the Reverse-Flash shook his head as he locked his eyes onto Ivy. "Were you not paying attention when the Society first formed? History has gone down a different path." Thawne lifted his finger as he chuckled some more. "Though I suspected Brainiac was the silent partner, even though he was only supposed to invade a few years from now. He was defeated, of course, but Metropolis never happened. The Regime never happened. So this could really be the end of the world."

Poison Ivy turned her attention to Grodd and snarled. "Dam you, Grodd! Now the Green will perish and fall!"

"Why should I care about the Green?"

Thawne smirked and super-sped right next to the gorilla. "I just want to thank you, Grodd. It was very satisfying to fight and hurt Barry one more time. But whether the world burns or not, I don't care. I got what I wanted. Good day to you, sir." And with that, Thawne super-sped out of the throne room.

Bane took a look at the entrance to the throne room, where Thawne had just left, before turning to face Grodd. "Dios mio, Grodd. All I wanted was Gotham and revenge on the Regime. Instead, I get tricked into helping the likes of Brainaic. I am done with your games. I'll see myself out."

Bane walked out the throne room, leaving Deadshot and Poison Ivy alone with Grodd. Grodd locked his eyes on Deadshot, smirking as he did so. "Now, Mr. Lawton…I hope you aren't getting any bright ideas. Remember, I still have the trigger to the nano-explosive in your head. If you dare betray me, I'll blow your goddamn brains out!"

Deadshot pondered that for a moment – but underneath that mask, a glare was coloring his face. He had been working with Grodd to save his own skin – but he decided that the destruction of the world was not worth the extra breaths. He decided that he would rather die than help Grodd's schemes any further now that he knew his true intentions.

"Go ahead, Grodd. I don't care."

Grodd furiously grabbed the panel and got ready to detonate Deadshot's explosive…but then he simply glared at the assassin. He decided that it didn't matter anymore. Everyone else either died or was leaving, and this one lone assassin wouldn't do him much good. And Deadshot would die when the entire Earth was destroyed. "…Get out of my sight, Lawton."

Deadshot didn't say another word. He took one last look at Grodd and Poison Ivy before silently exiting the throne room. Poison Ivy was all set to leave too – but she had one last thing to say to Gorilla Grodd.

"You were always a monster…but this…why would you help someone like Brainiac?"

"I have my reasons, Doctor Isley."

Poison Ivy sneered. "Trust me, Grodd. Whatever it is you think you can gain from all of this...you won't be getting it!" Poison Ivy turned around, letting out a sigh of exasperation, and left the throne room.

Grodd stared at the blood stains Man-Bat and El Diablo left on the floor when he was first forming The Society. He lamented how he figured The Society would eventually fall apart – part of him was surprised that it didn't happen sooner. But he was glad that everyone had only just parted ways, because The Society didn't have a purpose anymore. Brainiac was already in the process of extracting the cities, with the heroes being stalled just as the Coluan wanted Grodd to do.

Grodd let out a grin. With Brainiac's ultimate plan finally in motion, he could finally focus more on his own personal agenda.
--

There was a painfully awkward silence between Superman and Supergirl as the two flew from the Fortress of Solitude towards Metropolis.

Supergirl still couldn't believe that everything she had been told since landing on Earth was a lie. The image of Superman as this brave hero that was wrongfully betrayed and locked up by Batman…she couldn't bear to picture that anymore. She wanted to deal with Brainiac as soon possible, so that no more worlds would fall before him – and so that she could deal with her cousin and his downfall.

Still, the silence was agonizing – they hadn't even looked each other in the eye. Supergirl tried to see if she could break it. "Kal…" She softly said. She wasn't sure where she was going with this, but she figured it'd be about his fall from grace.

"Don't, Kara. I have more important things to worry about than your childish outburst." Superman coldly replied back, not even turning his head to look at his cousin.

Or he could brush her off entirely. Supergirl solemnly looked down at the lake beneath them, letting out a deep sigh.

As the two continued their way to Metropolis, they passed by Gotham, where Hal, Barry, Blue Beetle, and Firestorm were helping to combat the fleet with the help of Atrocitus' Red Lanterns. In addition to Dex-Starr, among the Red Lanterns combating Brainiac's forces were Bleez, a blue humanoid female who flew around with boned wings and had tiny bat wings on her head, and Zillius Zox – who Supergirl could only think of as a demented beachball.

Superman and Supergirl heat-visioned some of the betas, they had to get to Metropolis. And it seemed that things were being taken care of here.

The two left the scene, and Firestorm looked at them for a brief moment before focusing his priorities on taking down the fleet. He blasted fire at two of the betas before forming several titanium bars and launching them towards four more of the ships. His attention was then taken by Bleez, who growled as she vomited blood in rage before blasting at a beta and destroying it.

"Whoa...how many Lanterns can vomit blood like that?" Firestorm asked, knowing Hal was in earshot. Hal flew towards his younger ally.

"Only the Red Lanterns can do that. Part of their whole rage gimmick." Hal answered before creating a machine gun and shooting it at as many of the betas as he could.

"…Huh. I just hope that blood doesn't land on some random civilian." Firestorm muttered before some of the mini ships blasted at him, and he blasted right back with his fire.

Meanwhile, Barry and Blue Beetle were battling the robots down in the streets. Blue Beetle saw a group of ten robots cornering Gotham citizens, and formed a mace that he smashed four of them with while Barry super-sped there and destroyed the other six.

Three more robots came charging towards the two, and Blue Beetle shot at them all with his arm cannon, destroying all three of them.

He briefly turned to face Barry, and smiled. "It's an honor to fight with you, Flash."

"Just trying to save the world, kid." Barry replied, quickly smiling back before his attention turned to the robots charging before them. "And to make up for the promise I broke to Jay." Barry then murmured as he and Blue Beetle fought their way through the hoard of robots, with Zillius Zox charging in and blasting at some of the robots.

Then some of the betas came blasting their way towards the three. Bleez and Dex-Starr were able to destroy some of them, with Zillus Zox and Blue Beetle flying to their aid, but one of them was able to persevere its way towards Barry, who was unsure of how he could take it down. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about that – Hal and Firestorm had followed the betas, and Hal smashed it with a hammer he created.

Hal then turned to face Firestorm. "Firestorm, help Barry and Blue Beetle with the robots. The Red Lanterns and I have the betas covered." Hal said before flying away with Dex-Starr.

Firestorm looked up at Hal and Dex-Starr as they flew away before concentrating on battling the robots. Firestorm and Blue Beetle went back-to-back and began shooting at the robots, who formed a circle around them.

Barry took down some of the nearby robots before his attention was taken by the screaming of some civilians in the distance, running for their lives from an army of robots. "Keep fighting on. You guys are doing great, by the way!" Barry quickly said before speeding off to help the civilians.

Suddenly, Firestorm and Blue Beetle noticed that four of the larger ships had just flown into the skies near Gotham.

"We have to take 'em out!" Firestorm said, to Blue Beetle's bafflement.

"Are you crazy?! What about the civilians?!" Blue Beetle pointed out, to which Firestorm sneered.

"Someone has to deal with them, Jaime! Hal and the Red Lanterns are occupied with the mini ships!"

Firestorm flew towards one of the ships, and Blue Beetle sighed before following him. They blasted at one of the larger ships, unaware of what they were getting themselves into until it was too late. Swarms of the betas came blasting towards Blue Beetle and Firestorm, but what the two found odd was that these blasts weren't incinerating them, but rather pushing them. Once they were directly underneath the center of the ship, Martin realized what was about to happen, but was too late to warn Jason.

Cyborg suddenly began communicating with Hal via the ear comm about Atlantis – and the Green Lantern's attention was taken when he, Barry and Bleez turned and all saw a large purple blast, unaware of what had just happened.
--

Firestorm and Blue Beetle were teleported to the very spot Green Arrow and Black Canary had been in, and they were just as stunned by the ship's strange interior.

"Whoa…" Firestorm said as he tried to let the interior sink in.

"Nice going, Jason! Now look what you've gotten us into!" Blue Beetle said in an irritated voice.

"How did either of you gain such extraordinary power?" A voice asked, and Firestorm and Blue Beetle both turned to see Brainiac stoically staring at the two of them.

Blue Beetle and Firestorm's eyes both widened. "It's Brainaic!" Blue Beetle shouted. He and Firestorm looked at each other before charging towards Brainiac.

But Brainiac was undettered, as shot out his tentacles towards the two, trapping the two heroes in his grip. He slammed Firestorm into a wall multiple times until the Nuclear Man was knocked out. Brainiac walked away, still carrying the two in his tentacles. Blue Beetle could only wonder why Brainiac hadn't knocked him out either.

After a few silent minutes, Green Arrow and Black Canary's cell was in sight, with an unconscious Swamp Thing giving the two some form of company. Brainiac quickly opened the cell door and threw Blue Beetle in, using that same tentacle to drag Swamp Thing out.

Blue Beetle blasted at the cell, but to no avail. Green Arrow looked at him solemnly. "Don't bother, kid." Was all he said, and Blue Beetle realized there was no point in trying to break free.

Brainiac stared at the three for a moment before walking away, taking Firestorm and Swamp Thing's unconscious bodies with him. Blue Beetle stared on, deeply concerned. "What…what's he going to do with them?"

"We don't know," Black Canary answered in a similar tone to Green Arrow's. "But it can't be pretty. And just so you know, we're the insurance."

There was a long silence as Blue Beetle let out a deep sigh and sat down by the cell, worrying about what Brainiac would do to his friends –and what being the 'insurance' exactly entailed.

Chapter Text

Within minutes, the Skull Ship loomed over Metropolis. Its daunting size caused many of the citizens to flee for their lives in a desperate attempt to escape whatever fate they thought the Skull Ship would bring upon them. But for some of them, it was a futile effort. Brainiac immediately began the digitization of Metropolis, and the city was slowly falling before him.

Watching all of this was Doctor Fate, who held his helmet by his stomach. He looked at the wrecked cars, the damaged buildings, and the dead bodies. All he felt was the shame that the Lords of Order would not let him intervene, which only became worse when he noticed the Skull Ship looming over Metropolis.

"Help…help me." cried a weak voice, and Fate looked down to see a gravely injured woman on the street – still alive, but in need of medical attention. She held out her hand towards Doctor Fate, and out of his human instinct, he extended his own hand to help her up.

"No!" Nabu shouted from within the helmet, though only Doctor Fate could hear his voice, and Fate was forced to pull his hand away. The woman looked at him in confusion – and he looked at her guiltily.

"Please…" the woman pleaded, but to Fate's horror, she died immediately afterwards.

Doctor Fate was more distraught than ever. "Why can't I stop this? Why won't you let me fight back? How can there be order if Brainiac wins?!"

He held the Helmet of Fate right in front of him, desperate for an answer from the Lords of Order.

"Humanity breeds chaos." Nabu replied, his answer not pleasing in the least to Doctor Fate. "Brainiac is order."

Doctor Fate looked up at the Skull Ship again, all the more frustrated at the Lords of Order for not allowing him to save his world.
--

Batman flew the Batjet towards the Skull Ship. He had figured out that if they took Brainiac's ship down, the entire fleet would go down with it. But he couldn't do it alone – he was waiting for Superman and Supergirl's arrival. Dozens, if not hundreds, of Betas began swarming from the Skull Ship, and Batman simply looked at them with determination on his face.

The Kryptonians arrived right then and there, and they began heat-visioning the Betas into oblivion. Some of the Betas managed to fire back, but they did little to harm Superman or Supergirl. And in doing so, they gave Batman an opening to launch his own attack against the Skull Ship. He locked onto it, and he launched three missiles towards Brainaic's ship.

In the Skull Ship itself, Brainiac looked at a hologram of his ship, seeing the damage Batman's missiles had done to it. "Shields." He commanded, and the ship's shields were activated.

The wave it sent was too much for the Batjet, and its power was cut on. The plane began to spiral downwards towards Metropolis. Batman tried to eject himself, but he was running out of time – only three seconds to impact. But to his luck, Superman flew towards the Batjet and managed to stop it, suspending it in the air.

Superman took a look at Batman, who was hanging upside down. "You're welcome." Superman said, before he flipped the Batjet back up. "What just happened?"

"Brainiac's forcefield is creating a concussive feedback loop."

Superman didn't like what that meant. "So the harder we hit, the harder it hits back." And right as he said that, Supergirl flew right by him. "Kara!"

Supergirl flew towards the Skull Ship and punched it, only to be sent flying back by its forcefield. Blasts of purple electricity were shocking Supergirl, and she couldn't do anything to fight back. Superman rushed to her aid, only to wind up in the exact same situation. After a few seconds, the electricity ceased, and the two were sent flying towards the ground.

They fell unconscious upon impact, and Brainiac had holograms of the two right in front of him. "The Kryptonians are incapacitated. Complete the extraction." And with that, the rest of the city was quickly becoming digitized, with Doctor Fate being forced to flee in order to avoid becoming part of the collection. Brainiac, meanwhile, watched Metropolis' accumulation with content.

Superman woke up to black skies, and he stared at his cousin, who still laid unconscious. He walked up to her and used his X-Ray vision to make sure that she was still alive. When he saw that her heart was beating, Superman focused his attention towards the Skull Ship. But as he flew up, he noticed something was off about Metropolis – and he realized, to his horror, that a huge area of Metropolis was gone.

"Nooo!" He yelled out in anger, and he began charging towards the Skull Ship. He briefly forgot about the forcefield, so he was surprised to be sent flying back. He was undeterred, and he began bashing into the Skull Ship with all his might. He stopped when he noticed his nose was bleeding, but Superman simply wiped it off.

Batman continued to fly in the now-black skies. "Superman!" He yelled out through the ear comm. "The force shield concentrates its energy at your point of attack. Move faster than it can, and you might break through!"

"Got it." Superman replied, and the Man of Steel charged into the Skull Ship again, then flew towards the opposite side of the ship and bashed it from there. He began flying around the Skull Ship at superspeed, hitting Brainiac's fortress as fast and hard as possible.

Brainiac sat on his throne-like chair, and he could begin to feel the ship shake. "Creative, but insufficient. Decrease shield refresh interval to ten picoseconds."

The ship obliged, and when Superman charged towards the ship again, he was stunned to be suddenly sent flying back – towards the crater at the center of Metropolis. He laid there, unable to find the strength to move for a few moments.

He groaned as he got up, and saw that the Skull Ship was now closer to the ground. It was positioned straight ahead of the Man of Steel – it was almost as if that daunting skull-like face was staring at Superman. Superman merely stared right back, refusing to give up.

One of the Skull Ship's giant tentacles blasted out a giant ray of blue energy towards Superman, with the other tentacles following suit. With their combined power, they quickly overwhelmed the Kryptonian, who could do nothing to resist.

Supergirl had gotten back up, and she was flying around in an attempt to look for her cousin. She saw what was happening to her cousin, and she flew towards the scene as fast as she could – but it was too late. Superman began to look as if he was disintegrating, and he could only groan in pain.

Then there was an explosion, and the crater was consumed in a mushroom cloud. The blast was enough to send both the Batjet and Supergirl flying back.

"Kal…" Supergirl said as the smoke refused to fade away – but could not find her cousin anywhere.

The black skies disappeared, replaced by an orange tint. Batman landed his Batjet into the crater and walked out – to see Supergirl solemnly sitting on a rock. Barry super sped into the crater, with Atrocitus flying towards the scene almost immediately after. Neither said a word, they just looked around at the crater. Batman hardly noticed the two – he just walked up to Supergirl.

"I couldn't find his body. Can't hear his heartbeat." Supergirl said in a hurt, regretful voice. Batman could tell that she was on the brink of tears. "I was supposed to protect him. From this. From you. And now he's gone….I'm sure that's the best news you heard all day."

To Supergirl's surprise, she heard Batman say "I'll miss him, too." in a depressed voice.

Supergirl turned her head to Batman, shocked by what he had just said. "You mean that?"

"He was a good friend once. I trusted him with my life." Batman said, and Supergirl was stunned at how genuine and sorrowful his voice was. "But the Joker got to him…and I wasn't there to stop it. I lost my friend Clark. And…I've missed him ever since."

Supergirl was still stunned, but before she could say anything, a boom tube appeared. And out came Hal, accompanied by Cyborg and Aquaman. Hal had to leave the action in Gotham to accompany Cyborg to Atlantis, for the sea king was finally forced to swallow his pride. They all noticed Superman's absence – and deep down, Cyborg was happy that the Man of Steel wasn't in sight. He was still disgusted with Superman after finding out what he did to the Titans.

Batman's attention was specifically on Aquaman. "Atlantis?"

"Gone. I didn't listen." Aquaman replied, and the regret he carried was as clear as day. "Now, we all die together."

"No one's giving up yet. Anyone hear from Beetle or Firestorm?"

Hal was about to tell Batman that the two had went missing back in Gotham, but everyone's attention was taken when Wonder Woman and Black Adam flew onto the scene.

"This is your fault, Bruce!" Wonder Woman angrily shouted as she floated above the ground and pointed towards Batman. "Kal and I would've beaten Brainaic! You should have followed our lead!"

Wonder Woman landed onto the ground and glared right at the Dark Knight. Supergirl had just about enough of the Amazon and her aggressions, and she angrily shoved Wonder Woman away. "Stop it, Diana! Millions of people are trapped on that ship! We have to save them!"

"Not with him!"

Before the conversation could go anywhere else, a hologram of Brainaic appeared before everyone. "Such discord. No wonder humans have yet to expand their civilization beyond the confines of this tiny planet."

"Did you call in just to gloat?" Hal asked in an irritated voice.

There was a brief pause, and Brainiac simply ignored Hal's remark. "My Betas are taking positon all across your planet. In one hour, they will explode in unison, burning the Earth's atmosphere – rendering this a world a barren moon. Unless…"

Brainiac then pointed towards Supergirl. "…you surrender Kara Zor-El. She is Krypton's sole survivor, and my last opportunity to study the effect of a yellow sun on Kryptonian cells. Surrender her, and I will spare this world."

Batman wasn't exactly sold on that idea. "Even if I thought you'd honor that deal, we wouldn't take it."

"You have one hour to reconsider." And with that, Brainiac's hologram disappeared.

Supergirl was very unsure of herself at the moment. "Thanks for giving the new girl a chance, but…maybe I should go."

"No." Batman replied in a stern voice. "We'll find a way to take down Brainiac's shields. We have to."

"We could try shorting them out." Cyborg suddenly interjected. "But we'd need to generate an insane amount of power."

Then Black Adam was the one to pipe in. "Perhaps science is not the answer."

Everyone now had their attention on Black Adam. "So he might be vulnerable to a magic-based attack?" Batman asked, interested in what the king seemed to have planned.

"I can drive the immense magical power from the Rock of Eternity through the gateway in Khandaq. But I need an artifact, a medium to channel it. Something that can withstand its power."

Luckily for Black Adam, Aquaman walked towards up with a suggestion. "How about the Trident of Atlantis?" He said as he slammed the Trident right by his exposed feet.

"Yes. That could work."

"I can come, too." Atrocitus said as he walked up towards the two kings. "The Red Lanterns can give you extra firepower in case anything happens."

Aquaman grunted at the Red Lantern's offer. "Thanks, but we don't need your help."

Barry let out a sigh. "Come on, Arthur…"

Aquaman looked around for a minute before deciding that Barry was right. He looked up at Atrocitus and nodded, send the message that he could come to Khandaq.

"And since I cut him off from Brother Eye, it's possible I could make a signal disruptor that blocks his neural network. If you get Brainiac's shields down, we can disarm those Beta bombs." Cyborg said, and Batman nodded.

"Then that's our plan." Batman said in a determined voice. "Aquaman, Adam, Atrocitus, get to Kahndaq."

Chapter Text

It didn't take long for Aquaman, Black Adam, and the Red Lanterns to get to Kahndaq – and when they did, they wasted no time in heading to the gateway. When they reached the gateway, Black Adam, Aquaman, Atrocitus, and Dex-Starr all walked up to it while Bleez, Zillius Zox, and the other Red Lanterns stayed about a hundred feet or so behind at Atrocitus' command.

"The Rock of Eternity is hidden in a pocket dimension. I've refrained from opening the gateway to it since Brainiac's invasion." Black Adam told Aquaman and Atrocitus.

"Because it would draw his eye." Aquaman replied, immediately figuring out the reasoning behind Black Adam's choice.

"Precisely. One the door is opened, it's only a matter of time before Brainiac attacks."

"A fight I'll look forward to." Atrocitus said with a grin on his face.

There was a long pause before Black Adam slowly approached the gateway. "Ancient ones, unveil the golden path to me, in your names." Lightning slowly began to emit from Black Adam's hands. "Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, Mehen!"

And with that, an enormous blast of lightning shot down towards Black Adam. The lighting emitting from his body was strengthening, and now there was lightning flickering from his eyes. It wasn't long before Black Adam was able to channel the lightning into his chest, from where he shot it towards the gateway. Aquaman and Atrocitus silently watched as Black Adam opened the gateway from the ancient ones' power.
--

Black Adam's suspicions were ultimately justified, as Brainiac had been waiting for Black Adam to show him Kahndaq's location. And now, as Black Adam opened the gateway to the Rock of Eternity, Brainiac and Grodd looked at a hologram of the Earth – with a red dot showing where Kahndaq was.

"Black Adam has revealed Kahndaq's power. And its location." Brainiac said, having awaited this moment for a while now. "The Society will obtain a sample of the Rock of Eternity for me. I wish to study Earth's so-called 'magic'."

Grodd had not gotten the chance to tell Brainiac of The Society's dissolution, and this seemed like a rather good time to enlighten the alien. "The Society is disbanded. They thought Earth would be theirs to conquer, not yours to destroy."

Brainiac found this to be an interesting complication. "And you, Grodd?"

"Earth can go to hell." Grodd slightly extended his hands out. "I serve Brainiac."

"As you should. I will give you new soldiers. Bring me that sample before the Earth is destroyed, and your loyalty will be rewarded."

Grodd extended his arms out again to show his 'loyalty' – he was just glad that his grand scheme had been going according to plan so far.
--

It wasn't much longer before Black Adam finally got the gateway opened, and he turned his head to face Aquaman and Atrocitus.

"Let's work quickly." Black Adam said rather softly, wanting to get this done as soon as possible.

Aquaman looked up at Atrocitus. "Atrocitus, stay behind for when Brainaic sends his forces."

Atrocitus nodded, and Black Adam and Aquaman began to walk towards the gateway. But they didn't have the chance to get far as they were about to find out how quickly Brainiac's forces would arrive.

"Don't bother. There is no time." A horribly distorted female voice said.

The three turned around to see Black Canary and Green Arrow walking towards them, with a small group of gorillas trailing behind. They all stared at the couple and the gorillas, confused at why Arrow and Canary were with Grodd's forces.

There was something off about Black Canary and Green Arrow's eyes – not only were they extremely twitchy, but the pupils were titled so high up that they couldn't be seen in their entirety.

"An Extractor Ship is on its way. Kahndaq will be Brainiac's."

Atrocitus gritted his teeth. "Red Lanterns, find that Extractor Ship and unleash hell upon it!" He commanded. Dex-Starr, Bleez, Zillius Zox, and the other Red Lanterns flew out of the scene to find the Extractor Ship.

Atrocitus blasted red energy towards the gorillas, and Black Adam levitated in the air to attack Green Arrow. The archer shot an arrow at Black Adam, which the king dodged. He shot a blast of lighting towards Arrow, which he in turn was able to dodge. One of the gorillas tackled Atrocitus, but the Red Lantern was easily able to break his grip and slam him into another gorilla, sending them both in a wall.

Aquaman, meanwhile, had his attention on Black Canary, having an idea of why her voice was so distorted and her actions not her own. "Using pawns, Grodd?"

Indeed, Black Canary and her husband had their minds taken over by Gorilla Grodd himself. "Pawns are willing to achieve great victories…" Black Canary said as she approached Atlantis' king. "…if you are willing to sacrifice them!"

Right after saying that, Black Canary unleashed a Canary Cry towards Aquaman, sending him flying a few feet away. Aquaman quickly got up and charged towards his former ally, and bashed her with his trident. Though he didn't want to show it, he was surprised to see Black Canary and Green Arrow still alive. He did not know about how Doctor Fate sent Black Canary to another universe with a living Green Arrow and had then brought them both back here.

Black Canary punched him in the face and then kicked her in the chest. He grabbed her by her hair, yanking it aggressively, and threw her towards one of the small tables with a pot on top it. He continued to bash her repeatedly with his trident, until she blocked it off with her hand, and only inches away from his face, let out another Canary Cry right towards Aquaman. Black Canary punched and kicked Aquaman a few more times, but eventually he gained the upper hand again and bashed her with his trident until she was knocked out.

Meanwhile, Black Adam had the upper hand in his battle against Green Arrow, repeatedly shooting out blasts of lighting towards him that he wasn't able to dodge. But then Green Arrow shot an explosive arrow towards the magic wielder, and he was sent flying back.

Then the Extractor Ship arrived, despite the Red Lanterns' best efforts. Meteors began crashing down from the ship, and everyone knew they contained robots. As the Red Lanterns tried to blast at the meteorites to stop them, Green Arrow smirked.

"Here comes the calvary. Fitting that you and Aquaman die together. The last of mankind's monarchs." Green Arrow said in his equally distorted voice.

"What kind of leader sacrifices his own people for Brainiac?" Black Adam rebuked in an exasperated tone.

"My loyalty isn't to Brainiac or Gorilla City. It's to myself. I'll wait until that alien exposes his weakness and kill him. With his ship, I will be unstoppable."

Just then, Bleez came down and vomitted blood onto Green Arrow's face, causing him to let out a distorted cry. Atrocitus blasted at the archer a few times before slamming him against a wall, and then he grabbed Green Arrow by the neck. The orange tint landscape of Kahndaq was suddenly replaced by the hellish red landscape of Ysmalt.

"Together with our hellish hate…" Atrocitus said, before punching Green Arrow towards a nearby rock. "We'll burn you all!" He said as he let out a construct of The Butcher, the embodiment of rage, and sent it charging towards Arrow. It hit the archer hard enough to break the rock, and Green Arrow was sent flying towards the ground. "That is your fate!" Atrocitus yelled as he flew towards Green Arrow and vomited enough blood to knock the archer out.

The skies of Kahndaq returned, and Black Adam, Aquaman, and Atrocitus looked at the unconscious bodies of the two heroes and the gorillas before the former opened the portal to the Rock of Eternity back up. Just then, out of nowhere, Blue Beetle flew onto the scene.

Aquaman was the first to notice him – and he was surprised. Just before they left, Hal had told everyone that he saw Blue Beetle get killed alongside Firestorm in Gotham. Aquaman had not met either of them, but he could guess this was Blue Beetle just by aesthetics. "Blue Beetle! We thought you were dead!"

"The scarab's hard to kill. Batman told me you guys needed a hand. Consider me your sidekick."

There was a brief pause before Black Adam decided it wasn't worth debating. "Come along. Atrocitus, take down that Extractor Ship."

"Follow me, Bleez." Atrocitus told Bleez, who stood with him, before the two flew up to the Extractor Ship while Black Adam, Aquaman, and Blue Beetle all walked into the gateway.

They were now at the Rock of Eternity. The orange tint was now replaced by a lifeless gray. The three walked by several statues representing Egyptian lore, until they were at the statutes of the six gods from where Black Adam drew his power. Now that they were where they needed to be, Aquaman finally decided to question how this would be carried.

"How does this work, exactly?"

"We imbue your trident with a spark of the Rock's power. When its full might is released, it will seek out your weapon. Your thoughts will guide the wizard's power to final target." Black Adam said before sitting down on the throne that divided the six statues.

"I am ready." Aquaman replied before giving his trident to Black Adam. Lightning began emitting from all over Adam as he began to the trident – but barely a second later, Blue Beetle blasted him, interrupting the process.

Aquaman was now enraged. "Beetle, what are you doing?!"

"My bidding!" A voice answered, and Aquaman and Black Adam both turned to the left to see none other than Grodd emerge from the shadows.

This time, Black Adam was the one to point out what was going on. "A sleeper agent, to lead you here."

"Despite the power of his scarab, the boy was easily manipulated." Grodd then pointed towards Blue Beetle. "Now, Jaime – kill them!"

Aquaman slowly began approaching Blue Beetle, who began to back away. "This armor is wasted on a child." Blue Beetle said, his voice now as distorted as Black Canary and Green Arrow's. "When we're finished, I'll tear the Scarab from his body – and make its power my own!"

Blue Beetle morphed his right hand into an arm cannon and blasted towards Aquaman, who deflected it with his trident. Aquaman charged towards Blue Beetle and slashed at his armor with his trident, which seemed to do only minor damage. Aquaman swung his trident at Beetle again, but the latter only dodged him and blasted at him, striking Aquaman in the chest.

Black Adam, meanwhile, advanced onto Grodd, shooting lightning towards the gorilla. Grodd blocked it with his psychic abilities, however, before charging towards Adam and decking him in the face with a mighty punch.

Blue Beetle morphed his left hand into a mace and bashed Aquaman with it before blasting towards the king twice. Aquaman jumped into the air and stabbed Beetle in the chest with his trident, hoping to weaken him significantly – which proved to be a success. While Blue Beetle held his hand on his chest, Aquaman slashed him with his trident repeatedly. Blue Beetle groaned and blasted towards Aquaman again, but the blonde king was able to deflect it again.

Blue Beetle bashed at Aquaman with his face hard enough to make his nose bleed, but Aquaman didn't care. He merely bashed Blue Beetle repeatedly until the younger lad was finally knocked out. But then icicle-shaped rocks fell from the ceiling, trapping Aquaman.

Black Adam lunged towards Grodd and locked a grip onto him. He yelled out "Shazam!" and a lightning bolt came thundering down…which Grodd also blocked with his psychic capabilities.

"Look at us…three kings…" Grodd said. Black Adam gritted his teeth and slammed Grodd onto the ground.

"A true leader serves his people. You only serve yourself." Black Adam fired back as he was able to shoot three balls of lighting towards his primate opponent.

"Be that as it may, I will be the only one who leaves this cave!" Grodd snarled before grabbing Black Adam by his leg and slamming him down to the ground multiple times before throwing him towards one of the Rock's statues, destroying it in the process. Black Adam flew towards Grodd and the two began punching and kicking each other nonstop for about a minute. Grodd then grabbed Adam by his head and began bashing him into the ground three times.

Black Adam then shot lighting towards Grodd's face. Grodd roared in pain, and Adam used the opportunity to throw as much lightning as he could until Grodd finally laid there, defeated.

Adam and Aquaman walked towards the injured gorilla. "Stupid…humans…" he let out, to which Aquaman stabbed him in his ribs, causing Grodd to yell in pain.

"The people of Atlantis demand justice…" Aquaman coldly said, still bitter about the loss of his kingdom.

Aquaman released his trident from Grodd's rib, and Grodd began to breathe heavily. "Against Brainiac…" Grodd let out a very weak chuckle. "I've seen his mind…felt his power…he…can't…be…stopped."

"But you can." And with that, Aquaman stabbed Grodd in the rib again, forcing it in deeper this time, and Grodd yelled in pain again. His breathing slowed down considerably – before stopping entirely.

Aquaman released his trident, and he and Black Adam were left staring at the dead gorilla for a minute, with Aquaman holding no regret for what he had done.
--

After laying unconscious for several minutes, Green Arrow and Black Canary finally woke up, free from Grodd's control. Black Canary helped Green Arrow up as they enjoyed their newfound freedom.

"How's your head?" Black Canary asked, concerned for her husband's well-being.

"Empty." Green Arrow quipped back, and Black Canary smirked.

"So not much has changed."

Their attention was taken when Atrocitus, Bleez, Dex-Starr, Zillius Zox, and the other Red Lanterns, all floating above the ground and all staring right at the superhero couple.

"Erm…hello…," Green Arrow said uneasily, unsure of what else to say. "Oh, hey, by the way. Whatever that was, with the bull – that hurt like hell."

Atrocitus grunted. "Count yourself lucky to be alive. That was not the intention."

Before Green Arrow could reply, the gateway to the Rock of Eternity opened back up, and Aquaman came running through, his trident now indued with the Rock's power.

"Canary! Arrow! Out of the way!" Aquaman yelled out. The two obliged, and Aquaman ran past them. When he stopped running, he slammed his trident onto the ground – and he breathed heavily.

Back at the Rock of Eternity, Black Adam began to absorb the Rock's power, with lots of lightning flickering all through his body – even his eyes were emitting the lightning. He let out soft grunts, having never felt this power before.

"SHAZAM!" he yelled out, and he channeled the lighting through his chest again, unleashing it all out of the Rock of Eternity and towards Aquaman.

When Aquaman felt the lighting, he couldn't help but groan in pain – it did hurt a little. But he persevered, and he was able to channel the lightning now. He held his trident up, and with it went up the lightning.
--

Back at the crater, Batman and Supergirl were waiting silently, and patiently. Supergirl didn't really have anything to say to Batman – she was just waiting to see any signs that Black Adam and Aquaman were accomplishing their goal.

"Cyborg, where's that signal disruptor?" Batman asked through the ear comm, his patience now wearing a little thin.

"Coming right at ya." Cyborg replied. Immediately afterwards, Cyborg came through a boom tube. When the boom tube vanished, Cyborg threw the signal disruptor right into Batman's hands.

"All you have to do is hit the trigger. But it only jams a local area. You need to get within arm's reach of Brainiac."

Supergirl cracked her knuckles with a smile on her face. "Good."

Just then, black skies suddenly appeared from out west, and Batman, Supergirl, and Cyborg all had their eyes on it. Seconds after they appeared, cracks of lighting began to pop up – and the final crack unleashed an enormous wave of lighting, which charged right towards the Skull Ship.

After about a minute of watching the lightning attack the Skull Ship, Cyborg brought up a holographic panel and analyzed the results. "They did it! The shields are down!"

"Supegirl, on me! Victor, help the others fight those Betas!" Batman closed the Batjet's window, and he flew up towards the Skull Ship – with Supergirl trailing close behind.

The two faced little opposition from the Betas, being able to pass by them rather easily, and entered the Skull Ship through the opening at its bottom.

But seconds after entering the Skull Ship, one of the Betas did successfully fire against the Batjet, and Batman's ship was sent crashing down onto the floor – though he was able to take out several of Brainiac's robots while doing so.

Batman punched through the window of his ruined vehicle and jumped off of it – only to be welcomed the sight of dozens of robots, all approaching the Dark Knight.

Batman was now wondering where Supergirl was – and his question was answered when Supergirl came flying in and heat-visioned all of the robots into oblivion. It felt good for her, being able to take down all of those robots like that, remembering what they did to Krypton.

Supegirl and Batman silently roamed the halls of the Skull Ship – deep down, they were both fascinated by how completely alien the dark and purple interior of the ship felt. But they had to focus on one thing and one thing only: Brainiac.

"The signal gets stronger this way." Batman said as the two turned right. But before they could carry on any further, Supergirl suddenly groaned loudly.

"What is it?" Batman asked, confused and concerned.

"Voices. Billions of them." Supergirl said, weakly pointing towards the door in front of them.

It opened, and Batman and Supegirl walked in to see innumerable blue spheres, all spread out across the room. These were all the cities that Brainaic had abducted over the years.

"So many languages…" Supergirl lamented, feeling completely overwhelmed. The only language she could recognize was English, coming from some of Earth's cities…that is, until she heard her native tongue.

She gasped upon the realization. "The Kryptonians." She walked around, looking for the Kryptonians – with Batman following close by. It wasn't long before Supergirl found what she was looking for.

"Kandor! Argo City! Home!" Supergirl said, holding up the sphere of Kandor in her hands. "We have to help them…."

Batman looked at Kandor, placing his hand onto it solemnly. "I'm not sure we can."

"There has to be a way…" And as Supergirl said that, she and Batman wouldn't be aware of the approaching tentacles until it was too late, and they both grunted as they were ensnarled into the tentacles' grip.

Supergirl tried to punch the tentacles away, but it was no use. They tightened their grip, and she let out her heat vision in desperation, but nothing could be done. Batman couldn't even begin to fight his way out as a swarm of robots approached the two. One of the tentacles began to scan Supergirl, and soon, she found herself face-to-face with…him. Brainiac. The very being who had destroyed her world.

"Kara Zor-El." Brainiac said, and Supergirl shot a death glare towards the Coluan. "Until recently, I had thought my collection of Krypton to be complete. Your capture will make it so."

The tentacles pulled Supergirl away, and she was sent forcibly phasing through the walls of the Skull Ship, screaming in pain as she did so.

Brainiac then turned right around to face Batman. "You have failed in every effort to stop me. You are not exceptional. Merely an ordinary specimen of a primitive species."

Batman glared at Brainiac, but the Coluan ignored him. "Dispose of him."

He slowly levitated away, and one of the robots approached the entangled Batman, ready to end his life by putting a hook through his skull. But as the hook reached out until it was inches away from Batman's face, a blur began to charge through the robots, mowing them down effortlessly.

Batman was stunned at who it was. It was Superman. Superman looked at Batman, who was thrust up by the tentacles. But Superman grabbed him and freed him from the tentacles' grasp. Superman held Batman up in the air, and Batman looked at Superman as he let the Dark Knight down.

"And I thought I could make an entrance." Batman said, now significantly more confident in their chances against Brainiac.

"Where's Kara?" Superman asked, noticing his cousin's absence.

Batman wished he had a better answer for the Man of Steel. "Captured. Somewhere onboard."

Superman walked away from Batman and stood there silently, and Batman could see his former friend's worry. "We'll find her. But we only have 20 minutes before Brainiac's Betas scorch the Earth."

Superman turned back to face Batman. "Why aren't the others here?"

"They're attacking the Betas. Just in case we don't pull through."

"We will."

Batman and Superman then began to travel around the ship, searching for any signs of Brainiac. But it was only a minute into their hunt that they ran into someone neither of them expected to see: Firestorm.

Chapter Text

Firestorm levitated above the ground and looked down at Batman and Superman. Despite the fire emitting from his hands, he bore a cold look on his face that Batman had never seen from him before. This was not something the Dark Knight was prepared for.

"Firestorm?! What happened to you?!"

Firestorm looked at Batman for a moment before replying, "Brainiac unified our dueling minds. No longer divided, we think as one." The two noticed that his voice was coldly distorted now.

"He's your walking bomb." Superman said, wondering if Firestorm had any exploitable weaknesses. "How do we get past him?"

Immediately after Superman asked that, Firestorm blasted fire at the two, and Superman flew towards Firestorm only to be stopped when Firestorm grabbed his leg. Then, out of nowhere, Swamp Thing came charging in. He grabbed Batman by his chest and threw him towards the ground.

Firestorm threw Superman towards Batman and Swamp Thing, and the latter threw Batman towards Superman. They intended to have the two bash into each other. Superman was able to collect himself just in time and grabbed Batman before they could clash.

Superman flew them both down to the ground, and now he could express his bafflement. "Swamp Thing, too?!"

Firestorm flew down to the ground and began to approach Batman and Superman. "Brainiac has unlocked the Green's power. He has mastered the Firestorm Matrix. All knowledge will be subsumed under his collection."

Superman shook his head. "I've heard about Brainiac and his collection. You talked a big game back at my cell. Let's see how you stack up."

Firestorm walked closer to Superman. "Your immense power is finite. The Firestorm Matrix has no limits." He emitted fire from his hand and fired towards Superman while Swamp Thing charged towards Batman again.

Having never been told of those exploitable weaknesses, Superman decided to just use brute force to take down Firestorm. He grabbed Firestorm by the leg and slammed him into the wall a few times before throwing him down to the ground. Firestorm emitted fire from his hands again and blasted the flames towards Superman, sending him flying. Superman flew right back towards him and punched him clean in the face.

The two resorted to trading blows for about a minute before Firestorm blasted more fire towards the Man of Steel. As Superman got back up, Firestorm began to create kryptonite – just as he had done with Supergirl. Superman had faced this tactic before, however, and heat visioned Firestorm in the face. The Nuclear Man screamed in pain, and the kryptonite disappeared. Firestorm groaned and tried to blast more fire towards Superman, but the Man of Steel dodged it and punched Firestorm several times until he was knocked out.

Batman was still fighting Swamp Thing, who slammed over two of Brainiac's panels as he approached the detective menacingly. Superman was about to help him out, but a swarm of robots invited themselves to the scene, and he was forced to deal with them. He fired his heat-vision, but the robots shielded themselves.

'That's new.' Superman thought to himself, but he would persist on. The robots had to be dealt with.

Batman began charging towards Swamp Thing, who threw one of the area's barrel-shaped objects towards him. Batman dodged the object and kicked Swamp Thing in the chest – and then he decided to try and see if he could reach out to Swamp Thing, to see if he was still in there.

"Swamp Thing! Hear me!" He said, and Swamp Thing just stood there, seemingly willing to listen. "Your power's being used against you, against the Green!"

"Brainiac is now the Green's protector." Swamp Thing said, the distortion in his voice making him sound full-on demonic. "It will live forever…preserved in his collection."

Swamp Thing created a staff-like object out of his branches and began to bash Batman with it. Batman tried to punch him in the stomach, but Swamp Thing dodged this and continued to beat up Batman with his staff. Batman grabbed the staff with his hand and punched Swamp Thing in the stomach. He was able to punch and kick Swamp Thing a few times before the Green protector unleashed two giant vines out of his arm, with which he grabbed Batman and dragged the Caped Crusader towards him before throwing him back.

Batman threw several of his batarangs towards Swamp Thing, all of which hit their target. Batman jumped into the air to attack Swamp Thing, but the latter let out several branches from his shoulders that sent Batman to the ground. Batman threw several more batarangs towards Swamp Thing – this time, they were explosive batarangs. With Swamp Thing off-guard, Batman punched and kicked him as hard and as fast as he could until Swamp Thing was finally knocked out.

Batman breathed heavily as he watched Superman finish off the robots. Superman flew down by Batman's side and they looked at the unconscious duo of Firestorm and Swamp Thing.

"Now let's get them free." Batman said as they dragged Firestorm and Swamp Thing together.

They put the two together, and Batman got out his sonic disruptor. "This should disrupt their link with Brainiac." Batman clarified, and Superman began to use his x-ray vision to check the disruptor's progress.

"Firestorm's brain patterns are changing. But I can't read what's happening to Swamp Thing." And Superman chalked it down to Swamp Thing's more bizarre nature and biology.

Batman ceased the disruptor and kneeled down towards Firestorm. "Jason? Professor Stein?"

Firestorm let out a groan as he got up. "Yeah…yeah, we're both here. What happened?"

"Brainiac added a third mind to your head."

"Like we needed that." Firestorm snarked in response.

Right as he said that, Firestorm got up, and also let out a groan of confusion. "What is this place?"

"Brainiac's ship." Batman answered, figuring that even Swamp Thing had to be familiar with Brainiac by now. "Firestorm will get you back on terra firma."

Batman then turned his attention to Firestorm. "Report to Hal. He'll need help fighting Brainiac's suicide betas." After saying that, he walked away, with Superman following by his side.

"Sounds like a job for Firestorm. Good luck!" Firestorm replied, sounding as confident as ever.

Superman and Batman traveled throughout the ship for about a minute or two until they reached Brainiac's command room – but Brainiac was nowhere to be found.

"No Brainiac?" Batman said, confused by his absence. "Where is he?"

"I don't know." Was all Superman could answer before he began to fly around the ship, using his x-ray vision once more in an attempt to scan from Brainiac. But there was something preventing him from doing so.

"The ship's walls are lined with lead."

Just then, a black portal shining bright yellow emerged out of nowhere. First, the symbol of Doctor Fate appeared – and Doctor Fate himself levitated from the portal, blue energy glowing from his hands.

"Bruce Wayne of Earth. Kal-El of Krypton." Doctor Fate said as the two listened on. "Your battles echo across the universe. Your war has had consequences neither of you could foresee."

Superman and Batman just stood there silently, unsure of what say, while Doctor Fate continued on. "The chaos you spread is a cancer upon the cosmos. Only Brainiac can establish order."

Superman decided to break his silence. "I've always respected you, Fate. But Brainiac can't destroy my home. Not again!"

"Your misdeeds precipitated his arrival on this planet. Brainiac's curiosity was piqued by your decimation of the Green Lantern Corps. Now he comes to spare humanity – from the chaos you unleashed!"

Superman had enough of this and heat-visioned Doctor Fate in the chest. Fate responded by firing yellow mystical fire towards Superman. Batman shot more explosive batarangs at him, which distracted him long enough for Superman to punch him towards the wall. Doctor Fate then shot out green electricity towards Superman, shocking him up. Batman threw more batarangs at Fate, but the mystic dodged and summoned up yellow fire underneath Batman, causing him to yell in pain.

Doctor Fate began to strike Superman several times before shooting out blue fire towards the Man of Tomorrow. He tried to punch Superman again, but Superman blocked his hand and used his freeze breath to freeze Doctor Fate in place. By the time Fate broke free, he was caught off-guard when Superman blasted him in the stomach with heat vision before punching him towards the ground.

Batman launched more explosive batarangs towards Doctor Fate, and they hit their target. Doctor Fate was caught off-guard again, and now Batman was the one punching and kicking Doctor Fate repeatedly. He was able to keep this up until Doctor Fate shot out more yellow fire from underneath him – but while he was distracted, Superman began to pummel the mystic, before finally knocking the Helmet of Fate off of his face.

Doctor Fate groaned as he found himself free from the helmet, which Batman picked up. He looked at Superman, before giving him the Helmet. Superman held the Helmet in his hands, and slowly began to try and crush it. It was difficult at first due to the magical nature of the Helm. But as yellow energy emitted from the Helmet, Superman began to weaken it. The energy grew wild – until stopping when Superman flattened the Helmet and dropped it onto the ground.

For the first time in a long time, Fate had a clear head. "The Lords of Order…their voices are gone."

"It's over, Kent." Batman said, which Doctor Fate was very relieved to hear after everything the Lords of Order had been putting him through.

Doctor Fate then tried to explain himself. "I'm sorry for attacking. The Helm commanded me."

"They can't command you anymore." Superman replied. Though he didn't intend for a reassuring tone, Doctor Fate was very happy to hear that…but he also had to break some unpleasant news.

"Both of you have defied fate. Courted chaos…" Fate said as Superman helped him up. "But now…to see you two working together again…you must keep order, or the Lords will impose it. If not through Brainiac, then through -" But before Doctor Fate could finish, he gasped as he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

He looked down to see one of the ship's many tentacle pierced right through him. The tentacle raised Doctor Fate up, and he let out one last cry of agony before succumbing to his wounds. Superman and Batman both stood in genuine shock at this sight, and they only watched as the tentacle snapped back into the wall, absorbing Doctor Fate's body through it as it did so.

"Even a magical being like Doctor Fate recognizes my superiority." A voice said, and Batman and Superman both turned around to see Brainiac levitating above the ground, staring down at the two. Brainiac slowly began to lower himself down. "In time, the universe will adhere to my design."

"Unless we stop you." Batman said as he and Superman stared up at the Coluan.

"I offer nothing less than deliverance. Your environment is poisoned, your civilization has exhausted its resources. The Earth's decline cannot be reversed."

"We'll find a way." Batman replied.

"We always do." Superman added, ready to fight Brainiac.

Superman then charged towards Brainiac and went in for a punch, but Brainiac deflected it and punched Superman in the face twice, sending him down to the ground. Batman charged towards Brainiac as well, heading in for a kick and a punch, but Brainiac deflected both attacks and punched Batman hard enough to send him flying as well.

As Batman and Superman got up, Brainiac crossed his arms and merely stood there as he commanded his tentacles to begin attacking his two opponents. Batman and Superman tried to fight off the tentacles, but couldn't stop their assault, and one of the tentacles wrapped itself around Batman's throat while three of the others pushed Superman towards the wall.

With Batman in his grasp, Brainiac began commanding his tentacle to tighten its grip on the Dark Knight, and Batman began to suffocate as he tried desperately to break free. Superman got up, about to charge towards Brainiac again, but then the Coluan threw Batman towards the nearby window.

Batman laid there, struggling to get up. Superman flew towards Brainiac, but Brainiac merely punched him away. The two then flew towards each other, ready to take the other out – but then Superman was able to land a blow towards Brainiac, sending him towards the ground.

Brainiac groaned as he got up. "Earth's time is up."

Superman glared at the being who had destroyed his world. "Where's Kara?"

"Being vivisected. She has already taught me much about your powers."

Superman maintained his glare at Brainiac. "Allow me to give you a proper demonstration."

"I match your strength. You cannot match my intellect! You are only a Kryptonian – of which I have killed billions!"

Superman gritted his teeth and grabbed Brainiac by the leg, throwing him against the wall. This was it – this was the moment he could finally bring down the man who brought about the destruction of Krypton. Brainiac got back up and commanded his tentacles to attack Superman before he kicked Superman down the ground. He unleashed more of his tentacles towards Superman, but the Man of Steel heat visioned them away before super speeding towards Brainiac and decking him right in the face. Brainiac tried to grab Superman by the neck, but Superman managed to kick him in the chest before he could do so.

But Brainiac was then able to kneel down and command purple electricity through his tentacles – and when Superman came for another kick, he was electrocuted, and Brainiac was able to deck him in the face three times and kick him in the chest twice, before grabbing him by the neck.

"Your best is not enough." Brainiac said, ready to finish off Superman.

Superman heat-visioned him in the face, just as he had done with Firestorm, and Brainiac let go of him and yelled out in pain.

"Bad idea to tick me off!" Superman said, gritting his teeth.

Brainiac charged towards Superman, but Superman heat visioned him in the face again. He then punched him in the chest twice, then kicked him once, before grabbing him by the head and slamming him into the wall until Brainiac was barely conscious. Superman glared at Brainiac and threw him towards the ground.

"That was for Krypton."

Batman got up, and he and Superman simply stared at Brainiac, with Superman figuring out what was going on. "The attacks on the fleet are weakening him. I could feel him losing steam at the end of our fight."

"Good." Batman said, content on hearing that. "Should make it easier to cut him off from the Betas." Batman got out his signal disruptor and activated it against Brainiac.
--

Supergirl woke up to the sight of what looked to be…some kind of laboratory. Brainiac's ship was too foreign, so she couldn't really tell. What she could gather was that she was held down by cuffs emitting Kryptonite. She turned to see one of the robots approach her menacingly, and she struggled desperately to break free.

Two shards of Kryptonite interjected out of nowhere and held her neck in place, and the robot approached her closer, with a purple shard of energy on its hand. It began to move the shard towards her – and she groaned louder, trying in vain to break free. But then all of a sudden, the robot deactivated, as did the Kryptonite handcuffs. She got up and held her head as she felt her powers coming back.
--

Batman and Superman could both sense that something was wrong with the ship – that something was about to go down. But Batman decided to at least give the others the good news: That Brainiac was down. The being who put the entire Earth at risk had finally been defeated. He briefly thought about Damian, Catwoman, and Doctor Fate, the latter two having lost their lives to this crisis. He realized how much he would miss them to his sorrow.

But he had to give the news as soon as possible, so he activated his ear comm. "This is Batman. Brainiac is down."

"The disruptor worked." Cyborg replied through the ear comm. "All the Betas are shutting down!"

"We did it!" Superman said as he floated down to the ground, by Batman's side. "Now we find Kara –" He was about to say that they needed to do it as soon as possible before whatever was going on with the ship escalated. But unfortunately, it was too late.

They could both feel the ship going down. "What's happening?!" Superman yelled out.

"Brainiac's mind is the ship's CPU. Apparently he doesn't have a backup system." And as Batman said that, he couldn't help but find it a little odd that someone of Brainiac's intellect wouldn't prepare for this. But he then figured that Brainiac's ego got in the way in this case.

The ship began to lose orbit and crash towards the Earth, and Batman and Superman both knew the gravity of this situation. There seemed to be some power left – the artificial gravity was still on, and there was no sign of anything going wrong with the cities Brainiac had collected.

"If we crash, all the cities onboard –"

"Destroyed." Batman said, finishing that sentence before Superman could.

For how far he had fallen, Superman knew that the sheer amount of people that would perish if the Skull Ship were to crash…it would be several times the combined total of every man and woman who ever lived on Earth. Such devastation and such loss could not be allowed – and that was one of the only things he and Batman could agree on it.

But neither of them had a single clue as to how to save the Earth. And they didn't have much time to think up any ideas – it would only be a short while before the Skull Ship entered the Earth's atmosphere, they had to think of something before the last remnants of countless worlds were wiped out.

But then Superman looked at Brainiac's chair.

He took a good, long look at it. He remembered what Batman's exact words, that his mind was the ship's CPU. And that's when he got an idea. It was long-shot, but it was also their only chance at saving the cities.

Batman saw Superman fly towards the chair – and he wasn't sure that he liked this. "Clark, wait!"

Superman grabbed onto the cables that Brainiac synced into his mind whenever he would place himself onto that chair. "You said yourself, this ship is controlled by pure thought."

There was a long pause as Batman contemplated the situation. Even after the Regime, even after all those years of misery that Batman went through due to the dark path that Superman went down…he didn't like the thought of Superman dying like this. Deep down, he still treasured the friendship they once had.

"This could kill you!" Batman cried out, lamenting the risks of Superman's idea.

"Sounds like a job for me." Was all Superman replied with before linking the cables onto his head. He yelled in pain – even though he had managed to fully restore his powers, the sudden voltage and power was still overwhelming. Superman knew that it would've killed Batman, or any other human, instantly.

Batman simply watched as it looked like some of the power was flowing back through – but it currently wasn't enough, not as the Skull Ship entered Earth's atmosphere.

Batman had to hold onto one of the panels to avoid being knocked around the ship like a ragdoll. The ship began to head towards Gotham, and Superman gritted his teeth as he continued to try and take control of the ship.

Superman could slowly feel the power begin to come back, but it didn't feel like it was enough. He put more and more of his willpower into it, in a desperate attempt to restore full power. Then he could feel more and more surges of power, and it felt like he was gaining control of the ship.

Just as the ship was about to crash into Gotham, it lifted itself back up. It knocked itself around a single building before flying up into the air – into Gotham's skies.

Then Batman got an idea. "Create a bypass loop. Put the ship on autopilot."

"Hrrn! Trying!" Superman replied, grunting as he did indeed try to put the Skull Ship on autopilot.

"My ship!" Brainiac suddenly said as he got up, his voice carrying real emotion for once – it carried anger. "You will not destroy my collection!" Brainiac yelled as he punched Batman hard enough to send the Caped Crusader flying towards the ground.

He punched Batman two more times – even as he lost energy, he was still powerful enough to knock around Batman. Superman was unable to help due to trying to power the ship – and Brainiac was not happy.

"Relinquish my ship!" Brainiac commanded, his tone still angry. But then he suddenly felt a massive blast of heat vision against his back, and he was forced down to the ground. Supergirl had arrived onto the scene. But then she collapsed, still weak from the earlier exposure to Kryptonite.

Brainiac got up and glared towards Supergirl. "You will regret that!" He began to approach Supergirl, ready to attack her with his tentacles. But then Batman let out a smoke grenade, and Brainiac's attention was now taken.

Brainiac had enough of Batman. "You are persistent, but primitive theatrics cannot save you!"

Brainiac punched Batman in the face twice and kicked him the chest hard enough to send him towards the wall. Batman let out another smoke grenade, and then proceeded to throw his explosive batarangs towards the Coluan. Brainiac gritted his teeth and grabbed Batman by the leg with one of his tentacles, throwing Batman around. When he let go of Batman, the Dark Knight landed a clean hit to the face, before proceeding to punch and kick him several times.

With Brainiac getting weaker, Batman was able to take him on more efficiently. But Brainiac was still a force to be reckoned with. He deflected one of Batman's hooks and punched him the face twice before kicking him in the stomach. But then he felt another blast of heat vison – Supergirl got back up.

The two began to punch and kick Brainiac around together, and there was little he could do. Supergirl heat-visioned him again, and he yelled in pain. Kara was immensely satisfied that she was beating the crap out of the destroyer of her world. She then punched him around a few times before kicking him towards Batman, who delivered the blow that knocked him out.

"Like you said, I'm persistent." Batman said as he stared at Brainiac's unconscious body.

The two slowly walked around the ship, heading towards Superman. He was still connected to the ship – and both Batman and Supergirl were concerned. "We need to get you out of there!" Batman said, hoping it wasn't already too late.

"Not. Yet. The cities –"

While Batman and Supergirl were battling Brainiac, Superman had his attention on Earth's cities. He was going to restore them himself – no matter how much of his brainpower had to go into it. And then he could sense it – several cities were vanishing from the collection. The parts of Gotham, New York, Beijing, Moscow, Mexico City, and many others that had been taken by Brainiac were being restored. Superman was happy with his success – but not everything was going according to plan. Some of the cities, like Metropolis, Coast City, Detroit, and Seoul…something was going wrong.

Hal, Barry, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Black Adam, Atrocitus, Cyborg, Green Arrow, and Black Canary all arrived onto the central floor – Firestorm and Blue Beetle had been sent by Hal and Barry to take Swamp Thing home after the betas shut down – and they saw what Superman was doing. Just as they arrived, Superman couldn't handle the pain anymore – and collapsed onto the ground. Wonder Woman and Supergirl rushed to his aid.

"You're okay!" Wonder Woman said joyfully.

Aquaman was happy as well. "I thought it was too late, but…I can feel the heartbeat of Atlantis. Brainiac's work is undone."

"Not all of it. I couldn't save everyone." Superman said, his tone regretful.

Batman observed Brainiac's collection. "Some cities are still in the collection. Others were lost – wiped from the ship's memory. Metropolis, Coast City…"

Though he didn't show it, those words hit Hal like a ton of bricks. He was horrified at the thought. He thought of his brother, his sister-in-law, his niece and nephews…and Carol Ferris, the woman he had loved for so long.

"But we can still save them, right?! Carol? My family?"

"I'm sorry, Hal." Was all Superman replied with, to Hal's devastation.

"First Kryton, now Earth. No other world should suffer like this!" Wonder Woman exclaimed, and Superman glared at Brainiac's unconscious body. He felt he knew what had to be done, and he began to approach Brainiac. Batman knew where this was going. "Clark, no." He said as he stopped Superman in his tracks.

"Even if I agreed he should die, you can't. We need him alive to save the rest of our cities."

Superman sneered at this. "No, we don't. With more time and Cyborg's help, the ship will obey me!"

"Hell no!" Cyborg snapped as he and everyone else approached Batman and Superman. "We can't take any chances. And I sure as hell ain't your lap dog anymore, Superman. I know what you did to the Titans. To my friends!"

Everyone was taken aback, as only Batman and Superman knew what Cyborg was talking about. Barry looked at Cyborg for a moment for talking on. "Look, Victor is right. We can't be sure!"

"What we can be sure of is that Brainiac puts everyone else at risk!" Aquaman yelled back, slamming his trident onto the ground.

Wonder Woman gave Batman a death glare. "This is no different than Joker. If you'd killed him, we might –"

"It was never that simple, Diana!", Batman interrupted.

Superman's rage became more visible. "Yes it is Bruce! Don't you ever learn?! Metropolis, Coast City, Detroit, Seoul – all gone! How many more innocents need to die before you accept that some lives need to be taken?!"

Batman then slashed Superman with a bladed shard of some kind– and everyone jumped back in surprise. Blood came flying out from Superman's chest, and he could only kneel down, holding his chest in pain. Then he looked at his hand – and his blood-stained glove.

"My powers? How did you –"

"Gold Kryptonite. Courtesy of Firestorm." Batman answered before Superman could finish asking.

"Get up, Kal!" Wonder Woman implored as Superman continued to kneel onto the ground.

Superman tried to get up, and Batman just stared at him. "Stay down! Enough exposure, and you'll be de-powered permanently!"

"This madness has to end, Bruce!"

And indeed, it was about to come to its culmination. Everyone had their sides figured out – Supergirl, Hal, Barry, Cyborg, Green Arrow, and Black Canary were going to give Batman their aid, all believing that Brainiac should be spared. Black Adam and Wonder Woman kept their loyalty to Superman, and wholeheartedly agreed with him about what should be done with Brainiac. Aquaman and Atrocitus were not fond of Superman, but they decided they would also fight with him, agreeing that Brainiac needed to die.

This was it. It was time to settle this once and for all.

Chapter Text

Superman got up and immediately tried to punch Batman. But he was still weakened from even little exposure to gold kryptonite, and Batman was able to dodge him. Batman slashed Superman with the shard of gold kryptonite again. The two then charged towards each other, and blocked each other's arms, giving each other the death glare. Superman knocked the shard out of Batman's hand, and Wonder Woman immediately rushed over to snatch it away.

Superman held Batman up in the air, and Supergirl ran over and put her hand on Superman's shoulder.

"You don't want to do this." She pleaded, in one last effort to get through to her cousin.

Superman simply stared at Supergirl, which gave Hal time to charge towards him, freeing Batman from his grasp. But then Atrocitus in turn charged towards Hal, slamming him into the wall.

Black Adam charged towards Batman, but the Dark Knight let out a smoke grenade, and with Black Adam distracted, he began to punch and kick the king as fast as he could. Superman grabbed Supergirl by the throat, but Green Arrow shot him with an explosive arrow. The gold kryptonite had weakened Superman to the point where the arrow could actually hurt him.

"That was for the other me!" Green Arrow said as Black Canary and Cyborg began to attack Wonder Woman. Then Atrocitus charged at Green Arrow, and he began to fight the Red Lantern alongside Hal.

This left Barry and Aquaman, who were trading blows with one another. Aquaman tried stabbing at Barry with his trident a few times, but Barry dodged each time and landed a jab to Aquaman's face.

"Arthur, don't do this!" Barry pleaded, shocked at Aquaman's decision. "You don't want to follow Clark!"

"I'm not following anyone!" Aquaman fired back as he kicked Barry in the chest. "You've never understood Atlantis, Barry! We are an ancient people, with an old-fashioned sense of justice!"

Aquaman managed to bash at Barry with his trident three times, but Barry was quick to break this streak and began blitzing around his former comrade. Aquaman bashed his head into Barry's, and when the Flash was sent back, Aquaman slashed at him with his trident. But Barry quickly healed from the wounds, and he punched Aquaman in the chest a few times faster than the king could react. Aquaman gritted his teeth and tried to deck Barry in the face, but the speedster dodged and punched in in the chest.

Aquaman grabbed Barry by his head and slammed him into the wall, but Barry kicked him in the leg. The two resumed decking and kicking each other for about a solid minute, until Aquaman began to bash at the Scarlet Speedster with his trident again. Barry had enough of this – he needed a trick to take down Aquaman. He began to vibrate his hand, and as Aquaman charged towards him, he launched his vibrating hand towards him, knocking the sea king out.

Barry stared at his unconscious body. "Atlantis needs to get with the times."

Meanwhile, Green Arrow felt overwhelmed at having to fight Atrocitus again, though fighting alongside Hal again made him feel better. It reminded him of the camaraderie he shared with his world's Hal. He was using every trick arrow he had – he sent out a freeze arrow towards Atrocitus. By the time Atrocitus broke free, Green Arrow launched an explosive arrow towards him, and Hal slammed the Red Lantern into a wall.

Green Arrow shot another arrow towards Atrocitus, but Atrocitus destroyed it with a blast from his ring, then sent a blast towards Arrow that was powerful enough to knock the archer out.

"This time, I will make sure you meet your demise!" Atrocitus gritted his teeth as he charged towards the unconscious archer, only for Hal to knock him towards the wall with a giant green fist.

Atrocitus growled as he looked at Brainiac's unconscious body, and then back towards Hal. "I sense the rage within you, Hal Jordan. You may have overcome your fears, but you still betrayed the Green Lantern Corps and hurt your allies. How can you forgive yourself?"

Hal sighed. "I can't. I hate myself for what I've done." But then he looked up at Atrocitus and narrowed his eyes. "But my will is stronger than my hate."

Hal created a machine gun construct and began shooting at Atrocitus. Many of the construct bullets did hit Atrocitus, but he was not going down so easily. Atrocitus began blasting at Hal repeatedly, and did manage to hit him once. Hal grunted loudly and gritted his teeth before constructing up a sword. Hal began using the sword to slash at Atrocitus with all his might, though the Red Lantern was eventually able to blast him away. Hal created a ball of fire and launched it towards Atrocitus before punching him in in the stomach, to which Atrocitus let out a horrible growl.

The two began to blast at each other with their rings repeatedly. Hal could feel the sweat on his face. It had been years since he truly fought another ring wielder like this. Atrocitus created the Butcher and had it charge towards Hal, but Hal in turn created Ion – the embodiment of will – and sent it clashing towards the Butcher. Hal created five ICBMs and sent them all towards Atrocitus. Atrocitus managed to get in some final blasts towards Hal before the Green Lantern created a mace and bashed Atrocitus with it multiple times until he was out cold.

Green Lantern stared at Atrocitus for a moment before he saw Supergirl collapse to the ground fighting Superman. Superman readied his heat-vision, but Hal grabbed the Man of Steel with a giant green hand and sent him flying hard enough to send him crashing out of the Skull Ship. Hal followed him while Barry went to Supergirl's aid.

"Batman knew they'd double cross him!" Supergirl pointed out as Flash helped her up. "We have to move!"

Meanwhile, Black Canary managed to punch Wonder Woman right in the face while Cyborg blasted at her twice.

"There will be no more secrets or schemes from Bruce!" Wonder Woman yelled out as she kicked Canary in the chest.

"Schemes?" Black Canary said as she got back up. "He's not the one who stoked Superman's worst fears."

An enraged Wonder Woman attempted to stab Black Canary in the chest with her sword, but Cyborg blasted at her before she could do this. Black Canary and Cyborg both punched and kicked Wonder Woman repeatedly, while the Amazon managed to trade some blows of her own. Black Canary then let out her Canary Cry towards the Amazon, and it did manage to temporarily stun the Amazon. But then Wonder Woman threw her shield right towards Canary's face, sending her unconscious to the ground.

Wonder Woman leapt with her sword to impale Canary whilst she was on the ground, but Cyborg intercepted her with a haymaker punch. The Amazon was furious with Cyborg for his betrayal, and cried out in rage as she aimed her sword towards him. He created a shield and deflected her sword and kicked her in the stomach twice. He then let out an advanced land mine and sent it towards Wonder Woman, and she was sent towards the wall. She decked and kicked Cyborg repeatedly, but Cyborg was able to shield himself and slammed Wonder Woman into the wall, punching her back as hard as he could before kicking it hard enough make her fall unconscious to the ground.

Cyborg smirked. "Booyah."

Batman, meanwhile, managed to grab the gold kryptonite shard from Wonder Woman and tried to land a punch towards Black Adam, who dodged it. Black Adam grabbed Batman and flew them out through the hole in the ship that Hal had created. Black Adam stopped when he was just above the buildings of Gotham, and he held Batman by the shoulders.

"There is no escape." Black Adam said, to which Batman headbutted him in the face. "You wish to fall? So be it."

Black Adam dropped Batman, and the Dark Knight plummeted towards the ground. As he landed closer to the ground, he managed to activate the glider components in his cape and landed safely onto the ground. Black Adam landed near Batman, frustrated at his opponent's constant tricks.

"Go back to Kahndaq, Adam! Stay here and you'll be prosecuted!"

Black Adam continued to walk towards Batman. "You'd have to capture me, Batman! And I've underestimated you for the last time!"

Black Adam shot lightning towards Batman, but Batman dodged and launched explosive batarangs towards Black Adam. Black Adam remembered what he did with Philippus all that time ago, and he decided he would just use that move to finish Batman off, but as he charged towards Batman, the Dark Knight headbutted him again. Black Adam began to shoot lightning towards Batman repeatedly, but he had an idea. He activated a button on his gauntlet right as Black Adam shot at him with more lightning.

Black Adam punched Batman in the face twice before slamming him into a brick wall. He began to electrocute Batman, glaring menacingly at him in the process. But then he heard the humming of a car, and he turned to see the Batmobile charging right towards him, and he was too late to dodge it. The Batmobile rammed into Black Adam before stopping about 20 feet away. Batman seized the opportunity and threw more explosive batarangs towards Black Adam, before kicking him in the chest twice and punching him in the face, sending him down to the ground, unconscious.

Batman breathed heavily. "All that ancient wisdom. Wasted."
--

Superman and Hal had been fighting for several minutes, and Superman was getting frustrated. Hal created a giant hammer, one that briefly reminded Superman of his old friend Steel for a moment, and he bashed Superman around with it for a short while before Superman punched him in the stomach and charged into him, sending both of them flying towards the streets below.

Both grunted as they got up from the pile of destroyed cement they had created, and Superman glared at the Green Lantern before him. "How can you be against me on this?! He took Coast City?! Think about Carol, Hal – Brainiac needs to pay!"

Hal sent the glare right back. "No, Clark! My rage won't bring back Carol. Just like yours couldn't bring back Lois."

Hal created F-16 jets and threw them all towards Superman, before creating a city bus and ramming it into the Man of Tomorrow. Superman heat-visioned Hal and punched him in the chest and the face, and Hal responded by creating constructs of steel bars and slamming them all towards Superman. Superman tried to use his freeze breath at Hal, but the Lantern dodged. Hal punched Superman twice and then kicked him the stomach before wrapping him in green coil and slamming him down to the ground.

He charged towards Superman, but Superman used his freeze breath to freeze Hal right in place. When Hal broke free, he was able to deck and kick Hal a few times. He had just about enough of Hal Jordan – this would be the last time he would ever have to deal with him. Hal gritted his teeth and attempted to punch Superman, but Superman blocked Hal's hand and crushed his fingers. Hal yelled in pain, now unable to use his ring, before Superman gave him one more punch in the face, knocking him out.

Superman's eyes burned red as he prepared to incinerate Hal with his heat vision. But then Barry and Supergirl super-sped into the scene and tried to hold Superman in place, only for him to push them away.

Supergirl locked eye contact with Superman as she got up. "Kal, stop! These are your friends!"

"My friends should be helping me instead of standing in my way!" Superman said, before he and Supergirl charged towards each other.

Superman quickly grabbed Supergirl by the neck, and choked her for a few minutes before throwing her into one of the nearby buildings. Superman then glared at Barry as he got up.

"This is on you, Barry! When you defected, the Regime fell. You left us vulnerable to Brainiac! You shouldn't have lost your nerve – and for what?! Is this to make up for your meaningless promise to Garrick?!"

Barry shook his head in frustration. "You're right. I am trying to honor Jay. And I lost my nerve when I didn't stand up to you the first time. Never again!"

Superman then felt blasts from behind, and he grew more enraged at the sight of Cyborg. "What do you thinking you're doing, Victor?"

"Finally taking your ass out!" Cyborg replied as he approached Superman. "I can't believe you had me runnin' blind for so long. Today, I make it up to the Titans! I make up for what I've done!"

Cyborg then sent one of his land mines towards Superman, sending his former leader flying while Barry took advantage of this and began punching and kicking Superman at super speed. Barry continued to do this as Cyborg began blasting at Superman – but the formerly Big Blue Boy Scout gritted his teeth and heat visioned Barry in the face, causing him to yell n pain. Cyborg didn't like to see this, but it gave him the opportunity to pound at Superman from behind. His rage about the Titans was getting to him, and he just wanted to beat Superman bloody.

Barry took a moment to hold his cheek before decking Superman at super speed. Superman tried to use his freeze breath on Barry, but the Flash outran the freeze breath and punched him in the chest multiple times while Cyborg punched Superman in the face twice. Superman yelled out in rage and grabbed Cyborg's left arm – and ripped it off. He punched Cyborg in the face three times until he fell to the ground, out cold. Superman then heat-visioned Barry in the knees before giving him a powerful kick to the face.

Barry yelled in pain, and Superman looked at him and the unconscious bodies of Hal and Cyborg. All three of them would die today – and Superman decided that since Barry was the first to betray him, he would be the first to die. He grabbed Barry by the neck and readied his heat-vision.

"Burn."

But before he could kill Barry, the Batmobile arrived. Superman dropped Barry, and the Flash lost consciousness and passed out right afterwards. Batman exited the Batmobile, the gold kryptonite in hand, and glared at Superman. Superman took a moment to sigh.

"Fighting on the same side, it felt like old times. But I guess we both knew it would end this way."

Superman sounded genuinely regretful, and Batman shared that same regret. "Do you remember that night? When you told me Lois was pregnant?"

Superman recalled the happy moments of that memory in his head. "You knew. Even before I said anything."

Batman looked to the ground. "That was a good memory."

Superman also looked down to the ground. "From another lifetime."

There was a long and sorrowful pause, before Batman replied, "I miss the people we were then."

"Me, too."

Superman suddenly and abruptly ended their reminiscing by flying towards Batman and punching him towards the chest. He decided right then and there that he wouldn't kill Batman like he would Hal, Barry, and Cyborg. He had other plans.

Still, he wouldn't hold back. Batman got out the shard of gold kryptonite, and managed to slash Superman once last time before Superman grabbed Batman by the neck and threw him by the Batmobile. Superman then flew towards Batman, but the Caped Crusader let out a smoke grenade. Due to his weakening powers, the Man of Steel was caught off-guard for a moment, and this allowed Batman to get in a few more punches and kicks. Batman then began to throw more of his batarangs towards Superman before grabbing him by his head and slamming him into the brick wall.

Superman was tired of their decade-long charade – it was time to end this. He heat-visioned Batman's chest armor before kicking and punching him a few times. Batman was sent down to the ground, and as he tried to get up, Superman punched his back several times until he could hear his spine break. Superman pressed his foot down on Batman, and the Dark Knight let out a weak groan before passing out.

Superman looked around him – there were four heartbeats nearby, and three of them had to be silenced.

But before he could so do, Supergirl came flying in towards him. She had absolutely nothing left to say to her cousin. She simply grabbed her cousin by his arm and flew them up into the sky – out of Earth's atmosphere. She flew towards the sun at top speed, circling around it before throwing Superman towards the asteroid belt.

She heat-visioned Superman to increase the velocity at which he would crash into the meteors and towards the Earth. Superman could only grunt as he crashed back into Gotham at insane speeds – with two or three tiny asteroids following him.

It came down to Krypton's last son against its last daughter.

As Supergirl came flying towards Gotham, Superman charged her and punched her in the sides at top speed, sending her flying back. The two exchanged blows and jabs for a few minutes, which felt like an eternity to them. Superman used his freeze breath to freeze Supergirl in place, but she broke free right away and heat-visioned Superman in the face. They began to use their heat vision against each other for a solid minute before Supergirl punched Superman in the chest. Superman responded in kind and punched her in the face twice. Supergirl tried to use her freeze breath to freeze Superman in place, but Superman dodged and punched her in the chest twice.

Supergirl grabbed Superman by his leg and slammed him down towards the ground, but her cousin was able to break free and punched her into the wall. Superman then grabbed her by the throat and punched her up higher in the sky. As Supergirl was sent flying upwards, Superman followed her and punched her in the chest twice, sending her flying even faster. Superman then flew past her and stopped in his tracks, and placed his hand on her face for an abrupt stop. Superman then charged towards the ground with her and slammed her in the street.

As she got up, Superman kicked her in the chest. "You're acting like a teenager! And when I gain control of Brainiac's ship, you and Bruce will bend to my will!"

Supergirl got up and groaned loudly. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you."

Superman slammed her into a wall and began choking her again. "Don't bother apologizing! I can, and will, make the Earth – no, the entire universe, stronger than ever. And you'll be part of that, whether you like it or not!"

He then prepared for the final blow to end all of this. "This is for your own good."

But just when he held up his fist, he felt blasts coming from behind – and he turned around to see none other than Blue Beetle and Firestorm.

"Sorry we're late!" Blue Beetle said as he continued to blast at Superman while Firestorm blasted fire towards him.

Supergirl broke free of her cousin's grip and heat visioned him in the chest. The three young heroes began to bash on Superman as hard as they could, at the same time. Firestorm blasted fire towards Superman while Blue Beetle began to bash at him with his mace. Superman tried to fight back, but their combined might was overwhelming him, and he grunted as they continued to pummel him. He tried to strike Blue Beetle with heat vision, but Blue Beetle dodged and slammed him with his mace three more times before Supergirl grabbed him by the neck and punched him upwards.

Supergirl, Blue Beetle, and Firestorm all flew towards Superman. As they all flew above one of Gotham's skyscrapers, Firestorm sent a storm of dust Superman's way before encasing the Kryptonian in a sphere of lead and knocking him towards the rooftop. As Superman tried to get up, Blue Beetle began blasting at Superman endlessly while Supergirl used her heat vision nonstop. Firestorm initially blasted fire before creating three steel bars and throwing them all towards the Man of Steel.

Superman finally cried out in rage and slammed Supergirl into the wall, punching her leg until it was seriously injured. Firestorm grabbed Superman and threw him towards the edge of the building.

"Time to finish this." Firestorm said as he approached Superman closer.

He began to create gold kryptonite after he knew Supergirl was far enough to not be effected. Superman yelled – he was being exposed to too much gold kryptonite, and now his powers were fading away. He could practically feel himself losing his strength, his senses, and even his flight. He yelled in rage, and he used the last of his super strength to bash Firestorm down into the building below. Firestorm kept crashing through the floors while Blue Beetle bashed at Superman before flying down to Firestorm's aid.

With all his powers gone, Superman felt weak. He felt great agony everywhere, and he groaned loudly. It clouded Superman's attention, and he accidentally stumbled backwards. He almost tripped off the building, just barely managing to hang onto the ledge – Superman tried to get up, but his arms and ribs in particular hurt too badly.

"Kal!" Supergirl said as she tried to approach Kal to help him up. But as she reached a few feet away from him, her leg began to burn and it became too painful to even move. Superman, meanwhile, only glared at her cousin.

"You're a fool to offer your help, Kara. And I'd be a fool to accept it."

And then he let go of the ledge.

"Kal, no!"

But it was too late. With her injured leg, she could only watch as her cousin fell down to the ground below, not wanting to believe this was happening. But she had to accept reality when he crashed into a green car that looked like it came from decades prior. Supergirl could no longer hear his heartbeat.

Her cousin was dead.

Blue Beetle and Firestorm came back to the roof – and when they looked down to see Superman's body, they were in shock. Kara felt deeply mixed. Even if Superman was not a good man, he was still her only living relative. He was all she had left, and now he was gone. And while Brainiac would face justice for what he had done, Superman had escaped it. Tears began flowing from Supergirl's eyes. She walked over to Blue Beetle and hugged him, needing someone to hold on to – and he could only hug her back.

Blue Beetle and Firestorm didn't say a word – they just focused on comforting Supergirl. They felt terrible for her and her loss – but they were also glad that the crisis was finally and truly over. They had won.

Chapter Text

Brainiac, the once proud collector of worlds, now sat solemnly in Superman's old cell.

He had been strippedd of his armor, and he was disconnected from the Skull Ship. He now wore the white prison garment that the Lex Luthor Prison provided, and he looked like a shadow of the formidable conqueror he once was. He knew that Supergirl was watching him from the outside, but he didn't seem to care. Brainiac looked to be in deep thought about everything that had happened, and Supergirl was able to see the overwhelming shame on his face.

Yet Supergirl found it strange. This was the man that destroyed her world, and countless others, and now he sat bitterly in this cell; he would soon be taken to Oa to stand trial. In the end, Supergirl didn't really care. He deserved it. She briefly felt her leg, which had recovered quickly, as she gazed at the Coluan.

After a few moments, Supergirl decided to leave Brainiac alone, and she left the room, right to where the other prisoners were being kept. Aquaman, Black Adam, and Wonder Woman were locked up, and all bore similar looks of shame - they were awaiting their own, long overdue trials. Wonder Woman had been paralyzed – it was an accident on Cyborg's part – and she and Black Adam looked distraught. They had heard about what Superman, the man they had once sworn their unwavering loyalty, had done.

Damian and Cyborg were also locked back up in their cells, and Bruce, Firestorm, and Blue Beetle all observed the cells alongside Supergirl. Bruce had also been paralyzed, during his fight with Superman, and now he was confined to a wheelchair.

With his good, non-broken arm, Damian began banging on the glass. "You are such a disappointment, old man! You think we won't get out of here again?! We will, and we'll come right for you! My legend will eclipse yours!"

Blue Beetle and Firestorm snickered while Bruce let out a sigh and simply ignored Damian's ranting. He instead looked at Cyborg. Cyborg still had his sentence, but he felt he deserved it after everything he had done. He was the only one content to being imprisoned. He looked at Bruce, returning the eye contact.

"Promise me you'll stop at nothing to free the Titans, Batman."

Bruce nodded towards Cyborg. "Don't worry, Victor. I'll do everything I can to return them from the Phantom Zone. You have my word."

Blue Beetle and Firestorm continued to snicker at Damian, who was still yelling and cursing – until their eyes turned to Supergirl.

Supergirl was still in shock from her cousin's suicide. From one perspective, he had escaped justice. Brainiac, Aquaman, and the Regime got what was coming to them, but Superman ultimately managed to evade it. But most painfully of all, he was her last living relative. And now that he was dead, Supergirl had no family left. She felt so…alone.

Firestorm and Blue Beetle both looked concerned and approached Supergirl.

"How are you holding up, Kara?" Firestorm asked as he stood by the Kryptonian.

Supergirl looked down to the ground. "I'll…I'll hold up." Supergirl then looked up and made eye contact with Blue Beetle. "I just want to thank you two. You both seem nice. Maybe…maybe we can hang out sometime?"

Blue Beetle smiled. "Yeah, I'd be down for that."

Firestorm also smiled at the thought, and Supergirl let out a weak chuckle, happy to hear this. She needed something after what had just happened. But then she let out another sigh.

"I'll be back. I need some fresh air." Supergirl said before flying away from the cell room.

Bruce looked at Supergirl as she flew away, and then looked down at the ground solemnly at the thought of Catwoman and Superman.

The hole Supergirl had created when she came to free Superman had yet to be repaired, so she flew out of it, then flew towards the ground. It was here that she heard Atrocitus, Hal, and Barry all conversing, with Dex-Starr rubbing against an uneasy Barry's leg. Supergirl landed about 20 feet away from them, but she didn't join them – she just looked up into the sky.

Hal and Barry were both in civilian clothing, with Hal also wearing his flight jacket and an arm cast for his broken hand. Atrocitus let out a bitter growl towards the two men.

"It is a mistake to leave Brainiac alive. It won't be long before he comes back to haunt you. And when he does, I will be there to spill his blood."

Immediately after saying that, Atrocitus opened up from the portal from which he had come to Atlantis, and he went through it. Dex-Starr let out one more meow as he followed Atrocitus into the portal. The portal disappeared, and Hal and Barry looked at each other. They then noticed Supergirl, who still looked up at the sky with solemn. Hal and Barry looked back at each other as they thought of Superman, and everything that had happened.
--

After shutting down Brother Eye for good, Bruce decided to bury Superman's body in the Fortress of Solitude. It seemed like the only fitting place for him after everything he had done in the past decade. Superman had a lonely tombstone, and Supergirl couldn't take her eyes off of it.

She wondered what would have happened if her ship didn't get knocked off-course – if she was able to raise Kal-El. She wondered how different things might've been, and how much better he might've turned out. That is, assuming Supergirl could raise him properly, something she wasn't too sure of.

She heard Bruce, Hal, and Barry all enter the Fortress, but she didn't pay any mind to them until they were also standing in front of Superman's grave. Still looking at it herself, Supergirl let out a sigh.

"You know, Professor Stein told me about the first time my cousin died. How he heroically gave his life to save Metropolis from this beast called Doomsday. And how he got a grand memorial statue in his honor, with the most attended funeral since JFK. I just…I just find that so hard to believe."

Hal turned and glanced down at Supergirl. "That was from a better life, Kara."

Barry continued to look at Superman's grave. "Before Metropolis. Before everything went to hell."

Bruce then looked up at Kara from his wheelchair. "Are you alright, Kara?"

"…No…" Supergirl replied as she looked away from her cousin's grave and placed her hand onto the 'S' on her chest. "This symbol was supposed to give people hope. He made them fear it."

"That symbol's meaning is up to the person who wears it." Bruce said in a reassuring tone, before turning his eyes to Superman's grave.

A lot of memories had been flooding back ever since Blue Beetle and Firestorm broke the news to him. And now, another memory was coming back – the Justice League's formation. He remembered how he and Superman founded the League, with Wonder Woman, Hal, Barry, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter by their side. It was a happier memory, and he thought of it as he glanced back up at Supergirl.

"When Clark and I founded the Justice League, we didn't govern people. We protected them. Plain and simple. Maybe the world could use a team like that again."

He held out his hand towards Supergirl, and there was a pause as the younger hero looked at him. She then looked at Hal and Barry, who both nodded, before looking back at Bruce – and shaking his hand.

"Welcome to the circle of trust." Bruce said, and Supergirl smiled. She was determined to restore the people's faith in the House of El, and Kryptonians in general.
--

An extremely reluctant Brainiac eventually restored Earth's remaining cities, and work was being done on restoring the entire collection. But they had to find new planets to host the alien cities, so many of them still remained in the collection – but Kandor and Argo City weren't among them. They had been restored, and resided on 'New Krypton', a planet that orbited the red dwarf star known to NASA as Kepler-186, some 500 light years away.

The Justice League, meanwhile, was active once more, now operating out of a new Watchtower on the moon. Barry briefly picked at one of the wingtips on his outfit as he watched Blue Beetle and Firestorm spar it out.

He and Hal had been leading the Justice League, whose ranks bolstered Supergirl, Firestorm, Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Harley Quinn. Together, they had saved the world from threats such as Darkseid, Starro, and the Reach over the past few years; they had also captured Bane, Ivy, and Deadshot, with only Thawne still on the loose. In addition, they had interactions with other dimensions - they met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a demon named Hellboy, and traveled to a dimension called Earthrealm in the face of a great crisis.

'Justice League' was a beloved and well-respected name again.

Hal had been a mission with the Green Lantern Corps – Sinestro had broken out of his science cell, and Hal had to go undercover to take him down. He had been away for the past month, leaving Barry alone to lead the League for now. He smiled as he continued to watch Beetle and Firestorm.

Blue Beetle morphed his hand into a mace and began to bash Firestorm around with it, but Firestorm created molten lava rocks and launched them all towards Blue Beetle. The blue-clad hero summoned his arm cannon and began blasting towards Firestorm, but Firestorm turned all the blasts to dust before blasting fire towards Blue Beetle. Blue Beetle tried to blast at Firestorm one more time, but Firestorm dodged it and created a wave of titanium, throwing it all against Blue Beetle. Blue Beetle managed to bash Firestorm with his mace, but Firestorm punched him repeatedly until he collapsed to the ground.

"Ha! We did it, Professor Stein! Fourth victory in a row!" Firestorm enthusiastically exclaimed as he split back into Jason and Martin.

Blue Beetle rolled his eyes as he got up. "Yeah, yeah! Laugh it up, Jason!"

Jason had a wide grin on his face. "Oh, face it, Jaime! You're losing your game!"

"Oh, I'll get you one of these days!" Blue Beetle replied as he playfully jabbed Jason in the chest.

Barry couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, that's enough. You both did fine."

Martin adjusted his glasses and smiled. "I think we should call it a day. I got essays to grade."

Just then, Barry heard a tapping sound on the door, and he turned to see Supergirl – and Hal. Both smiled, and Hal waved. Barry smiled back and motioned for the two of them to come in. Everyone had a button on their ear comms that would allow them to teleport into the Watchtower, and Hal and Supergirl used this to enter inside the Watchtower.

Barry had a big smile on his face as he and Hal walked up to each other and shook hands. "You had me worried, Hal!"

Hal chuckled. "You know me, Barry." He said as he held up his glowing ring. "It was quite the experience, relapsing back into fear. But will prevailed, and Sinestro's back in his cell."

"Well…" Supergirl said as she smiled up at Hal. "It's as you say. 'Green Lantern's got this'."

Hal couldn't help but laugh to that. "Hell yeah he does!"

Just then, Black Canary teleported into the Watchtower and walked up to the three, with Green Arrow and Harley Quinn teleporting in right afterwards.

"Well, hey!" Hal said as he walked up to Canary and Arrow. "How's Connor doing?"

"He's doing just fine. He's with our sitter right now." Black Canary replied. "Thank you guys for helping us out. Ever since his powers activated, it's been a helluva lot harder to raise him."

Barry rubbed his neck. "I imagine so."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Harley suddenly interjected, swinging around her bat. She was the happiest she'd ever been – she removed the clown makeup from her face and kept her hair loose, signifying that the Joker's grasp on her was getting weaker every day. "Did y'all hear? There's a new Martian in town!"

Supergirl looked completely confused. "A new Martian? What?"

Green Arrow began making motions with his hands. "M'gann M'orzz is her name. She just arrived on the scene, and she wants to fill the void left by the late J'onn J'onzz."

Black Canary crossed her arms. "We were talking with Bruce, and he wants to meet up with you two pretty soon about taking on her and three other new heroes. There's Elongated Man, Vixen, and a new Atom named Ryan Choi – and Bruce sees a lot of potential in them."

Barry look at Hal, who nodded to him, before looking back at Canary. "Uh, yeah. We'll talk to Bruce about all of that. Should be interesting."

Harley then grinned ear-to-ear. "Now, what was that thingie you left up here, Ollie?" Harley asked as she, Green Arrow, and Black Canary walked away from Hal and Barry and further into the Watchtower.

Hal chuckled as he turned his attention back to Barry and Supergirl. "Funny how they bring up meeting new heroes. I was going to say that I wanted all of you to meet the Corps' newest Green Lanterns soon. Names are Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Simon's a little rough, but I think you two will love Jessica."

Barry smiled. "I look forward to it."

Supergirl then noticed Blue Beetle chatting with Jason and Stein, and she walked up to them. "Hey, are you guys busy? Cassie, Connor, and I are going to the Kents' for dinner, and they said you're welcome to come."

Superboy, Wonder Girl, Starfire, and Tim Drake were all freed from the Phantom Zone not too long after the Justice League's reformation, and Supergirl, Blue Beetle, and Jason had all gotten close with them. Supergirl had also met Jonathan and Martha Kent, and she got along with them very well – holding nothing against them for the path her cousin went down.

Jason looked at Supergirl and walked up to her. "Speak of the devil. We were just talking about going out to eat."

"Connor's told us all about Martha's cooking!" Blue Beetle added on, grinning.

Stein walked away from the group and towards the teleporter, where he made his exit so that he could grade those papers. Barry meanwhile, kept his attention on the younger heroes. "You kids have fun…" He said with a half-hearted smile, before suddenly frowning.

Supergirl walked back up to Barry while Hal placed his hand on the Flash's shoulder. "What is it, Barry?"

"I was just thinking about Wally. He would've got on well with you guys…"

Supergirl let out an 'hmm'. "The Titans have told me about Kid Flash. He sounds like he was a good kid."

"He was." Hal replied with before taking his head back towards Barry. "But it's alright, Barry. You and me…we have these guys now." Hal smiled as he pointed towards the three younger heroes.

Supergirl let out a smile. "And for what it's worth, Barry, you and Hal have been the best mentors I could've asked for. Much better than Adam and Diana."

Barry smiled, and Supergirl looked at him for a moment before walking towards the teleporter with Jason and Blue Beetle – though she did overhear Hal and Barry.

"All of this, Hal, it truly is like the old days." Barry said, his smile turning sheepish. "And after all this time, I finally don't feel like I failed Jay anymore."

Hal smiled and chuckled. "Jay would be proud of you."

Jason and Blue Beetle resumed walking, and Supergirl turned towards them. "Alright, let's go." She said as she followed them towards the teleporter.

She was happy for Barry – that he finally felt like he was honoring Jay Garrick. And it made her think of her parents. She truly hoped they would be proud of her. Supergirl might've been unable to be there for her cousin, but she made a name for herself here. She gave the people of Earth hope, even after Superman showed them fear. And while she liked to visit New Krypton and see her people flourish once more, she couldn't leave her life on Earth – she loved the League too much for that.

She let out a smile of content as the teleporter transported her, Jason, and Blue Beetle away from the Watchtower.